Thursday, and the novelty had worn off for journalists in the gallery, which was once again nearly empty. Mark Carney was elsewhere meeting with the mayor of Toronto, while Andrew Scheer was also absent. Stephanie Kusie led off with some nonsense concern trolling about the lack of a budget. François-Philippe Champagne loudly praised their tax cut, the GST removal on certain houses, and the removal of the consumer carbon levy in law. Kusie again repeated this same nonsense, increasingly breathy and melodramatic, and Champagne reminded her that Canadians chose the Liberals in the election. Kusie tried her first question again in French, and Champagne praised their “ambitious plan” that includes the aforementioned tax cuts. Adam Chambers took over, and he too concern trolled over the Estimates, with a focus on consultants like McKinsey. Champagne insisted that they are focusing on results, and praised the tax cuts and wondered if the Conservatives would support them. Tamara Kronis gave the same performance,and this time, Joël Lightbound took a turn to praise the tax cuts that they are delivering on “day one.” We got another go-around of the same from Carol Anstey, and Lightbound chided the Conservatives about supporting the tax cuts.
Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried plans to “control the Quebec economy from Ottawa,” and wanted a commitment to respecting Quebec’s jurisdiction when the first minsters meet on Monday. Chrystia Freeland praised her meetings with her Quebec counterpart. Normandin tried again, insisting that the Quebec nation was not a barrier to trade, and Freeland agreed that they are working together with Quebec. Patrick Bonin took over, and he decried the possibility of a pipeline going through Quebec only getting a federal assessment. Julie Dabrusin praised her party’s Quebec caucus and said that they would always take Quebec’s interest to heart.
Blake Calkins heckles Freeland “Two more years and you’ll be a parl sec.” #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T18:27:08.710Z
Round two, and Gérard Deltell returned to the concern trolling over the Estimates and the lack of budget (Champagne: I hope you’re showing your constituents that you’re voting for the tax cuts; Lightbound: Hooray for our tax cut), Garnett Genuis blamed the federal government for youth unemployment and tied it to the Estimates (Hajdu: I share your concern about young people, which is why the Canada Summer Jobs programme will help 70,000 people; You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth), Grant Jackson read another script about the lack of budget and the size of the Estimates (Champagne: We have measures to help young Canadians because we have their backs), Philip Lawrence worried that there would not be internal free trade by Canada Day as promised (Freeland: We all agree that free trade in Canada will make us richer, and will you vote for our bill?), Brad Vis decried a changed CBSA order (Anandasangaree: I thank you for bringing this to my attention, and I’ll get you a response in a couple of days).
Yves Perron gave his own concern trolling for the size of the Estimates and the lack of a budget (Champagne: Why are you against help for people in your own riding?; We will have an ambitious yet prudent budget in the fall).
Tamara Jansen worried about housing prices not coming down—which they decided just yesterday (Robertson: We are meeting with mayors, and we would caution you against insulting them), Costas Menegakis decried that housing was too expensive for buyers and too low for sellers (Robertson: We need to build more affordable housing). Jacob Mantle gave the same (Robertson: Same answer), Rhonda Kirkland gave another round of the same (Robertson: Don’t insult mayors), Vincent Ho also decried housing prices not coming down before demanding a budget (Robertson: We have challenges with affordability but we also have to tackle the trade war), and Steven Bonk demanded the old Bill C-69 be scrapped (Hodgson: We will ensure major projects be approved in two years).
In one question, Conservatives decried that the government won’t make housing prices go down, and in the very next questions decry that selling prices in Toronto are too low. PICK A LANE, GUYS! #QP cc @mikepmoffatt.bsky.social
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T18:47:05.023Z
Round three saw questions on the old Bill C-69 (Hodgson: We will support pipelines if there is national support for them), the industrial carbon price (Dabrusin: I will disagree with the premise of your question, and we are standing up for industry in the face of the trade war), the emissions cap (Hodgson: We will get projects built where there are proponents; Dabrusin: The Conservative model didn’t get projects built), Brookfield’s tax structure (MacKinnon: The prime minister has proactively complied with all of his obligations), the Estimates and the budget (Champagne: Hooray for our tax cuts; Joly: We are helping people to make ends meet with our tax cut), terrorism-related changes going up (Anandasangaree: You didn’t listen to the Speech, because we did talk about increasing security investments), a sex offender case (Anandasangaree: You need the facts, and this was a statutory release which is not bail), a shooting in Hamilton (Sahota: I am committed to this issue, and we are going to make changes), the wildfires in Manitoba (Olszewski: We got a request of the province for airlift and we immediately approved it), and the “one project-one review” impacting Indigenous rights (Alty: The Crown must consult with local First Nations).
The Conservatives calling the emissions cap a “production cap” seems like they’re admitting that the industry has been lying for years. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-29T18:52:32.512Z
Overall, the day was largely one where the newbies were all given turns reading scripts asking questions of the government, mostly on the same theme, including the same applause lines that people normally “budget before they spend,” and mocking Carney as a “brilliant banker” who doesn’t seem to understand these notions. And the government had some very obvious and true responses that they could give, talking about the Estimates process and the fact that these are based on last year’s figures because that’s how the civil service rolls (and if they had time, they could also mention that their attempts to align the Estimates and the Budget cycle were pushed back against), but more to the fact that much of this spending is baked in and it takes time for savings to be achieved properly, and that the way the Conservatives did it when they were in power made things more expensive in the long run. Instead, we got the same canned lines that were mere back-patting about the coming tax cuts (which they can’t really afford, and again, the opposition could say something about that but didn’t). it was a pretty sad spectacle.
There were other places where the Liberals just seem asleep at the switch. When the ridiculous “488% increase in terrorism charges!” line was trotted out, Gary Anandasangaree could have said that this really means nine charges last year and three charges this year (though he did push back when Frank Caputo deliberately conflated statutory release with bail, though he should have been even more clear about that and about Caputo’s mendacity). When the Conservatives called the emissions cap a “production cap,” the minister could have said “It’s an emissions cap, unless you’re suggesting that the industry wasn’t telling the truth when they said they would lower their emissions.” When the Conservatives demanded lower prices in one question, and then complained that selling prices are too low in the very next question, Gregor Robertson should have called out this complete incoherence (even if his own incoherence on the same file is on the record). They could have pushed back on all of this, but they simply didn’t, and fell back to self-congratulatory pabulum. There is so much low-hanging fruit that they simply let fall to the ground and rot. Honestly, what are they even doing?
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Dominique Vien for a long silver-grey jacket with a grid pattern over a black too and slacks, and to Maninder Sidhu for a tailored navy suit with a light blue shirt and a dark pink tie. Style citations go out to Marcus Polowski for a medium grey suit, matching shirt, and a fluorescent orange tie, and to Alana Hirtle for a black jacket with purple and white florals over a purple top. Dishonourable mention goes out to Lori Idlout for a dark yellow leather jacket over a black top.