OTTAWA — Federal MPs were talking tough on the first day back in the House of Commons after the summer recess, as they gear up for what one party leader called a game of chicken to bring down the government and force an early election.

Government House leader Karina Gould fired the first shots on Monday morning when she called Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre a “fraudster” for suggesting that Canadians will go hungry and be unable to heat their homes this winter because of the carbon tax.