Carney says Canada is 'at war' — so why is Parliament still on vacation?

If 80,000 Canadian jobs really are poised to disappear, the people whose salaries Canadians pay should probably be at their desks trying to save them. Get back to work.

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   August 24, 2026   |   News Analysis   |   Be the first to comment

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is at war.

After trade negotiations with the United States collapsed, Carney was asked whether Canada was now in a trade war. 

He said: “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”

If the Prime Minister truly believes Canada is facing an economic war with our largest trading partner, MPs should not be sitting at cottages, travelling or enjoying the remainder of their summer recess.

The Americans have imposed punishing new tariffs, Canada is preparing retaliatory tariffs, businesses are staring at enormous uncertainty, and tens of thousands of Canadian jobs are potentially on the chopping block. Yet Canadians still haven't been shown exactly what Mark Carney walked away from. 

That's the part I cannot accept.

Carney says it was a bad deal, but the Americans say something very different. So show us the deal.

Remember the Gordie Howe International Bridge? Canadians were initially given one version of what happened between Carney and Trump. Then more details emerged, and suddenly the story wasn't nearly as straightforward as we'd been led to believe.

So forgive me if I'm not willing to simply take Mark Carney's word for it when the economic livelihoods of tens of thousands of Canadians are hanging in the balance.

And apparently I'm not alone. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is now demanding Parliament be reconvened.

He says Canadians deserve answers about how the negotiations collapsed, what these tariffs are going to cost Canadian families and what the government intends to do to protect Canadian jobs.

After all, this is what Parliament is for. If we're really at war, as Carney says, then Canada's elected representatives should be sitting in the House of Commons.

The government should table what was offered, and table what Canada offered in return. Tell us precisely what changed, tell us precisely why Carney walked away, and allow opposition MPs to question the government about the consequences.

Canadians are being asked to accept an extraordinary proposition: that the most important economic relationship in this country's history has fundamentally changed, or ended, that we should prepare for a trade war, and that Canada must retaliate. Canadian workers and businesses may have to suffer through the consequences, which will throw more jobs, like energy ones unaffected by the tariffs, into this bonfire of retaliation.

But we're not allowed to see the deal that supposedly made all of this necessary? No. That's not good enough.

If Carney was right to walk away, prove it. Make the case. If the Americans demanded something outrageous, show us. Do it in front of Parliament for all to know and judge it.

If Canada's sovereignty was genuinely on the table, Canadians will see that for themselves. But if there was a reasonable agreement available and this government blew it, Canadians have every right to know that too.

If 80,000 Canadian jobs really are poised to disappear, the people whose salaries Canadians pay should probably be at their desks trying to save them. Get back to work.

Go to RecallParliament.com to sign the petition and tell Mark Carney: If Canada is at war, Parliament doesn't get a summer vacation.

Sign the Petition to Demand Carney Recall Parliament!

signatures
Goal: 10,000 signatures
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Prime Minister Mark Carney, you have said Canada is “at war” after trade negotiations with the United States collapsed.

If the situation is truly that serious — if Canadian jobs, businesses and our country’s most important trading relationship are at risk — then Parliament should not be on summer recess. Canadians deserve to know what the United States offered, what Canada offered in return, why negotiations broke down, and why your government chose to walk away.

We are calling on you to immediately recall Parliament, table the relevant details of the proposed agreement, explain your government’s decisions before the House of Commons, and allow our elected representatives to scrutinize your response to this trade crisis. If Canada is at war, Parliament doesn’t get a summer vacation. Recall Parliament, get back to work, and show Canadians what you walked away from!

Will you sign?

Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.

https://mybook.to/sheila

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