Carney says he's 'absolutely not' considering proroguing Parliament after byelections
Liberals' agenda could face hurdles even with a majority — but proroguing likely wouldn't help
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he's "absolutely not" considering proroguing Parliament should he win a majority in the House following three upcoming byelections.
"It has never even entered my thinking, the possibility of [proroguing]," the prime minister said Tuesday during an unrelated news conference.
Carney was asked about the possibility of prorogation — which would end the current parliamentary session and reset the House agenda — after the Globe and Mail reported, citing government sources, that it was on the table.
"I couldn't have been more surprised to see a suggestion that that was under consideration at all," Carney said.
The Liberals would be able to form a thin majority government if they win two out of the three upcoming byelections — but the government's agenda would still face some hurdles in the House of Commons if it can't get opposition parties on board.
'Absolutely not': Carney clear proroguing Parliament 'never even entered my thinking'If the Liberals gain two seats, their votes in the House would technically be equal to the opposition parties' combined votes — and any vote that ends in a tie is broken by the Speaker.
Although Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia was elected a Liberal, that doesn't mean he would automatically vote with the government.
The Speaker is an impartial role by convention and doesn't sit with a party caucus once chosen by their peers.
According to the House's official guide to practice and procedure, the Speaker "normally votes to maintain the status quo," including "preserving the possibility that the matter might somehow be brought back in the future and be decided by a majority of the House."
The Liberals would be in a slightly better position if they swept all three byelections by having one more vote than the opposition parties combined.
Prorogation won't reset committee standings
But should the Liberals get to a majority plus one position, they would still need some opposition support to push legislation through committees.
As it stands, House committees have a roughly even split of Liberals and Conservatives. Each committee also has one Bloc Québécois member.
Typically, committee standings — with the exception of the procedure and House affairs committee — could be reset if Parliament was prorogued.
But Carney doesn't have that option thanks to a motion that passed the House in June which locked in committee standings for the duration of this Parliament.
It's possible for that motion to be overruled by a subsequent motion — but would likely face stiff opposition from the other parties.
If the Liberals only win two of the coming byelections, they likely wouldn't be able to pass such a motion. The Speaker would vote against it as it's a change to the status quo.
The three byelections are taking place in the Toronto ridings of University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest — and the Quebec riding of Terrebonne.
All three are being held on April 13, with advance polls open April 3 to 6.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BREAKING: Mark Carney Planning To Prorogue Parliament To Secure Committee Majority
Northern Perspective 
Poilievre says government should cancel Toronto-Quebec City high-speed rail project
Conservative leader calls project 'pie-in-the-sky Liberal spending initiative'
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the Liberal government should cancel the high-speed rail project planned to link Toronto and Quebec City.
"The project is another example of a ridiculous pie-in-the-sky Liberal spending initiative," he said Tuesday during a news conference near Peterborough, Ont.
"This $90-billion Liberal boondoggle doesn't make sense."
The project is estimated to cost between $60 and $90 billion, with construction slated to start between Ottawa and Montreal around the end of this decade.
The exact route has not been set. Alto, the Crown corporation heading the construction of the railway, has said it plans to decide by the end this year.
The rail network is expected to take passengers from Montreal to Toronto in three hours — about half the time it takes to drive and at double the speed of Via Rail's current trains.
Stops are also planned in Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval and Trois-Rivières.
Alto said last week that it would start contacting selected property owners between Ottawa and Montreal to ask permission to enter their property to conduct assessments.
Residents in those areas have been raising concerns about what the project would mean for their land — and pushing back against the idea that property could be expropriated.
Alto's CEO Martin Imbleau told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning last week that he would prefer to reach a fair settlement with landowners, but he said expropriation is a possibility.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has floated the possibility that the high-speed rail line could be designated a "national interest" project. The government's budget implementation bill included changes to the Expropriation Act and other laws that make it quicker and easier for the federal government to acquire land for the new railway.
Poilievre panned the idea of expropriating land for the project, calling it a "Liberal land grab."
CBC News has reached out to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon's office for comment.
Despite Poilievre's opposition, other politicians have come out in support of the project.
Poilievre calls on Liberals to cancel multibillion-dollar high-speed rail 'boondoggle'Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he'd like to see the Toronto and Ottawa leg follow the Highway 401 corridor.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has called for a high-speed rail station in downtown Ottawa and Peterborough city council recently voted to support the project.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from CBC Ottawa
Legislation passes to implement Budget 2025: Canada Strong
News release
March 26, 2026 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada
The global landscape is rapidly changing, leaving economies, businesses, and workers under a cloud of uncertainty. In response, Canada’s government is focused on what we can control: building a stronger economy and creating good career opportunities with higher wages for Canadians.
Today, Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, 2025, No. 1, received Royal Assent. This key piece of legislation will help the government deliver on its plan to build one united economy, empower Canadians to get ahead, and protect our country and sovereignty — today, and for generations to come.
As part of Bill C-15, the government will build a stronger economy to make life more affordable for Canadians by:
- Investing in Build Canada Homes to help double the pace of affordable home building over the next decade.
- Delivering the Clean Electricity investment tax credit (ITC) to accelerate the investments needed to expand our clean electricity grid and enhancing the suite of existing Clean Economy ITCs to further support investments in clean technologies, clean technology manufacturing, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage.
- Introducing a Productivity Super-Deduction – a set of enhanced tax incentives covering all new capital investment that allows businesses to write off a larger share of the cost of these investments right away.
- Accelerating the path to construction of Alto High-Speed Rail, Canada’s first high-speed railway, reaching 300 km/hour from Toronto to Québec City, to speed up travel within Canada’s most populated corridor.
- Supercharging investment in research and development by enhancing the incentives available through the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program and introducing measures in Budget 2025 to simplify the administration of the SR&ED program and cut in half the processing period for claims.
- Introducing a temporary Personal Support Workers Tax Credit to provide support of up to $1,100 per year to eligible personal support workers.
- Helping provide meals for up to 400,000 Canadian kids annually by establishing long-term, stable funding through the National School Food Program Act.
As part of Bill C-15, the government is strengthening and protecting Canada’s financial sector and making it work better for Canadians by:
- Combatting financial fraud by requiring banks to have policies and procedures to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud, and to mitigate its impacts, collect and report data on fraud to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, and allow consumers to disable certain account features, and adjust maximum transaction amounts.
- Enhancing access to funds deposited by cheque to give Canadians quicker access to their own money and reduce reliance on short-term credit like payday loans or overdraft protection, especially for low-income Canadians and seniors.
- Helping credit unions grow and compete by making it easier for them to enter the federal framework and expand so they can continue to serve more Canadians.
- Completing the consumer-driven banking legislative framework to allow Canadians and businesses to securely share their financial data with third-party providers and give consumers clearer choices and better tools to manage their finances.
- Creating a regulated space for stablecoins to further support innovation and help build trust in digital payments.
Bill C-15 also introduces a voluntary Early Retirement Incentive (ERI). To support the implementation of the government's Comprehensive Expenditure Review, the ERI allows for a strategic, compassionate federal workforce reduction. By prioritizing attrition rather than layoffs, the government aims to create a more efficient, productive, and effective public service that is better equipped to serve Canadians.
In addition to the measures enacted with the passage of C-15, the government is advancing a number of important measures from Budget 2025. This includes:
- The Build Communities Strong Fund, which helps communities revitalize and build new infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water systems, and community centers, as well as infrastructure that enables housing, health care, and education.
- The First and Last Mile Fund to support strategic mining and infrastructure projects that are key to developing Canada’s critical minerals supply chains and getting critical minerals to market.
- Investments in Canada’s security and sovereignty to modernize the Canadian Armed Forces and meet NATO targets of 2% GDP spending. This includes a new Defence Investment Agency to streamline procurement, a new Defence Industrial Strategy, improved personnel compensation, and the launch of BOREALIS, the new Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science.
- Hiring 1,000 new RCMP personnel and 1,000 new Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel as part of the government’s reinforced public safety and border security strategy.
- Protecting workers and businesses in sectors most impacted by U.S. tariffs and trade disruptions with over $25 billion announced to give workers and industries the tools they need to build a more resilient Canadian economy. Key initiatives include the $5 billion Strategic Response Fund, immediate liquidity relief for impacted sectors, extended Employment Insurance income support, an expanded Work-Sharing program, and targeted training for 50,000+ workers.
- A reinforced "Buy Canadian Policy" backed by nearly $186 million over five years to prioritize domestic suppliers and materials in federal procurement, particularly steel, aluminum, and softwood lumber.
- Strengthening trade beyond the U.S through the Trade Diversification Corridors Fund (TDCF) – which is designed to fund projects at ports, railways, and roads, expanding export capacity and improving supply chain resilience. On March 4, 2026, a call for proposals weas launched for three eligible program streams.
- Reinforcing Canada’s sovereignty, enabling regional economic development, and connecting Northern and Indigenous communities through the $1 billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund. On March 4, 2026, a call for proposals was launched for two eligible program streams for projects in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik region of Quebec, and the Nunatsiavut region of northern Labrador.
- Launching the Canada Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative to recruit world-leading researchers in critical fields that will deliver direct economic, societal and health benefits for Canadians.
- The creation of a new Financial Crimes Agency to act as Canada’s lead enforcement body against money laundering and complex financial crimes.
- Automatic Federal Benefits for the 2026 tax year, which will provide pre-filled tax returns starting in spring 2027, reaching up to 5.5 million low-income Canadians by the 2028 tax year.
- Renewing the Canada Strong Pass to help families and young people travel and explore Canada for less in summer 2026.
- Launching the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, replacing the former GST/HST credit, to assist 12 million low- and modest-income residents with the rising costs of groceries and other goods.
- Delivering meaningful, tangible affordability relief to Canadians by passing Bill C-4, which reduced the lowest personal income tax rate from 15% to 14%, removed GST on new homes for first-time buyers, and permanently removed the consumer carbon price.
Quotes
“By passing the Budget Implementation Act, we are delivering on our commitment to invest in Canada’s future and build an economy that is strong and resilient to global shocks. These are bold investments in our long-term prosperity – driving economic growth, modernizing our tax and financial systems, and creating a more efficient government – helping us build the strongest economy in the G7.”
- The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Associated links
Contacts
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Office of the Minister of Finance and National Revenue
john.fragos@fin.gc.ca
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mediare@fin.gc.ca
613-369-4000
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2026-03-27Canadians lose when bloated budget bills thwart parliamentary oversight: Senate committee
Ottawa – Senators should push back against budget implementation bills that obstruct parliamentary scrutiny by smuggling in non-financial measures, the Senate Committee on National Finance said in a report released Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
Sneaking unrelated laws into budget bills has become a long-standing practice in the House of Commons. Under pressure to pass these bills quickly to meet deadlines, senators seldom have the opportunity to study non-financial measures in the detail they may warrant.
For example, the Senate received Bill C-15, Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 on February 26, 2026, which contains the High-Speed Rail Network Act. That act is meant to accelerate the development of a new high-speed rail line and includes a process for expropriating land. These changes may have severe ramifications for Canadian families and deserve independent study.
The Senate has the power to assert itself. Senators can vote to separate a bill into different parts that can be considered independently. Senators can also make greater use of pre-studies to ensure adequate scrutiny is provided to every significant measure contained in these overstuffed budget bills.
The report recommends that the Senate make more systematic use of the procedural tools at its disposal. It also recommends that the Senate encourage the government to present separate budget bills — one for financial measures and one for non-financial measures.
As the chamber of sober second thought, the Senate has a responsibility to Canadians to review legislation with their interests in mind. The Senate must push back against abusive parliamentary practices.
Quick Facts
- The ballooning size of budget implementation acts hints at the scope of the problem. The 1994 budget implementation act was just 24 pages long; the 2024 act contained 660 pages and included 44 non-financial measures.
- Bundling non-financial measures into bills with financial provisions is not unique to budget implementation bills. Bill C-4, the Making Life More Affordable for Canadian Act, contains unrelated amendments to the Canada Elections Act to replace the regime applicable to federal political parties regarding the protection of personal information.
- There is precedent for the Senate dividing House of Commons money bills. In 2002, the Senate split Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals and firearms) and the Firearms Act, into bills C-10A and C-10B. The House concurred with the split.
Quotes
“The government is free to structure its bills as it sees fit. However, when it chooses to group a large number of measures into a single omnibus bill, it is incumbent upon the Senate to make full use of the parliamentary tools at its disposal to ensure rigorous and informed scrutiny.”
- Senator Claude Carignan, P.C., chair of the committee
“The Senate is a critical part of the legislative process. Senators represent regional interests and groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the House of Commons. The trend toward overly complex and lengthy budget bills is unparliamentary and must be reversed.”
- Senator Éric Forest, deputy chair of the committee
“I have long advocated for reforming the practices around budget implementation bills. Our job is to represent Canadians’ interests in the review of legislation — we cannot do this effectively when we are given bloated bills and little time to consider them.”
- Senator Scott Tannas, member of the committee
Associated Links
- Read the report: Omnibus Budget Bills: A growing problem
- Follow the committee on social media using the hashtag #NFFN.
- Subscribe to email alerts for Senate committees.
- Sign up for the Senate eNewsletter.
For more information:
Monica Granados
Communications Officer | Senate of Canada
343-550-5448 | monica.granados@sen.parl.gc.ca
Omnibus Budget Bills: A Growing Problem
A new Senate committee report urges senators to push back against oversized budget implementation bills that bundle unrelated, non-financial measures, limiting proper scrutiny. It calls for separating such measures, using procedural tools more effectively, and encouraging the government to introduce distinct bills to ensure thorough legislative review
https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/451/NFFN/Reports/NFFN_SS-2_Report_Final_e.pdf
Budget implementation acts (BIAs) have expanded significantly since the 1990s, increasingly bundling non-financial measures with core financial provisions. This evolution has made it more challenging for the Senate to exercise its review function and serve Canadians effectively, particularly given the convention that it does not amend financial legislation or is reticent to do so.
It is regrettable that BIAs, once brief and focused on financial measures, have evolved into increasingly lengthy and complex bills that bundle diverse, and sometimes controversial, non-financial measures to expedite their passage, a practice that undermines Parliament’s ability, and Canadians’ opportunity, to give these measures the thorough examination they deserve.
This report examines the Senate’s current practices, institutional constraints, and options to improve its scrutiny of non-financial measures in BIAs without delaying the adoption by Parliament of essential financial measures.
The Senate relies heavily on pre-studies to examine BIAs, but these are constrained by tight timelines linked to the government’s legislative calendar. Testimony from experts and procedural precedents confirm that the Senate possesses tools — including early pre-studies, division of bills, and institutional leverage — that could be applied more systematically.
The Committee also heard strong arguments for strengthening institutional coordination. Restoring the Leader of the Government in the Senate to the cabinet table could enhance communication, improve legislative planning, and give the Senate a stronger voice in setting realistic timelines for reviewing BIAs.
In addition, the Committee believes that the government should facilitate more effective parliamentary scrutiny by presenting two separate bills: one for financial measures and another for non-financial measures. This would allow for timely adoption of budgetary items while enabling more rigorous examination of other provisions.
The Senate nonetheless retains the authority to divide bills itself if necessary.
Taken together, these measures would help the Senate uphold its role as a chamber of sober second thought by ensuring that non-financial measures receive appropriate scrutiny for the benefit of Canadians, while financial measures continue to proceed without undue delay.
In light of the foregoing, the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance makes the following recommendations.
Recommendation 1
That the Senate make more systematic use of the procedural tools at its disposal — including by formalizing the use of pre-studies of BIAs and, when appropriate, exercising its authority to divide bills — while also making fuller use of its institutional leverage to influence the government’s legislative timing. Coordinated use of these approaches would encourage earlier tabling by the government and greater collaboration on separating financial and non-financial measures, while strengthening parliamentary oversight of increasingly complex budget implementation legislation.
Recommendation 2
That, in a spirit of collaboration with the government, the Senate adopt a motion requesting the Government of Canada to present two separate Budget Implementation Bills — one for financial measures and one for non-financial measures — in order to improve parliamentary scrutiny. Separating these elements would allow financial measures to proceed in a timely manner while ensuring that non-financial provisions receive the thorough and independent review they require. The Committee emphasizes that the Senate nonetheless retains the authority to divide a bill should circumstances warrant it.
Recommendation 3
That the Senate adopt a motion requesting the Government of Canada to appoint the Leader of the Government in the Senate to cabinet, thereby restoring a practice that previously allowed the Leader of the Government in the Senate to influence legislative timelines by setting clear cut-off dates for bills and strengthen coordination between the Senate and the government.
Claude Carignan, P.C.
C - Quebec (Mille Isles)
Éric Forest
ISG - Quebec (Gulf)
Andrew Cardozo
PSG - Ontario
Pierre J. Dalphond
ISG - Quebec (De Lorimier)
Rosa Galvez
ISG - Quebec (Bedford)
Clément Gignac
CSG - Quebec (Kennebec)
Martine Hébert
ISG - Quebec (Victoria)
Joan Kingston
ISG - New Brunswick
Jane MacAdam
ISG - Prince Edward Island
Elizabeth Marshall
C - Newfoundland and Labrador
Krista Ross
CSG - New Brunswick
Ex officio members of the committee: The Honourable Pierre Moreau (or Patti LaBoucane-Benson), the Honourable Leo Housakos (or Yonah Martin), the Honourable Lucie Moncion (or Joan Kingston), the Honourable Flordeliz (Gigi) Osler (or Robert Black), the Honourable Brian Francis (or Judy A. White)
Other senators who have participated in the study: The Honourable René Cormier, the Honourable Daryl S. Fridhandler, the Honourable Patti LaBoucane-Benson, the Honourable Tony Loffreda, the Honourable Julie Miville-Dechêne, the Honourable Kim Pate, the Honourable Paulette Senior, the Honourable Larry W. Smith, the Honourable Scott Tannas
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