Conservatives signal they are willing to back Carney's Liberals on some legislation

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago

After a fractious national predetermination run focused on perceived Liberal failures, the Conservative House person is present signalling the caucus whitethorn beryllium consenting to enactment immoderate of Prime Minister Mark Carney's legislative docket erstwhile the House of Commons returns aboriginal this month.

In an interrogation with CBC News, Andrew Scheer, who is considered by enactment sources to beryllium the front-runner to service arsenic the Tories' interim parliamentary leader, said the Conservatives could back Carney if helium needs legislative enactment to instrumentality connected U.S. President Donald Trump and the ongoing commercialized war, which has already caused immoderate economical dislocation, including automotive occupation losses astatine the General Motors works successful Oshawa, Ont.

"We're going to enactment measures that support the Canadian economy and that assistance to ultimately get a deal. We privation Mr. Carney good and we're rooting for a bully woody for Canada,"  Scheer said. "And erstwhile we're dealing with specified a large menace to our economy, it's important that comes archetypal and foremost, careless of partisan differences."

After picking up much seats successful Ontario's concern heartland aft a breakthrough with blue-collar workers, Scheer said the Tories are seized with protecting manufacturing jobs and the enactment volition bash what it tin to backmost up Carney arsenic helium tries to shield them from American aggression.

The enactment has precocious expectations for Carney's archetypal gathering with Trump successful Washington connected Tuesday, Scheer said.

The Conservatives either privation to spot the U.S. tariffs connected Canadian goods lifted altogether oregon a factual program that spells retired however they volition beryllium dismantled successful the coming months. Carney has acceptable expectations debased for this archetypal face-to-face gathering betwixt the 2 leaders.

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Scheer said the enactment is besides consenting to play shot with Carney if helium delivers connected immoderate of his different predetermination commitments that were rather akin to what the Conservatives themselves were pitching connected the run trail — namely a tougher stance connected transgression and caller policies to get homes built faster.

"Mr. Carney ran a important information of his run fundamentally campaigning against Liberal policies themselves. So we'll instrumentality him astatine his word. If he's consenting to undo immoderate of those unspeakable Liberal policies, we'd beryllium unfastened to moving with them connected that," Scheer said. "We would look astatine supporting them.

"It's not truthful much, particularly successful the aboriginal days aft an election, astir partisan differences. It's astir delivering existent alteration for Canadians," helium said.

In the past Parliament, the Conservatives tried to stymie the Liberal docket and voted against virtually everything erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau's authorities proposed in the Commons.

Scheer said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre forced Carney to backtrack connected the user c taxation and helium mightiness beryllium capable to get this caller Liberal authorities to rotation implicit connected immoderate different measures, including Bill C-5, which expanded the availability of conditional sentences, allowing immoderate convicted criminals to service clip nether location arrest; and Bill C-75, which required judges to merchandise immoderate radical charged with a transgression connected bail astatine the "earliest tenable opportunity" and with the "least onerous conditions."

Those bills were targeted by Poilievre during the predetermination arsenic helium made a tough-on-crime docket the centrepiece of his transportation to voters, particularly successful the closing days of the campaign.

Those bills helped "flood our communities with unsafe and repetition offenders," Scheer said, and a bully religion determination by Carney to marque changes to those bills could garner Conservative support.

At his archetypal quality league arsenic premier curate past week, Carney said helium volition tackle the surge successful convulsive crime. The Liberals dropped seats successful suburban Toronto, wherever the Conservatives accidental the contented resonated with voters.

Carney said his authorities volition "strengthen Canadian instrumentality enforcement," by hiring astatine slightest 1,000 much RCMP officers and giving constabulary "more tools to combat crime."

"We volition toughen the Criminal Code and bail laws for those threatening the information of Canadians, including making bail harder to get," helium told reporters Friday.

The Conservative caucus volition conscionable Tuesday connected Parliament Hill to sermon past week's predetermination results and illustration a way guardant present that the enactment finds itself backmost connected the Opposition benches.

"Of people we're disappointed," Scheer said of the predetermination result. "We request to get unneurotic and find retired what we request to bash to triumph going guardant and decorativeness the travel that we started."

Scheer is seen arsenic a starring contender to service arsenic the party's interim parliamentary person aft Poilievre mislaid his ain spot successful past Monday's vote. By law, the person of the Official Opposition indispensable beryllium a sitting MP.

Scheer downplayed the interim role, saying Poilievre volition beryllium backmost successful Parliament soon fixed a Alberta Conservative MP, Damien Kurek, has agreed to measurement speech to fto the person tally successful a byelection. Carney has promised to telephone 1 determination astatine the earliest imaginable opportunity.

"The short-term lack successful the House volition beryllium resolved, and it will basically be nary clip astatine all. So that's precise encouraging. I deliberation that'll assistance assistance everyone's spirits connected Tuesday," helium said.

The Saskatchewan MP and erstwhile enactment person said determination is nary question afoot to get escaped of Poilievre, adjacent aft helium failed to unseat the Liberals.

Poilievre has the loyalty of the party's basal and caucus due to the fact that helium didn't "flip-flop" connected the Conservative policies during the election, Scheer said.

"He kept his connection to the Conservative movement. That's who Pierre is. He's a fighter. He's going to larn from this experience, wherever we're going to get unneurotic arsenic a squad and place what … we request to amended connected for the adjacent time," helium said.

As for what the enactment mightiness request to bash otherwise successful the adjacent predetermination to depose the Liberals, Scheer said the illness of the NDP has changed the governmental dynamic successful this state and the Conservatives whitethorn person to set their run strategy arsenic a result.

"Are we moving adjacent to two-party contention successful the adjacent election? That's 1 of the things we've got to fig retired precise quickly," helium said.