When he’s in the House of Commons during the daily 45-minute Question Period, Mark Carney seems to enjoy himself.
While it’s never shown on TV cameras — House of Commons personnel and not broadcasters control the visuals — those in the galleries will often see Carney smiling and joking with members of the opposition, including Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Judging by his grins and applause, Carney seems to be happy when someone on his side scores a debating point against an opponent.
But enjoy it as he might, Carney is rarely in Question Period.
A Global News analysis of the official record of House of Commons proceedings, known as Hansard, shows that Carney has been present for just 28 of the 96 QP sessions since the 2025 general election. (The PMO said he’s been present in QP 29 times). Carney’s QP attendance rate of 29.2 per cent pales next to Justin Trudeau’s record in the first year after he was first elected in 2015 — 41 of 89 or 46.1 per cent — or Stephen Harper’s after he was first elected in 2006 — 61 of 95 sessions, or 64.2 per cent.
“I think he could do a few more,” said Conservative MP Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce) who, after first winning his seat in the 2008 election, has watched all three prime ministers in action in QP. He finds Carney’s poor attendance record puzzling. “He should be here a little bit more.”
The daily QP session can often descend into farce, and the rise of social media has prompted many Conservative MPs especially to simply use their time in QP as an opportunity to create TikTok or Instagram content. That said, it’s the only opportunity opposition MPs have to ask a prime minister to explain his policies.
Every prime minister has their own approach to QP but prime ministers, when they are present, usually answer questions only from leaders of recognized parties or their designates in what is informally known as the “Leaders’ Round,” the first dozen or so questions during QP. Questions from backbenchers outside the Leaders’ Round are usually ignored by the prime minister and answered by a member of the PM’s cabinet.
During Harper’s time in office, for example, that tradition meant that he would normally, though not always, respond to questions from whoever was leading the Liberals, the Bloc Québecois or the NDP.
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Carney, by and large, has continued the tradition of only participating in the “Leaders’ Round.” With one notable exception, that has meant he only responds to questions put to him by Conservatives or the BQ. In the last election, the NDP failed to win enough seats to become an officially recognized party in the House and, perhaps for that reason, Carney has yet to answer a single query from a New Democrat during Question Period. Because of their party status, NDP MPs get only a few slots a week to ask a question and those slots are always at the end of the 45-minute session.
“You know, 1.2 million Canadians voted for us. I don’t think it’s too much to ask the prime minister to wait an extra 10 minutes to answer questions that will be put to him,” said NDP interim leader Don Davies. “The questions the NDP puts to this government are questions that nobody else puts — questions on healthcare, questions on Indigenous rights, questions on progressive foreign policy — questions that don’t come from anywhere else in the house but the New Democrats.”
Carney’s office did not say why he has not responded to questions from any NDP MPs but a spokeperson did provide this statement: “During this time, the House of Commons has sat for 21 weeks and Prime Minister Carney has participated in Question Period 29 times, responding to questions from the leaders of both officially recognised opposition parties. He has taken a collaborative approach, including meeting with the leaders of all parties to discuss shared legislative priorities.”
The Hansard record indicates the only time Carney departed from his practice of only responding to opposition questions in the Leaders’ Round was on Nov. 17 when, needing her support in a pending confidence vote on the budget, Carney responded to a question from Green Party MP Elizabeth May.
During his time in office, Trudeau established the practice of taking all questions from the opposition — from leaders and from backbenchers — once a week, on Wednesdays.
Lobb, the Conservative MP, never got a chance to put a question to Trudeau, according to Hansard. But, nonetheless, Lobb said Trudeau’s weekly round gave MPs the opportunity to hold the prime minister to account for local or regional issues. Lobb cited the current controversy about a proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Montreal. Many eastern Ontario MPs have expressed their opposition, on behalf of constituents, and would likely hope to have the opportunity to hear the prime minister, rather than the transport minister, respond to questions on the topic.
Being present in QP also gives a prime minister a sense of what is important in regions of the country where his own party may not have much representation. The Liberals, for example, have sparse representation in small-town, rural, and Western Canada.
– with files from Sophall Duch
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