Wednesday, and everyone in the Chamber was revved up from their morning caucus meetings. The prime minister was present, as were the other leaders, and Andrew Scheer led off, and boasted that the Conservatives would force a vote to get money that went to GC Strategies back (which I don’t think you can do legally). Mark Carney said that the government was focused on best-in-class procurement practices, which is why they changed the department. Scheer claimed that Carney must have somehow been involved because he was an economic advisor to the Liberal Party, along with other ministers still in the Cabinet, and Carney crowed about the new minister and that his deputy used to fly fighter jets. Mark Strahl repeated the same accusations and accused the government of making no effort to get wasted dollars back, and Carney said that the Conservatives are ignoring that there was just an election. Strahl tried again, and got much the same answer. Luc Berthold read the French version of Scheer’s script, and Carney repeated his best-in-class line in French. Berthold repeated the notion that the ministers involved got promoted, and Carney stated that he will be focused on best-in-class procurement.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wondered if the carbon levy rebates that went out in April was paid for already through the levy collected, and Carney said that it was a transitional payment because they cancelled the levy and people still needed it for the transition. Blanchet Said that the government is refusing to pay back Quebeckers if others didn’t pay into it, and demanded they now be compensated. Carney reminded him that Quebec has their own carbon pricing system, and that he respects their jurisdiction. Blanchet reiterated that the rebate was not paid for, and called it an injustice against the people of Quebec. Carney repeated that there are different systems and different transitions, so the system is coherent. 

Round two, and Blake Richards decried the ballooning figures of the F-35s (McGuinty: It’s normal for costs to increase, especially given supply chain disruptions during the pandemic; National Defence is keeping a close eye on costs), Branden Leslie noted the public lands report (Lightbound: We will always protect the integrity of the procurement process) Michael Gugliemin raised the reports collectively (Lightbound: We will always hold bad actors to account), Connie Cody read the same script (Lightbound: I had a good conversation with the Auditor General and she confirmed we are on track to meet our goals of housing on public lands), and Richard Martel read the same script in French (McGuinty: We are keeping a close eye on costs), and worried that China got a deal with Trump before Canada (Joly: The tariffs against us are illegal, unjust and we are putting strong countermeasures in place).

Jean-Denis Garon said that not giving rebates to Quebec is “theft” (Guilbeault: You are going too far, and you know that Quebec’s carbon pricing level as below the rate the rest of Canada paid; Quebec has a cap-and-trade system, not a price per tonne).

John Barlow trotted out bullshit lines about government spending driving up food costs (Hajdu: You voted against help for Canadians, and are you saying that members of the Armed Forces don’t deserve a raise?), Harb Gill tried another version of the same talking points (Zerucelli: Hooray for our national school food programme), Jim Bélanger tried again (Long: People voted for our plan), and Garnett Genuis worried about youth unemployment (Hajdu: We have added more spaces for the Canada Summer Jobs programme).

Round three saw questions on the Auditor General’s report on housing on federal lands (Robertson: The housing units remain under development and will be delivered; There are no wrong places to build housing; These are being build in collaboration with local partners; Lightbound: The Auditor General clearly says in her report that we are on track to meet our housing goals), the cocaine seized by Peel police and people arrested on bail (Anandasangaree: Let me thank the local police; This matter is going through the courts), the increase in crimes against persons (Sahota: We will make it harder for perpetrators of domestic violence to get bail), oil and gas development (Hodgson: We presented the One Canada Economy bill), BC Ferries buying new ships from China (Freeland: I share your concern about procurement, however that project was not federal), the lobster fishery (Thompson: I met with fishers and harvesters, and we are working to support authorised fisheries), and the lawful access portions of Bill C-2 (Anandasangaree: This bill will help keep Canadians safe).

Overall, the day was much the same as yesterday, with the same questions being asked over and over again, and they got much the same responses over and over again, with very little of actual substance being delivered on either side. Once again, the government had some lines they could have used, like the Auditor General saying that the federal government had very little control over the cost increases with the F-35s, which counters the charge of incompetence, but no, they didn’t point that out. Same with the usual canard of government spending supposedly driving up food prices, or the fact that they have no conception of how long the Estimates process takes and to why they couldn’t cap spending until the next cycle. The government keeps scoring on their own net, over and over again.

Meanwhile, the NDP did have a more coherent question this time about the alarming lawful access provisions in Bill C-2, but the minister’s answer was nearly useless. This is something that the Liberals fought against for fifteen years, and are suddenly now pushing in their own legislation, unnecessarily. They need to be hammered on this, but the Conservatives are unlikely to do so, and the NDP have one question most days, so they are limited in their ability to push when they need to.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anita Anand for a fuchsia suit with a white crew-necked top, and to Vince Gasparro for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and a pink tie. Style citations go out to Steeve Lavoie for an off-white jacket over a black shirt and a pale green tartan tie, and to Mona Fortier for a light blue floral print jacket over a navy too with a keyhole neckline. Dishonourable mention goes out to Shannon Miedema for a dark yellow jacket over a black top.