The PM had just returned home from his trip to the G20, but was not present as a result. Pierre Poilievre, however, was, and he led off in French, and he raised that when Carney was elected, it was on the notion that tariffs were an “existential threat,” but when asked over the weekend about the state of talks with Trump, Carney said “Who cares?” and Poilievre railed that he doesn’t care about forestry or auto workers. Steve MacKinnon ignored the question, and raised that last week, Conservative MP Bob Zimmer took up MAGA talking points that immigrants drag down the Canadian economy, and wondered if Poilievre approved of those comments. Poilievre said that his question was for the PM, who was in Ottawa (but he couldn’t directly say that he wasn’t preset in the Chamber), and repeated his incredulity about the “Who cares?” and how the prime minister couldn’t care about the people losing their jobs due to his “incompetence.” MacKinnon responded in English by again asking about Zimmer’s comments, and asked again if Poilievre endorses such claims. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his incredulity about the “who cares?”, but MacKinnon again raised comments made by Zimmer and Stephanie Kusie, and wondered if there would be apologies. Poilievre raised an $80 billion contract Brookfield got from the White House, and accused Carney of being more concerned about that. MacKinnon insisted that this was another attack questioning the prime minister’s loyalty to Canada. Poilievre listed industries affected by tariffs and declared that he about them, and this time Dominic LeBlanc got up to say that the government was elected to defend Canadian workers, which the budget does, and the Conservatives voted against it. Poilievre repeated the claim about a Brookfield deal, and François-Philippe Champagne got up to praise the good news in the budget.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and he relayed that he was shocked that the government has given up on its feminist foreign policy, and he demanded to know if gender equating was still a Canadian value. Mona Fortier got up to read a script about how Canada continues to support gender equality and is still committed to eliminating gender-based violence, but that the foreign policy will be guided by three values, the third of which includes feminism. Blanchet needled that there was discomfort on the other side over this “gaffe” by the PM, and wondered if this was about pleasing the sexist regime in the U.S. Fortier repeated that they still hold feminism and a value. Blanchet called this speaking out of both sides of his mouth, pointed out that Carney said this as he was trying to get billions out of the UAE. Fortier read the same statement about values.

Round two, and Arpan Khanna launched into today’s “who cares?” script (LeBlanc: We are actively involved with all sectors affected by the American tariffs; Hajdu: You voted against the interests of these workers), Harb Gill read the same script (Bardeesy: We are fighting for these workers, and here is a quote from a local mayor), Todd Doherty read the same script with more dramatic angst (Hodgson: We are announcing new forestry supports in the coming days; I know what this feels like which is why we have announced the supports), Richard Bragdon read the same script with a New Brunswick spin (LeBlanc: We are working on a trade agreement, but when Trump suspended talks, did you think we were going to do nothing to support workers?).

Conservatives are really trying to treat Trump like the rational actor who can be trusted to make a trade deal. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T19:48:24.376Z

Luc Thériault raised the issue of Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia selling his Brookfield shares but Carney putting his in a blind trust (MacKinnon: We have some of the strictest ethics rules in the world and the PM has always met them; The PM isn’t doing anything for Brookfield by definition).

Richard Martel read the French version of today’s script (LeBlanc: Same answer as before; Bardeesy: We have been fighting these tariffs with our strategic response fund and our Canadian procurement strategy), Ned Kuruc read the script again (Hajdu: You keep fighting against measures to save our steel sector; Zerucelli: You don’t support the workers), Warren Steinley also read the script (Bardeesy: You voted against supports for the workers).

Round three saw questions on baby formula (Gainey: We have taken action to help food insecurity including the school food programme and the tax cut; Church: We created the Canada Child Benefit and invested in child care), food price inflation (MacKinnon: Here we go with imaginary taxes again; Thompson: Teachers in my riding praise the school food programme), deficits (Solomon: You need to take for an answer; Long: Seventy percent of Canadians have no confidence in your leader; Champagne: Let me quote the previous PBO; Lightbound: We have the best fiscal situation in the G7), a pipeline to the Northwest BC coast (Hodgson: Energy superpower!; There is no current proposal), the investment in the European Space Agency with Brookfield connections (Bardeesy: Jeremy Hansen is with us, and we have been working with the ESA for decades; The ESA turns Canadian innovation into sales), and diversifying trade with democracies instead of democracies (Sidhu: Respect for human rights and labour are at the heart of our trade agreements). 

THAT’S NOT HOW INFLATION WORKS!TAXES ARE DISINFLATIONARY!NOBODY IS PRINTING MONEY!Can anyone on tha government side actually point these basic facts out?FFS! #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T19:56:01.593Z

Conservatives trying to build conspiracy theories around the investment in the European Space Agency…as astronaut Jeremy Hansen is in the Gallery. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T20:07:32.208Z

Overall, I find myself absolutely incredulous at just how much both sides were able to fumble the whole day. The Conservatives were absolutely right to jump on Carney’s somewhat flippant comments about when he last spoke to Trump over the weekend, but in the process, they set up the notion that Trump is some kind of rational actor with whom any kind of deal could be made. The government could have jumped on that, but they didn’t either, and tried to engage in whataboutism with comments by Conservative MPs and patting themselves on the back for the budget. Neither side came out ahead here, and it’s mystifying how neither side could actually take advantage of this.

Meanwhile, how is it that the government is still unable to come up with a reasonable response to the baby formula questions that are coming up every day now. Just praising the school food programme and the Canada Child Benefit makes it look like the government has no idea what they’re talking about. They should be talking about the shortages, the recalls, and maybe talk about trying to set up domestic producers in this country (as we currently have no domestic producers) but they don’t, and so they look ignorant and like they don’t care, which I can’t understand why they are doing this in the way that they are. It’s such a complete own-goal.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Maninder Sidhu for a tailored black suit with a pale blue shirt and a pale pink tie, and to Melissa Lantsman for a grey sport coat over a white collared shirt and black slacks. Style citations go out to Rosemarie Falk for a grey pleated top with pink and yellow florals with a black skirt, and to Harb Gill for a light blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a black tie with silver paisley pattern.