Prime Minister Mark Carney took his seat in the House of Commons for the first time Monday as the work of the 45th Parliament began with the election of a new Speaker ahead of the highly anticipated Speech from the Throne laying out the Liberal government’s priorities.
King Charles III will deliver the address from the Senate chamber on Tuesday morning in a reassertion of Canadian sovereignty at a time of geopolitical realignments. It’s only the third time a monarch has opened a session of Parliament. Normally, it is carried out by the governor-general.
This session follows an election which returned a minority Liberal government for the third time in a row, though the makeup of the House of Commons is different from the last session.
With five more seats to account for population growth, it’s tighter quarters for 343 MPs, and seat assignments in the chamber reveal a changed political map.
The Opposition Conservatives now occupy two dozen more …