QP: Trying to be clever about the list of names

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The prime minister was on his way back from Normandy, while his deputy was off making announcements in Toronto, and all of the other leaders were also absent. Andrew Scheer led off with the NSICOP report, worried about Jennifer O’Connell’s outburst at committee, and demanded the names be released. Dominic LeBlanc suggested that his leader get classified briefings. Scheer asked if any implicated parliamentarians are in Cabinet (which is stupid because there is actual vetting of ministers), and LeBlanc gave Scheer credit for trying to do indirectly what he cannot do directly. Scheer tried a second time, and LeBlanc patted himself on the back for the actions the government has taken around foreign interference when the previous government didn’t. Luc Berthold took over in French, and tried to demand the names again, and got the same answer. Berthold then pivoted to a story about a woman who got chased on the streets in Montreal, and blamed this on bail and supervised injection sites. Ya’ara Saks said the safe consumption sites in the province are run by the province.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he too raised the NSICOP report, taking some swipes at Chrystia Freeland for her non-response yesterday. LeBlanc reiterated that the government his points that they have been taking action on foreign interference. Therrien made another complaint about Freeland, and got the same response. 

Heather McPherson rose for the NDP to worry about CBSA pensions per current labour negotiations. Anita Anand recited that they are committed to negotiation and that it’s a process of give-and-take. Alexandre Boulerice raised the UN’s request to raise taxes on oil companies and the government refusing. Pascale St-Onge said that she too believes Canada needs to do more to reduce emissions, and praised the elimination of subsiding and their climate resilience fund.

Round two, and Rachael Thomas spun a fiction about the so-called “secret” climate report—which was not a report but draft data tables (van Koeverden: The Conservatives don’t believe in climate change and the rebates are coming out soon; MacKinnon: I don’t see you protesting your premier rising gas taxes), Blaine Calkins tried again (van Koeverden: Hooray for rebates; MacKinnon: The rural top-up is doubling), Jeremy Patzer tried his own scripts (van Koeverden: Your premier raised gas taxes; MacKinnon: The rural top-up!).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe demanded federal action on asylum seekers (Miller: I have met with organisations in Montreal who say they are not getting money from the province even though we have sent them billions; There is no accountability for the money we sent to the province, so Quebeckers should be asking more questions; Your colleagues had no consistency at finance committee).

Dave Epp spun more fictions in defence of the PBO (van Koeverden: That’s not what the PBO said), Terry Dowdall, and Joël Godin read their own scripts in order to get clips for socials (Turnbull: Carbon pricing is the most cost-effective market-based mechanism; van Koeverden: There is no carbon levy in Quebec).

Laurel Collins demanded a windfall tax on oil and gas companies (van Koeverden: Here is a list of things we’ve done), and Blake Desjarlais wanted more help for Alberta First Nations dealing with the opioid crisis over the heads of the province (Hajdu: We have invested billions of dollars for Indigenous-led solutions).

Round three saw questions on the SDTC report and demands the file be handed to the RCMP (Turnbull: This was an independent organisation, and we took action when allegations were raised; Duclos: We will always work with the RCMP when asked, but hey, interest rates; Your leader should apologise for discouraging people from signing up for dental care), triggering agri-recovery funds for Quebec (Drouin: We are working to see if it is triggered or not), possibly slanderous allegations around Boissonnault (Boissonnault: I have had no role in this company since the 2021, and I have shared my phone records and proved I was not involved; MacKinnon: This has already been answered; You’re so proud of the questions you’ve been rehearsing in the mirror), the NISCOP report (LeBlanc: Security officials work to ensure all necessary documents are turned over), and arts under-funding as though it’s distributed on a per-capita basis (St-Onge: We have invested more money than ever because culture is important).

Overall, it was only a marginal improvement from yesterday in that we didn’t have Chrystia Freeland going on about how great of a week it is for Canada with the interest rate decision, and Dominic LeBlanc offered some slightly more sensible replies to the NSICOP report issue, but today it was Andrew Scheer who looked like an ass in trying to ask if any members of Cabinet were implicated. Do you actually think that if they were, that CSIS or the RCMP wouldn’t have taken some kind of action? Honestly, nobody actually read the report, only a couple of paragraphs out of context on social media, which has only made this debate even dumber. In a similar vein, the questions on the so-called “secret” report the PBO referenced was not a secret report, it was preliminary data sets which never get made public until their final report, and they should know this, but of course they want to try and find a new use for “carbon tax cover-up,” which is fiction, but that no longer matters, apparently. The Liberals were no better, with Adam van Koeverden supposing that the correction of the report could mean that more than eight out of ten households are better off when no, that wasn’t the part of the report that was in question and you would think that the gods damned parliamentary secretary could get those basic facts right. Honest to Hermes…

The only highlight from QP? That Government House Leader Steve MacKinnon mocked the Conservatives for sticking to their (possibly slanderous) scripts in their making allegations about Randy Boissonnault after he pointed to the exonerating evidence, and MacKinnon going on about how they practiced their dramatic speeches in the mirror in the hopes of impressing their leader, and how they needed to be more nimble when their questions get answered and they still have those scripts that they prepared. He’s right, and it’s nice that it gets called out now and again.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Iqra Khalid for a well-tailored black suit with a white top, and to Charles Sousa for a dark grey suit with a lavender shirt and a grey-purple tie. Style citations go out to Arif Virani for his tan suit over a light grey shirt with a black and grey tie and black pocket square, and to Yvonne Jones for a moss green top with a sequinned black and white pattern under a black jacket and slacks.