What's next for Carney's Liberals after election win?

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OTTAWA — So, what now?

As the celebrations and hangovers among Canada’s Liberals subside following their win Monday night, attention is now turning to what will happen in the coming days, weeks and months.

The first order of business for Prime Minister Mark Carney is to choose a cabinet — and with much of Justin Trudeau’s old team holding on to their seats, observers say Canadians can expect to see a lot of familiar faces.

“There wasn’t a lot of turnover in his party, so he’s going to have to build a government out of people who, in many cases, were kind of tired and bereft of ideas going into this election, or at least seen that way by Canadians,” said Peter Graefe, associate political science professor at McMaster University.

“I would presume he wants to get a cabinet sworn in and move to a budget probably within the next 30 days.”

This recently wrapped election campaign came at a time of intense tension between Canada and the U.S., thanks to President Donald Trump’s trade war.

While not an official itinerary, the online House of Commons sitting calendar currently lists MPs reconvening on Monday, May 16 for two weeks until June 6 — the usual end of the spring sitting — with two more weeks of optional sitting days listed.

The calendar shows the House rising for its summer break until Sept. 15 — but all of these dates can change instantly if MPs choose to.

As governments undergoing election campaigns cannot table or pass bills that authorize government spending, special warrants give the PM the ability to make policy to meet needs urgent “to the public good.”

While Carney and his cabinet were able to transact limited government business thanks to these warrants, that ability expires 60 days after election day.

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As well, the government needs to outline its planned spending for the coming fiscal year — the main estimates — by the beginning of June.

These estimates are part of a government’s full supply bill, which is normally tabled in late winter and passed in June before the House rises for summer break.

Carney, Graefe said, would probably want to get going on choosing a cabinet and returning to the House of Commons sooner rather than later.

“The government will want to get into that relatively quickly, so that it can be done and passed and they can go off and have the summer to plan for the real heart of what the government hopes to do when they come back in the fall,” he said.

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume