QP: Crossing a line around MAiD access allegations

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The prime minister was allegedly in town, but didn’t show up for QP today, while his deputy was out of town, and most of the other leaders were absent as well, save Pierre Poilievre. And he led off QP in French, worrying about how much mortgage costs have risen, rent increases, and blaming this on “inflationist policies” of the government (which is completely contrary to economic data). Pascale St-Onge, who is apparently now the designated French responder during the leaders’ round when Trudeau is away, gave the back-patting that Canadians know the government is there for them when times are tough. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the same question, demanding that the prime minister take responsibility for pricing working-class youth out of a home. Ahmed Hussen praised their measures such as the rent-to-own programme, the tax-free savings account for first-time buyers, and that the Conservatives voted against these kinds of measures. Poilievre insisted that they voted against inflationary policies, and complained about how much housing prices have gone up in markets like Toronto, demanding the federal government take responsibility for this failure (never mind that these are clearly municipality and provincial responsibilities). Randy Boissonnault reminded him that mothers who took CERB and parents who take their kids to the dentist don’t create inflation, and that the Conservatives dealt in nonsense economics. Poilievre insisted that the government created that inflation, and blamed government spending for inflating the housing market (which is lunacy), and Hussen got back up to demand that Poilievre take responsibility for voting against housing supports. Poilievre took on a tone of faux gravitas and drew a specious link between people at food banks and asking for Medical Assistance in Dying because poverty has them depressed, and accused the government of being more in favour of them accessing MAiD for depression rather than helping them (which is frankly outrageous, particularly since the expansion of MAiD for mental illness is explicitly not about simple depression, no matter what its opponents will falsely claim). Carolyn Bennett tried to dispute this and point out that the eligibility criteria screens out suicidal behaviour, but she was shouted down and the Speaker didn’t allow her to start again from the top.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc and demanded the resignation of Amira Elghawaby, because of course he did. Hussen read that she already clarified and apologised for her past comments and invited Therrien to read that statement. Therrien insisted that the position itself was a problem and that it was only about demonising Quebec, and demanded the position be abolished. Hussen got up to talk about his attending the memorial for the Quebec City mosque shooting and how many people attended it, before reiterating that she already clarified and apologised for her past comments.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the Bloc, and he yelled about use of consultants as privatisation and decried that they were being too cheap with public servants at the bargaining table. Mona Fortier recited some pabulum about good jobs for Canadians. Gord Johns read the English version of the same question with added sanctimony, wanting a full investigation into government outsourcing. Helena Jaczek said that she looked forward to answering their questions at committee. 

Round two, and Tim Uppal decried inflation and blamed “uncontrolled spending” for it (Holland: I would suggest that your leader rethink his assertion that this government supports people contemplating suicide), and Uppal said the government is causing people to despair (Boissonnault: Your ideology is that Canadians are on their own), Michelle Ferreri misquoted Tiff Macklem to blame the government for inflation (Boissonnault: The Bank of Canada has been clear that inflation should be back to three percent by summer; Gould: It is shameful that you are making a mockery of people suffering instead of helping them by supporting our measures), and Gérard Deltell said the government was driving people to food banks (St-Onge: We have been giving benefits to those who need it; Rodriguez: Which help should we have cut during the pandemic?)

Julie Vignola accused Dominic Barton of engineering the higher immigration targets while worrying about the future of French in Quebec (Lalonde: We have reached our targets for francophone immigration to Quebec; Quebec selects its own criteria for immigration), and Jean-Denis Garon tried again for another round (Lalonde: Same answer).

Garnett Genuis spun Dominic Barton’s testimony to something completely fictions and conspiratorial (Boissonnault: We have proven that we stand on the side of Canadians), and tried to once again connect Barton with the opioid crisis (Gould: Your plan for opioids is dangerous, reckless, and will put people in harm’s way), and Pierre Paul-Hus engaged in revisionist history over use of consultants (St-Onge: Our public service is capable).

Alistair MacGregor demanded a windfall tax against grocery giants (Champagne: We took action by getting the Competition Bureau to investigate and I have taken the CEOs to task), and Rachel Blaney demanded more help for seniors regardless of age (Fisher: Older seniors are more likely to outlive their savings, so we are giving them additional help).

Round three saw questions on bail reform (Lametti: Serious crimes should not get bail, but provinces need to enforce bail conditions; Those same statistics show that offences committed while out on bail have actually decreased, and Bill C-75 merely codified a number of Supreme Court decisions), asylum seekers taking welfare in Quebec (Lalonde: We have offered support to the province) and those seekers taking all of the housing (Rodriguez: We contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to helping Quebec, including paying for healthcare for asylum seekers), the CRA not going after all CERB misuse (Kusmierczyk: We agreed to a post-payment verification system and that is what is happening; Fragiskatos: The head of the CRA said that verification work is ongoing), an Afghan refugee claim (Lalaonde: If it was merely a matter of will, they would all be here already but there are circumstances beyond our control), healthcare privatisation (van Koeverden: We believe in the public system, and are making sure that our investments respect the Canada Health Act), and delays getting visas for visiting students and athletes (Lalonde: We came back to the sixty-day standard for most requests).

Overall, I should not be shocked at how crass and frankly unseemly Poilievre’s use of MAiD as an attack line is and has been, but today in particular with the tabling of the bill to delay implementation of the expansion to mental health for another year and claiming that it means that a year from now, the government will want people to access it when they’re depressed. It’s a lie, and it’s a frankly disgusting one, and while Poilievre has made hay of that single hearsay report of people telling a food bank manager that they were looking to access MAiD because they were tired of poverty (which is not an eligibility criteria, and frankly is part of a pattern of people making lurid suicide threats in the media to get attention), the government has been unable to push back against this narrative effectively. Today, with Carolyn Bennett being shouted down, Poilievre of course made a shitpost of this moment, and it makes this whole exercise all the more unsettling.

The rest of QP was just more of the same, between the disingenuous questions, the sanctimony, and the government delivering back-patting and pabulum. We’re still just circling around the same bullshit over and over again, with nothing changing, aside from Poilievre’s occasionally crossing a line that he shouldn’t. The sense of rhetorical exhaustion continues, and it’s getting so very tiresome.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anthony Housefather for a dark grey suit with a light blue shirt and a pink tie, and to Dominique Vien for a black sleeveless sweater over a collared white shirt and black slacks. Style citations go out to Patty Hajdu for a black dress with huge red florals under a black jacket and to Damien Kurek for a dark grey jacket over a plaid shirt and blue jeans.