Parliament returns with some new MPs, more vacant seats and a major economic bill

OTTAWA – Members of Parliament returned from their summer break Monday with trade tensions hanging over the country, a new but undefined alliance with Europe on the horizon, and a Liberal government ready to push forward an aggressive new infrastructure drive.

Buoyed by strong polling numbers and three recent byelection wins that expanded his majority government, Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week his government will begin the session by introducing the Building Canada Strong Act.

The bill — which the government indicated will be introduced Monday afternoon — is expected to address barriers slowing down the approvals process for major projects. The legislation is landing not long after Carney hosted an international investment summit that sought billions of dollars for infrastructure across the country, including data centres, ports, airports and energy projects.

The legislation is also expected to make substantial changes to the Canada Labour Code. Union leaders say they’re worried about the bill threatening the right to strike.

When asked if all workers should be able to walk away from a bad deal, Carney said Monday he would not talk about the legislation before it is tabled.

The legislation is being presented by Carney’s government as another step in its campaign to make the economy more resilient and less reliant on the United States through measures like additional export avenues to Europe and Asia.

The bill is sure to dominate much of the debate in the House of Commons this fall.

Monday’s question period began with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre calling on Carney to stand with him in support of the Jewish community and an injured police officer after a shooting at a synagogue in Belleville, Ont., on Sunday during Yom Kippur.

Carney replied that there is no place for hate of any kind in Canada.

Question period then quickly reverted to its usual tone, with Conservative MPs needling Carney as he responded to Poilievre’s question on affordability and Liberal MPs throwing their own verbal jabs across the aisle.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he will introduce a new bill to extend the excise tax break on fuel and has a fall budget in the works.

The first order of business for the House of Commons on Monday was for Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia to read off a long list of seats which have become vacant in recent months.

Since the House rose for the summer in mid-June, nine MPs have stepped down and three byelections already have been held. The Liberals won all three, easily holding ridings in Toronto and North Vancouver and snatching a seat away from the Conservatives in Quebec.

Carney was all smiles Monday as he accompanied his three new MPs into the House for the first time: former deputy chief of staff Braeden Caley from North Vancouver-Capilano, former riding association aide Tanveer Shahnawaz from Beaches-East York, and dairy farmer Daniel Gobeil from Chicoutimi-Le Fjord.

The six remaining vacant seats will require byelections in the coming months. They include two seats previously held by the Liberals, two previously held by the Conservatives and one each held by the Bloc Québécois and NDP after the last election.

Trade tensions with the United States will be a dominant theme of the fall sitting, as President Donald Trump’s White House cranks up the pressure on Canada and continues to threaten its sovereignty. Trump has threatened to escalate his deepening trade war with additional tariffs on steel and autos if the two sides can’t reach an agreement by the end of the year.

Canada’s negotiating team walked away from a potential deal with the White House in August at the 11th hour, saying what was on the table was a bad deal for Canada.

The trade conflict then escalated, with Trump imposing another volley of tariffs and threatening even more, while Canada imposed its own counter-tariffs. Trump also has attempted to rebrand Lake Ontario as Lake America and has sought to cut off certain Canadian imports to the United States.

Carney responded by escalating efforts to deepen Canada’s ties elsewhere. In a speech to the European Parliament last week, Carney welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s move to work on making Canada an associate member of the European Union.

What that status would mean has yet to be determined. More detail is expected to come out of a Canada-Europe summit in Montreal in October.

Carney met over the weekend with French President Emmanuel Macron in St-Pierre-Miquelon, France’s archipelago territory just off the coast of Newfoundland, and with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in Ottawa.

Carney will be in New York for meetings at the United Nations this week, though he is not scheduled to address the General Assembly.

The prime minister is expected to have more travel over the fall months, with several summits on the horizon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2026.

— With files Kyle Duggan and Craig Lord