QP: Inflation isn’t burning, the country is

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As the city was blanketed in smoke from the forest fires burning further north, things got underway in the West Block. The prime minister, his deputy, and all other leaders were present for the day, which was always a good sign. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, denigrated David a Johnston and his staff, and demanded a public inquiry. Justin Trudeau said that if Poilievre wants the facts he can get the top secret briefing, but he won’t because he would rather make baseless partisan attacks. Poilievre repeated the demand in English, and this time, Trudeau recited Poilievre singing his praises a decade ago. Poilievre said that it was tragic that the prime minister destroyed Johnston’s reputation, and demanded a public inquiry. Trudeau said that he didn’t hold Johnston’s previous appointments by Conservatives against him, while it was Poilievre’s judgment that was in question because he refuses the briefings. Poilievre pivoted to the topic of deficits and inflation, with all of the attendant misinformation, to which Trudeau decried the Conservative focus on austerity and listed things the Conservatives are blocking in the budget. Poilievre repeated the misinformation-laden demand in French, and got much the same response.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he took his own kicks at Johnston, and Trudeau said that he knows Blanchet looks forward to Johnston’s public hearings, and pointed out that they too are refusing the briefings in order to make unfounded partisan attacks. Blanchet chided that Johnston said that a public inquiry would be too long and too costly, and accused of him being hired to put a lid on the issue. Trudeau said that Blanchet would be more credible if he got the briefing.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he worried about the exploding costs of houses in Toronto, and demanded steps to deal with it. Trudeau picked up a script to pat himself on the back for the action the government is taking on “so many fronts.” Singh switched to French to grouse that Trudeau has official housing which he equated to meaning that Trudeau was out to protect the rich. (How?) Trudeau repeated his list of actions.

Round two, and Jasraj Hallan sped through a script of angry nonsense about inflation (Freeland: Are your constituents supporting the aid for Ukraine you are blocking in the budget?), Tim Uppal read some more nonsense about deficits and inflation (Freeland: Canada suffered the deepest recession when COVID hit, but we now have lower unemployment than Harper ever achieved), and Gérard Deltell have the French version of the same disingenuous talking points (Champagne: You guys are blocking investments in clean energy; Freeland: Let’s talk about facts, and credit ratings agencies renewed our Aaa rating).

René Villemure demanded a public inquiry (LeBlanc: What was wasting time was dragging Johnston to committee for three hours of being attacked rather than asking about foreign interference; We have offered your leader a briefing so he can know the truth), and Marie-Hélène cited the Arar and Air India inquiries as examples of being able to hear information in secret (Rodriguez: Why don’t you ask about things people care about like forest fires?)

Eric Melillo demanded the carbon price be cancelled (Freeland: It’s appalling that you talk down our economy; Champagne: It’s appalling that you are blocking the things we need to build the economy of the future), and Stephanie Kusie misquoted Freeland and basic statistics (Freeland: It’s astonishing that at a time when the country is burning, you would resist climate action; Gould: We need to act for future generations).

Gord Johns worried about firefighter vacancies and trolled for support for his private member’s bill to give them a higher tax credit (Blair: Hooray volunteer firefighters), and Taylor Bachrach worried about people with disabilities getting CERB clawback letters (Lebouthillier: Things are done on a case-by-case basis at the CRA).

Round three saw questions on the clean fuel standard disinformation (Guilbeault: You talk about farmers but I have a letter from the canola growers association congratulating us on the standard because it encourages biofuels; Let me read the special air quality statement from the forest fire smoke; Bibeau: What you call are a typical farm are the top three percent in a situation where they take no actions to reduce emissions; Duclos: Your leader encouraged people to invest in crypto; Lebouthillier: While you tell us you’re the party of common sense, you won’t tackle climate change and endanger women’s rights; Champagne: While the country is burning, you are delaying clean energy; Gould: We are fighting climate change while helping those in need), oil exploration in a protected marine area (Dabrusin: We have increased protected areas to 14 percent from one percent, and we are getting to 30 percent; These are exploratory permits whereas there is an environmental assessment process), inflation (Freeland: What is burning right now are the forests of our country, and this is a desperately serious moment for our country, and we need climate action), Poilievre got back up to decry the students who got fraudulent letters for their studies (Lalonde: We want to ensure those responsible for the fraud to be able to present evidence to support their cases), Indigenous police funding (Mendicino: We have made historic investments), and hate crimes (Virani: The budget contains funds to help combat racism and Islamophobia).

Overall, it was a lot of the same today—the same back-and-forth about David Johnston and opposition leaders not taking briefings, the same misleading questions about the deficit and inflation, the same disinformation about the clean fuel standard, mostly met by the same back-patting responses from the government, with a few added admonishments about the Conservatives trying to reduce climate action while the country is literally on fire. I will say that Marie-Claude Bibeau gave probably the best answer she has in months today in pointing out that the scenario about farmers being posed to her would only apply to the top three percent of farms if they took no action to reduce emissions at all, which was what made it a misleading question. Ministers should call bullshit like this far more often, but they never do.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Marci Ien for a hot pink jacket over a white collared shirt, and to Terry Beech for a tailored black suit over a white shirt with a cranberry tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Arif Virani for a light tan jacket over a white shirt and black slacks with a navy tie and pocket square, and to Gudie Hutchings for a black collared shirt-dress with large floral patterns. Dishonourable mention goes out to Ginette Petitpas Taylor for a mustard yellow jacket over a white collared top and black slacks.