Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he's willing to work with the Liberals in Parliament on efforts to resolve the trade war with the United States.
Poilievre met with the Conservative caucus on Sunday as they prepare to return to the House of Commons without him in the chamber.
His nearly 15-minute opening address to the party's MPs was open to media and laid out the Conservatives' priorities in the House of Commons for the spring session set to begin Monday.
Poilievre said he's told Prime Minister Mark Carney that Conservatives are ready to work with Liberals to bring an end to tariffs imposed by the United States.
"I've already told the prime minister that we are happy to cooperate any way we can to bring about an end to this unnecessary dispute and restore, not just our sovereignty, but also tariff-free access to the most successful international trading arrangement in the world," he said.
Poilievre went on to accuse Carney of putting his "elbows down" when it came to opening up exemptions for some counter-tariffs levied against the United States.
"Despite the prime minister's double speak, we will work, as I said, to help him try and get a trade deal to put an end to the tariffs," he said.
"But we also need to focus on making our own economy more independent and self-reliant so that we're no longer vulnerable to such international surprises."
Cooperation on any front would mark a departure from the Conservatives' relationship with the previous Liberal government led by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The Conservatives regularly attempted to stymie the Liberal government's agenda through filibusters and non-confidence votes in the previous session of Parliament.
The collaborative tone did not permeate Poilievre's entire speech.
He criticized the Liberals' plans not to table a spring budget, for instance, and said the government needs to trim expenses and cut taxes to alleviate the burden from taxpayers and Canadians.
Carney has announced plans to quickly deliver on an income tax cut pledged during the election campaign once Parliament resumes.
Quebec Conservative MP Gérard Deltell was asked on the way into caucus on Sunday if the Conservatives would support the tax cut in the House of Commons, given the measure is similar to a promise made by Poilievre during the campaign.
"We are not opposed to any reduction of tax," Deltell said, but he added the Conservatives will want to see more on the legislation before announcing any support.
Poilievre said Conservatives' priorities for the spring session will be focused on affordability and homebuilding, cracking down on crime, fixing immigration and boosting Canadian resource development as a path to economic security.
He said the Conservatives owe it to Canadians who supported them in the last election to fight for change in the legislature.
"They voted for hope, for a change," Poilievre said. "And while we narrowly missed forming government, we now have every duty to fulfill that hope and fight for that change."
The Conservatives won 144 seats in the April 28 election but Poilievre's seat was not one of them.
Conservative Damien Kurek plans to temporarily give up his seat in Alberta to allow Poilievre to run there in a byelection.
In the meantime former party leader Andrew Scheer will serve as the leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons and Poilievre has appointed 73 people as critics on specific files.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
