Northern Liberals mum on impact of majority government win
Prime Minister Mark Carney gets majority government nearly a year after taking power
Prime Minister Mark Carney, centre, told reporters on Tuesday his Liberal government’s agenda will progress more quickly now that his party has a majority government, which they won Monday. (Photo courtesy of CPAC)
Now that the federal Liberals have a majority government, how will it affect northern policies and priorities?
No one is saying.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals won all three federal byelections on Monday, enough to give them 174 of the 343 seats in the House of Commons and majority government status.
But three Liberal members of Parliament with key roles in the Arctic did not make themselves available Tuesday morning to say how this will impact the North.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty was not available for an interview, her press secretary Olivia McElreas said.
Gull-Masty is the MP for Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, which includes all of Nunavik. She was elected MP for the first time in last April’s election and then appointed Indigenous Services Minister in Carney’s new cabinet.
“Unfortunately, Minister Gull-Masty won’t be able to do an interview today. Thank you again for reaching out!” she said.
There was no response at all from Nunavut MP Lori Idlout or from staff of Northern Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand.
Carney was speaking on Tuesday, though. At a news conference in Ottawa, he announced tax relief for Canadians hit hard by rising fuel prices.
He said the government will temporarily decrease the excise tax on gasoline and diesel starting next Monday until Sept. 7.
The change means drivers will see about a reduction of about 10 cents per litre in the price of gasoline and four cents in the price of diesel.
Reporters asked Carney what majority status will mean for his government.
It will enable the government to move much more quickly on its plans, he said.
“We are building more, building fast and just getting started,” Carney said.
The last federal election, on April 28, 2025, saw Carney’s Liberals fall three seats short of a majority.
That left him in the precarious position of trying to cobble together enough support from opposition parties to pass his party’s agenda without triggering a non-confidence vote that would likely trigger another election.
In the first year of Carney’s government, prominent MPs Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair resigned. However, five opposition MPs crossed the floor to join the Liberals — including Idlout, who left the NDP — leaving the Liberals two seats short of a majority prior to Monday’s byelections.
With wins in all three of those races, the Liberals now hold 174 seats and majority status.
Don’t tricked us. Alot of us locals don’t even work. There’s no savings, no employment. Life is boring for many of us.
So get a job! There’s lots of open positions in the capital.
The Liberals gave everyone their marching orders – no outside discussion… a bit sad to see that joining the Liberals has made Lori less approachable and communicative with her constituents, but that’s not much of a surprise.
They dont need to talk anymore, they got the majority.
I thought the north only had NDP or Conservatives.
Actually, no party has ever been actively operating in the north, beyond quiet constituency offices.
Yea BIg Bad Ottawa Politicians, give us another 3 Billion Dollars of taxpayers money to spend, and we want more. Ohh the tragedy of it all