The PM was away in Saskatoon, meeting with the premiers, while things got underway back in Ottawa. Even though Andrew Scheer was present, he didn’t lead off Question Period, and instead left that up to Kyle Seeback, and he worried that the prime minister ran on a platform of “elbows-up,” and promised to get $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs, but most of the counter-tariffs were “secretly” cancelled (not true), before he raised the prospect of higher steel and aluminium tariffs, and demanded to know how much the counter-tariffs would generate. François-Philippe Champagne promised to fight the unjust tariffs, and that they would build the Canada of tomorrow. Seeback complained that the Liberals don’t answer questions, and accused the prime minister of lying to steel workers. Mélanie Joly responded that she was in contact with industry leaders, and that they were in “solution mode” by promising to use Canadian steel and aluminium in major projects. Raquel Dancho took over and she too concern trolled about the dollar-for-dollar tariffs and demanded to know how much had been collected. Joly congratulated Dancho for being named her critic and said that no executive order has been signed yet. Dancho said that she could assume the figure was zero, and tried again while adding in the “punishing carbon tax” as a drain on business. Champagne insisted that they were defending workers and Canadian industry. Richard Martel took over in French to again demand to know how much in counter-tariffs have been collected, and Joly spoke about meeting with aluminium industry and union leaders over the weekend. Martel took some gratuitous swipes at Carney and said he talks out of both sides of his mouth, and Champagne insisted that they did not capitulate, and that they were standing up for industry and workers.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she claimed that the first ministers’ meeting was about forcing a “dirty oil pipeline” through Quebec. Joly pointed out the size of the Liberals’ Quebec caucus, and trotted out the lines about the standing up for industry workers. Normandin raised Carney’s meeting with oil and gas executives, and accused him of putting them first. Joly said that the job of the prime minister is to meet with everyone, and that right now they were focused on building, including high-speed rail. Mario Simard took over and repeated the same accusation, and Joly said that job creation was in the national interest. 

Round two, and Dan Muys read the same script about tariffs (Champagne: You are misinformed but hooray for our tax cuts; Joly: I was in contact with the steel industry over the weekend), Scot Davidson decried government red tape (Hajdu: We are making sure employers have the talent they need; MacKinnon: Quotes Carney), Harb Gill repeated the script about tariffs (Joly: We are making sure that major projects contain Canadian steel and aluminium), Arpan Khanna read the same (Champagne: This is a time to come together as a nation; Joly: We are fighting back with strong counter tariffs and our strategy is working).

Getting every new MP to read variations of the same script is really, really tiring. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-02T18:46:32.489Z

Sébastien Lemire worried about the election problems in Nunavik, northern Quebec (MacKinnon: Elections Canada is an independent agency, and questions should be addressed to them).

Kelly DeRidder turned to last week’s script about the size of the Estimates (Ali: We are ensuring that spending is being carefully managed, and have reduced spending on consultants and travel), Michael Gugliemin read the same (Ali: This includes investments in dental care, and the Canadian Forces), Kathy Borrelli read another script of the same (Champagne: We made generational investments in your riding of Windsor), Eric Lefebvre read the same in French (Lightbound: You guys produced a platform that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on).

Round three saw questions on the supposed “attacks” on Canadian energy (MacKinnon: Any project will need consensus and will still need an environmental assessment; The PM is meeting with premiers to build one Canadian economy, and it’s time to build; They are meeting to discuss the kinds of projects the country can consider undertaking), extortion cases (Sahota: Extortion is a serious crime and we take it seriously, and it comes with a penalty of life in prison), opioids (Michel: We are closely considering the situation and looking for solutions; Anandasangaree: Fentanyl is a scourge all over North America, and we are dismantling fentanyl rings), Carney’s new chief of staff and principal secretary (MacKinnon: We look forward to working with him, and the PM follows all ethics rules; They are great hires), reconstituting committees before summer (MacKinnon: Committees will be constituted, but where were you last fall when you stopped business for three months), and the situation in Gaza (Sarai: We are deeply concerned, and we urge a ceasefire, and call for the flow of aid and the release of the hostages). 

Morin: “Will the prime minister approve a pipeline today?”What pipeline? There isn’t one that any proponent is bringing forward? What good is approving a fantasy pipeline? FFS. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-02T18:53:19.779Z

You could power a small city from the methane emissions from the bullshit being spewed here today. Cripes. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-02T19:05:59.726Z

Overall, it was another incredibly repetitive day, where you yet again had a line-up of newbie MPs who all asked the same script—the nonsense about counter-tariffs first, then last week’s script about the Estimates spending (which is full of mendacious framing and outright disinformation about how the process works), followed by some complete and utter bullshit about project approvals and tough-on-crime policies. Just complete and utter falsehoods, that the ministers yet again refuse to actually call out, but who instead just pat themselves on the back. It’s boring, it’s repetitive, it’s harmful to democracy to let things play out this way, but nobody seems to care, and it’s just so exhausting.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Mélanie Joly for a black three-piece suit over a shirt too with a ruffled collar, and to Burton Bailey for a dark grey three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt and a red striped tie. Style citations go out to Arnold Viersen for a navy suit with a light blue shirt and a bright fuchsia tie, and to Rosemarie Falk for a black dress with florals under a black sweater. Dishonourable mention goes out to Kelly DeRidder for a bright yellow jacket over a black top and slacks.