{"id":569,"date":"2026-04-12T05:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/569\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T05:07:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T05:07:55","slug":"as-prime-minister-mark-carney-makes-question-period-a-low-priority-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/569\/","title":{"rendered":"As prime minister, Mark Carney makes Question Period a low priority – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

When he\u2019s in the House of Commons during the daily 45-minute\u00a0 Question Period<\/a>, Mark Carney seems to enjoy himself.<\/p>\n

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While it\u2019s never shown on TV cameras \u2014 House of Commons personnel and not broadcasters control the visuals \u2014 those\u00a0 in the galleries will often see Carney smiling and joking with members of the opposition, including Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Judging by his grins and applause, Carney seems to be happy when someone on his side scores a debating point against an opponent.<\/p>\n

But enjoy it as he might, Carney is rarely in Question Period.<\/p>\n

A Global News analysis of the official record of House of Commons proceedings, known as Hansard, shows that Carney has been present for just 28 of the 96 QP sessions since the 2025 general election. (The PMO said he\u2019s been present in QP 29 times). Carney\u2019s QP attendance rate of 29.2 per cent pales next to Justin Trudeau\u2019s record in the first year after he was first elected in 2015 \u2014 41 of 89 or 46.1 per cent \u2014 or Stephen Harper\u2019s after he was first elected in 2006 \u2014 61 of 95 sessions, or 64.2 per cent.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think he could do a few more,\u201d said Conservative MP Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce) who, after first winning his seat in the 2008 election,\u00a0 has watched all three prime ministers in action in QP. He finds Carney\u2019s poor attendance record puzzling. \u201cHe should be here a little bit more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The daily QP session can often descend into farce, and the rise of social media has prompted many Conservative MPs especially to simply use their time in QP as an opportunity to create TikTok or Instagram content. That said, it\u2019s the only opportunity opposition MPs have to ask a prime minister to explain his policies.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in the very first QP session after the 2025 election, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer reminded Carney that, \u201cthis is where democracy lives and this is where we provide rigorous scrutiny of every word [the PM] says and every dollar he spends on behalf of Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every prime minister has their own approach to QP but prime ministers, when they are present, usually answer questions only from leaders of recognized parties or their designates in what is informally known as the \u201cLeaders\u2019 Round,\u201d the first dozen or so questions during QP. Questions from backbenchers outside the Leaders\u2019 Round are usually ignored by the prime minister and answered by a member of the PM\u2019s cabinet.<\/p>\n

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During Harper\u2019s time in office, for example, that tradition meant that he would normally, though not always, respond to questions from whoever was leading the Liberals, the Bloc Qu\u00e9becois or the NDP.<\/p>\n

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Carney, by and large, has continued the tradition of only participating in the \u201cLeaders\u2019 Round.\u201d With one notable exception, that has meant he only responds to questions put to him by Conservatives or the BQ. In the last election, the NDP failed to win enough seats to become an officially recognized party in the House and, perhaps for that reason, Carney has yet to answer a single query from a New Democrat during Question Period. Because of their party status, NDP MPs get only a few slots a week to ask a question and those slots are always at the end of the 45-minute session.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, 1.2 million Canadians voted for us. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s too much to ask the prime minister to wait an extra 10 minutes to answer questions that will be put to him,\u201d said NDP interim leader Don Davies. \u201cThe questions the NDP puts to this government are questions that nobody else puts \u2014 questions on healthcare, questions on Indigenous rights, questions on progressive foreign policy \u2014 questions that don\u2019t come from anywhere else in the house but the New Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Carney\u2019s office did not say why he has not responded to questions from any NDP MPs but a spokeperson did provide this statement: \u201cDuring this time, the House of Commons has sat for 21 weeks and Prime Minister Carney has participated in Question Period 29 times, responding to questions from the leaders of both officially recognised opposition parties. He has taken a collaborative approach, including meeting with the leaders of all parties to discuss shared legislative priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Hansard record indicates the only time Carney departed from his practice of only responding to opposition questions in the Leaders\u2019 Round was on Nov. 17 when, needing her support in a pending confidence vote on the budget, Carney responded to a question from Green Party MP Elizabeth May.<\/p>\n

During his time in office, Trudeau established the practice of taking all questions from the opposition \u2014 from leaders and from backbenchers \u2014 once a week, on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n

Lobb, the Conservative MP, never got a chance to put a question to Trudeau, according to Hansard. But, nonetheless, Lobb said Trudeau\u2019s weekly round gave MPs the opportunity to hold the prime minister to account for local or regional issues. Lobb cited the current controversy about a proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Montreal. Many eastern Ontario MPs have expressed their opposition, on behalf of constituents, and would likely hope to have the opportunity to hear the prime minister, rather than the transport minister, respond to questions on the topic.<\/p>\n

Being present in QP also gives a prime minister a sense of what is important in regions of the country where his own party may not have much representation. The Liberals, for example, have sparse representation in small-town, rural, and Western Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a prime minister should be [in QP] whenever possible just to hear the temperature of the country and to hear from the representatives,\u201d said Dan Albas, Conservative for Okanagan Lake West-South Kelowna. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2013 with files from Sophall Duch<\/p>\n

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