The PM was back from his trip to Washington, and every leader was present and ready to grill him on it, and the nothing he came back with. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he decried Mark Carney as a weak leader, and then falsely claimed that Carney promised one trillion dollars in investment if he gets the deal he wants, and that this money would flee Canada. The Liberals gave Carney an ovation as he stood to speak, childishly, and he said that this was an economic lesson for the opposition, saying that the two economies are closely linked, and that this is what is at stake for the U.S. if they don’t get a deal. Poilievre railed that Carney was giving the Americans a $54 billion gift, and complained about softwood lumber tariffs. Carney said that we currently have the best deal of any country and that they are still working on other gains. Poilievre switched to English to complain about the investment question and demanded action on the auto tariffs, and Carney reiterated that we already have the best deal, and that they are working on other sectors including getting a new auto agreement. Poilievre accused the government of selling out the auto sector as job losses mount, and said the government betrayed them. Carney patted himself on the back and said that they have taken measures to assist the sector. Poilievre said that Carney has had his elbows “surgically removed” and listed the lost investment and jobs, and Carney said there were three things that were true—the relationship with the Americans is not the same as it was, that we have the best deal of anyone, and that he would get an even better deal. Poilievre kept hammering away at lost jobs and investments, repeated the falsehood about the trillion dollars. Carney looked exasperated as he said that there is something called the private sector, and the rest of his response was drowned out.
Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he mocked Carney for only getting nice words and being contented with not calling on his face. Carney said he was happy that the President had a meeting of the minds for a deal about the steel, aluminium and energy sectors. Blanchet again demanded more action, and Carney repeated that we have the best deal available but that they are working to get more. Blanchet said that the best deal is not working for the forestry or aluminium sectors, and before he raised the fable of the fox and the crow, and the problem with flattery. Carney insisted that their team is hard at work negotiating on behalf of the aluminium sector.
Round two, and Melissa Lantsman returned to the falsehood about the trillion dollars (Anand: We have our strategic response funds while we build new supply chains and negating a new deal; Businesses are choosing Canada to invest in), Andrew Scheer recited the same script (Champagne: We will take no lessons….; We will build this country), Arpan Khanna recited job losses (Hajdu: You attacked unions when you were in power), and Luc Berthold read the falsehoods about trillion dollars in French (MacKinnon: Canadians invest abroad and return the profits here, such as pension funds; The world is investing in Canada, and we are one of the best countries in the G7 for direct foreign investment).
Hajdu: Listen, Mr. Speaker…Conservatives: Listen! Speaker: I’m trying to listen. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-10-08T18:41:30.791Z
Rhéal Fortin raised the five premiers demanding the government withdraw their factum at the Supreme Court (Fraser: We did not start this case, and it would be unthinkable for the federal government not to weigh in; You have decided to twist my words for a political point).
Rhéal Fortin has completely lost touch with reality on the Notwithstanding Clause and the federal factum. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-10-08T18:46:51.340Z
Kyle Seeback complained about the size of the deficit and blamed it for job losses (Long: Your leader can’t keep a job), Kelly McCauley returned to the trillion dollar falsehood (Long: Stop fighting our initiatives; Canadians chose our leader over yours), and Bernard Généreux read the French script about the size of the deficit (Lightbound: We cut taxes for the Middle Class™ and Canadians chose a serious leader).
Round three had Poilievre get back up to ask about the U.S. Commerce Secretary’s comments about tariffs on finished autos (Anand: The prime minister and president had a productive discussion yesterday and the president said he wants Canada to do well making cars; You just vote against Canadians; Carney: Trump says we’re good negotiators; It’s a sad day when the leader of the opposition suggests that spending on NATO is backing down on defence, and we have the best tariff rate; Japan, the EU, and the UK are all paying higher tariffs on autos and that is why we are fighting hard for autos and I put the president on notice yesterday; The agreement yesterday was to get a deal on steel, aluminium and energy; The U.S. has fundamentally changed their trading relationship and that is why we are building at home). It also saw questions on the trillion dollar falsehood (Hajdu: Your party voted against Canadians) youth unemployment (Hajdu: You voted against the interests of youth time and again), job losses (Champagne: We have a lot of good news to share, like our tax cuts), the gun buyback and accused the government of hiring relatives for it (Anandasangaree: The Mass Casualty Commission in Nova Scotia recommended the government remove assault-style weapons from the streets), and worrying about what happens if American ships go through the Northwest Passage without permission and about Inuit ownership of the area (Chartrand: Dual use investment in the north ensures defence priorities are met).
Overall, the better behaviour that we started out with in this parliament has started to break down, as things got pretty loud and unruly today, starting with that childish ovation the Liberals insisted on delivering at the top. The biggest scripted item of the day was the falsehood that Carney had supposedly promised one trillion dollars in investment in the U.S., which is not what was said. Carney gave an extrapolation of current capital flows, which run about $150-200 billion per year from Canada into the U.S., often from institutional investors, and as Carney said, that could be up to $1 trillion over five years. That’s largely status quo. And if Poilievre wants to put controls over pension plans and institutional investors the they’re not allowed to invest abroad or spend Canadian funds out of the country well, good luck to him. And hey, it would be great if Carney could actually say that, but he hasn’t and seemingly won’t, and the closest we got was Steven MacKinnon saying that the “Maple 8” pension funds often invest and bring the profits home, which is what this kind of investment refers to. But instead, we just kept getting that trillion-dollar figure thrown around mendaciously time and again, and it just festers.
Meanwhile, it was fascinating to watch Poilievre goad Carney into responding in the third round, and it was successful and Carney did get back up, and they started volleying back and forth, which is the most sustained responses that Carney has had since he’s taken office. Poilievre thinks that he’s the one who comes out on top in these exchanges, but Carney isn’t doing much to dissuade him, and while he may look exasperated when he hears the absolute nonsense coming out of Poilievre’s mouth, he never actually corrects him or gives him an “economic lesson” has he says he is, but mostly just responds in platitude-heavy bullet points. This isn’t great, and is not a good sign of how this parliament is shaping up.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anna Gainey for a cream-coloured collared top under a grey vest and matching slacks, and to Ben Carr for a dark blue suit with a pale pink shirt and a blue patterned tie. Style citations go out to Burton Bailey for a greige jacket over a white shirt, brown-grey slacks, and a tan-grey tie, and to Cheryl Gallant for a sparkling jacket with swirling colours over a plum-coloured dress.