Carney skips question period on Parliament’s first day back, meets with Premier Ford

OTTAWA — After a globe-hopping mission to secure new trade deals and foreign investment, Prime Minister Mark Carney was back in Ottawa Monday as Parliament resumed — but not for very long.

Carney visited an Ottawa grocery store Monday morning where he announced a 25 per cent hike to the GST credit to help lower-income consumers deal with the high cost of groceries, before leaving town to meet with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Toronto.

Their meeting followed Carney’s trip to China earlier this month, where the prime minister announced the federal government would allow some Chinese-made electric vehicles to enter the Canadian market following a nearly two-year trade dispute.

Ford, whose province has been hit hard by U.S. tariffs on autos from the United States, reacted angrily to the deal and said Carney never told him it was coming.

Speaking at a Pizza Nova restaurant in Etobicoke, Ford was asked if he and the prime minister had reconciled.

“We never had a problem,” Ford said with a big smile.

“Listen guys, we’re a big family. And sometimes brothers and sisters may disagree, but at the end of the day, make no mistake about it, we are one country. We are team Canada, both of us.”

Carney has been circling the globe — and country — in an effort to strengthen the Canadian economy in the face of tariffs from the United States on key Canadian sectors.

He was present in the House of Commons for 24 days from May to December last year — just three days less than former prime minister Justin Trudeau spent in the Commons over the same period in 2024.

Trudeau, however, answered significantly more questions from opposition members than Carney did — largely due to Trudeau’s policy of being the sole government voice in question period on Wednesdays.

Carney did not adopt that policy when he became prime minister last year.

“It strikes me that the prime minister doesn’t necessarily think that a lot of business gets done in the House — at least not that has to directly involve him,” said Dalhousie University political science professor Lori Turnbull.

“How often does taking questions in question period actually lead to real accountability?”

Carney’s travel schedule has been targeted by the Conservatives, who have accused the prime minister of spending more time travelling abroad than on addressing the affordability crisis at home.

Carney has spent time in China, Qatar, France and Switzerland since the beginning of the year.

He’s expected to make trips to India, Brazil, France, Turkey, the U.S. and Antigua and Barbuda by the end of the year.

During question period on Monday, the Conservatives grilled the Liberals over how they intend to make “life more affordable” for Canadians.

Question period, which generally lasts about an hour, allows the opposition parties to hold the federal government to account each day while the House of Commons is sitting. Parties attempt to push forward their agendas through question period, and clips of the typically testy exchanges are used on social media and for party fundraising purposes.

Speaking to Ford about their plans for the day at the pizza restaurant in Etobicoke, Carney said “you’re going to Queen’s Park, I’m going to Parliament” and joked about taking a “little nap” during question period.

Turnbull said question period acts as a “democratic check and balance” on a government — and if prime ministers get in the habit of ducking it, it undermines public trust.

But skipping out on question period could be a political strategy itself, she said — especially since opposition parties often struggle for attention when the House isn’t sitting.

“Parliament has a way of equalizing the power between the government and the opposition, especially when it’s a minority (government),” Turnbull said.

“Not as many people are going to watch question period if (Conservative Leader Pierre) Poilievre is talking to himself.”

Poilievre is set to face Conservative party members this week for a vote on whether he can continue as party leader — a vote he is expected to survive.

Turnbull said Poilievre is likely to point out when Carney isn’t attending question period or when he’s out of the country.

“But the part (of his messaging) that’s going to resonate with voters — if anything of does — is going to be, ‘Carney’s agenda is not helping me,’ as opposed to ‘Carney wasn’t present on Tuesday again.'”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press