By Maria Cheng<\/p>\n
OTTAWA, April 14 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would prioritize lowering the cost of living in Canada, tackling a housing shortage, and building major infrastructure \u200cprojects to help make Canada’s economy more independent with his Liberal Party’s new parliamentary majority.<\/p>\n
After \u200chis party swept three special elections on Monday, capping off an extraordinary few months in Canada when several opposition members joined \u200bhim, Carney said he accepts the country’s support “with humility, determination and a clear understanding of what this moment demands.”<\/p>\n
The first Liberal majority government in Canada since 2019 should allow Carney more freedom to pass the legislation he says is needed for the country to thrive in “a more divided and dangerous world,” including the \u200cuncertainty caused by U.S. President Donald \u2060Trump and the ongoing war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Carney has sought to make Canada less dependent on the United States.<\/p>\n
“We have to change fundamentally our economy to \u2060be stronger, more independent, more prosperous,” he said at a Tuesday press briefing to announce a temporary suspension of a fuel tax. He said the measure would reduce Canadians’ bills at the gas station by 10 cents \u200bper \u200blitre on regular gasoline and 4 cents on diesel.<\/p>\n
“Canada’s \u200bnew government has been relentlessly focused on \u200cmaking life more affordable for Canadians,” he said.<\/p>\n
Carney’s Liberals won three special elections in Ontario and Quebec, giving him a 174 seat majority in the 343-seat House of Commons.<\/p>\n
Carney said he had no plans to shuffle his cabinet before Parliament’s summer recess or to call an early election, following criticism from political opponents that five recent defections of legislators to Carney’s Liberals undermine the credibility of his majority government.<\/p>\n
Conservative \u200cleader Pierre Poilievre took to X to express his dissatisfaction \u200bat both the process and the result: “The Carney Liberals did \u200bnot win a majority government through a \u200bgeneral election or today’s by-elections. Instead, it was won through backroom deals with \u200cpoliticians who betrayed the people who voted for \u200bthem.”<\/p>\n
Carney said in response that \u200bCanada was a parliamentary democracy and Canadians elect their local representatives.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth McCallion, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said Carney’s decision to cut the fuel tax \u200bcomes days after the Conservatives \u200cargued for a cut and parties were becoming surprisingly aligned on some policies.<\/p>\n
“This will make \u200bit more difficult for the opposition parties to actually be adversarial and challenge the \u200bgovernment,” she said.<\/p>\n
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