As the countdown to the G7 summit was on, the PM was not in the House for Question Period today, nor was Andrew Scheer. That left it up to Leslyn Lewis to lead off, raising their Supply Day motion to force GC Strategies to repay their contracts. Anita Anand said she would get go the question, but wanted to raise their air crash in India that included one Canadian aboard. Lewis also extended condolences, before repeating her question. This time, Joël Lightbound recited the talking points about barring GC Strategies, and that there are RCMP investigations and legal actions ongoing. Bob Zimmer read the same script, and demanded support for their motion. Lightbound released his same response. Zimmer said that the answer wouldn’t cut it, but got much the same response. Dominique Vien recited the French version of the same script, and Lightbound recited his same points en français. Vien tried again, and got the same answer one last time.
Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried that the government is planning to invoke closure on Bill C-5, which would steamroll fossil fuel projects and gut environmental assessments. Steven MacKinnon insisted that this was necessary in response to the trade war that the Americans started. Normandin corrected stated that this bill needed more study, and MacKinnon responded that Quebec voted for 44 Liberal MPs, as though that justified a Henry VIII clause in that bill. Patrick Bonin took over and said those 44 Quebec Liberals voted to steal from Quebec when they voted against the Bloc motion to extend the rebates for Quebeckers. This time Steven Guilbeault pointed out that there is still an industrial pricing system, and that Quebec’s price under cap-and-trade is below the price in the rest of the country.
Round two, and Jamie Schmale returned to demanding support for their motion (Lightbound: Reciting the same points), Scot Davidson read the same script (Lightbound: Same answer), Richard Bragdon read the same script with added incredulity (Lightbound: Ibid.), Jason Groleau read the script in French (Lightbound: Ibid., but en français).
The Conservatives keep saying that GC Strategies were “Liberal insiders” when the Auditor General did not say that, and CBSA (which is an arm’s-length agency) contracted them, not the government. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T18:34:53.149Z
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe needled the government for inviting Modi and “bone saw” Mohammed bin Salman to the G7 and demanded their invitations be rescinded (Anand: There is a global crisis and we need a forum to have these conversations).
Frank Caputo wondered if the Ethics Commissioner was consulted on the refusals of the public safety minister (Anandasangaree: I will support law enforcement and national security agencies who do their work impartially, and I have asked officials to implement a screen related to the Tamil community to avoid the perception of conflict), and then blamed the government for allowing someone possessing child porn getting a life sentence (Fraser: The law on the books does actually impose a mandatory minimum of prison), Dan Albas demanded the federal government do something about BC Ferries buying ships from China (Freeland: We will always side with Canadian workers but this is a provincial issue, and their funding from Transport Canada is for operations, not capital expenditure), Jeff Kibble demanded the same (Freeland: Same answer), and Richard Martel wanted support for mining projects (Hodgson: Support the One Economy Act).
Freeland gives an actual full answer for once, and the Conservative asking it calls it a “non-answer” because it was an issue under provincial jurisdiction that she can do nothing about. FFS#QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T18:46:58.324Z
Round three saw questions on food inflation blaming government spending (Hajdu: 22 million Canadians are about to get a tax cut thanks to us; Long: Inflation dropped from 8.1% to 1.7% over the past two years while our economy is growing; Turnbull: We brought it home in the last election because we have a plan to create jobs), summer employment (Hajdu: We increased the number of Canada Summer Jobs this year), if the carbon rebates for small businesses taxable (Valdez: Boilerplate but no answer), the canola tariffs from China (MacDonald: We have had the trade minister and the prime minister meeting with officials and we are moving in the right direction), a mill closure that did not get tariff relief (Bardeesy: We will not be bullied and we are fighting against these unjust tariffs; Leitão: We need everyone’s support to weather this storm), supposed government censorship (Guilbeault: You don’t believe in supporting news while we want to ensure journalists can do their important work; The old Bill C-11 was about discovering more Canadian artists; Even Google agreed we need to support journalism), compensation for the victims of Thetford Mines (Michel: I will get back to you on this), the willingness to participate in the “golden dome” (McGuinty: We have been a central partner with NORAD, and we are taking part in wide-ranging investment on security partnerships), and Bill C-5 failing to hold corporations to account (Freeland: Canada is facing a critical moment, and premiers are all on board to build Canada).
Rachael Thomas just constructed a false reality where the Liberals are busy censoring the Internet. I cannot even. If Thomas wants to talk censorship, she should talk to her premier. For. Fuck. Sakes. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-12T19:04:30.692Z
Overall, the day was again incredibly repetitive, until the halfway point, and if I had to hear those exchanges over and over again one more time, I might very well have gone insane. Of course, some of those questions in the second half were even more divorced from reality, particularly at the end, with Rachael Thomas and Andrew Lawton indulging in the alternate dystopian reality where the Liberals have been censoring the whole of the internet and have an “Internet Czar” reading your tweets, and so on, as the absolute worst offender. But this is the kind of brainworm fodder that the Conservatives seem to think gets their base really engaged (and they use the alternate universe to create an version of reality that facts can’t penetrate with, so their adherents tune out the fact-based reality), and this is what we get. It’s toxic, and it’s the very thing that has lead to the death of democracy in America, but they still think they can get away with it here. And the notion that online harms legislation is “though police?” Absolutely unhinged.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rechie Valdez for a black structured top with sheer half-sleeves, a mandarin collar and elaborate embroidery along the front, and to David Myles for a slim-fitted dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark purple tie. Style citations go out to Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe for a navy jacket over a light blue shirt, grey patterned tie and dark tan slacks, and to Linda Lapointe for a navy dress with bright florals under a red jacket.