The Monday after a break week, and it was little surprise that neither of the main leaders were present. That left it up to Garnett Genuis to lead off, and he decried the job numbers released last Friday, and demanded an end to excuses by the government. Steven MacKinnon responded in French with condolences for the loss of lives in the collision at LaGuardia late last night. Genuis noted that Conservatives send their condolences as well, and again, decried job losses and blamed…government deficits. MacKinnon repeated his condolences for the collision in English. Melissa Lantsman took over, and she too decried the job numbers, and François-Philippe Champagne dismissed this as talking down the economy when they have so many things happening. Lantmsan seemed to think that we are somehow uniquely awful thanks to the government because other countries also face tariffs, as though their economies are equally exposed to the US. This time Patty Hajdu reminded her that we are in the midst of a trade war, and that they have tariff response plans with provinces like Ontario. Luc Berthold took over in French, to again denounce the job numbers, added in the recent job losses at Algoma Steel, and added in that there was no deal with Trump. Champagne took exception to that kind of question that was creating division while Canadians were standing together. Berthold tried again, blaming Carney for making things worse, and Mélanie Joly took her own turn to take exception to the question, saying that Algoma not shut down, and that they have the defence industrial strategy that would transform the sector.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she denounced the hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada on Quebec’s so-called secularism law, and declared it an attack on Quebec. Sean Fraser said that the Court is the right place to hold this argument, and it was inappropriate for him to comment. Normandin tried again, saying that the Notwithstanding Clause is the only think keeping Quebec as itself. Joël Lightbound repeated Fraser’s response. Rhéal Fortin tried the same line again, and this time Steven MacKinnon took a swipe at the Parti Québécois. 

Round two, and Jasraj Hallan raced through some insulting talking points about the state of the economy (Hogan: We have record production in the oil sector, and we have new projects coming on line; You look through the good news to find the bad news to bring misery to this Chamber every day), Sandra Cobena worried about job losses (Joly: We have been meeting with Algoma; McGuinty: Here is a list of recent procurements), Pat Kelly tried again (Joly: We are exposed to Trump’s tariffs; Champagne: Here are some facts about our growth and deficit), and Eric Melillo read the same script again (McKinnon: We have made announcements about the new steel that they will be producing).

Conservatives don’t seem to believe that Canada is more exposed to Trump’s trade war than anyone else in the G7. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-03-23T18:37:00.841Z

Sébastien Lemire worried about the pension software costs (Hajdu: The backlog is declining and Canadians expect a modern benefits system; Lightbound: Regarding the Phoenix transition, we thank the Auditor General for her report and we are learning from past mistakes).

Dominique Vien read the same script about jobs in French (Joly: We are helping Algoma get new projects; Champagne: It’s as if you have been living on a desert island while we are in a trade war), Joël Godin read the same again (Lightbound: We are taking action while you are obstructing), Pierre Paul-Hus worried about someone released without supervision (Anandasangaree: The parole board is independent; We are strengthening bail laws and sentencing).

Canadians are apparently “suffocating,” and that’s why we have job losses. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-03-23T18:47:19.962Z

Round three saw questions on auto exports (Joly: We have a new auto plan and they are late to it, and they think we should just wait for Washington to change their mind; You don’t have a plan, you have a pitch that will permanently threaten several plants; Your colleague went to Washington and talked down our industry; Hajdu: You didn’t consult with the head of Unifor), the promise to hire a thousand more Mounties (Anandasangaree: The platform commitment is underway, and the first cohort will graduate in the coming weeks; You should support lawful access; Fraser: You didn’t promise to hire any, while our first cohort is soon to graduate), foreign student permit fraud (Diab: We welcome the report and agree that strong oversight helps improve the programme, and we will improve how to flag files), whether Carney brought up human rights with China (Anand: There was an error in the written response and will be resubmitted, and we did proactively raise rights at both levels, as did I), and promised support for flood production in BC (Olszewski: I have been in contact with officials in the region, and we are taking active steps).

At the risk of being pedantic, I don't think one can claim to have a "plan" for "tariff-free" access to the American market unless one has the agreement of the American government to offer said access.

— Aaron Wherry (@aaronwherry.bsky.social) 2026-03-23T18:56:23.703Z

Apparently the federal government can hire 1000 Mounties overnight. They don’t need six months of training or anything. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-03-23T18:57:49.399Z

Overall, it was a lacklustre day, where the questions on the poor job numbers released on Friday were so completely divorced from reality that it felt like the Conservatives were living in an alternate universe—and to be perfectly frank, they may very well be living in an alternative news ecosystem. Yes, we are in the middle of a trade war where Canada is more exposed to the US market than other countries in the G7, and there seems to be no recognition of that, nor would the government make the case for this fact in most instances. The Conservatives keep bringing up the dumbest excuses in terms of why they claim the economy is underperforming, and I just fail to see why the government can’t pay out actual facts rather than just patting themselves on the back with good news talking points.

Otherwise, it was Auditor General Report Day, and for the most part, it again went unmentioned with the exception of Michelle Rempel Garner’s immigration questions, and it was shoehorned into questions on the RCMP recruitment—once again, a question where the government had the obvious response of ridiculing the Conservatives’ notion that Mounties can be hired and be on the job overnight rather than the fact that they have six months of training, and that the Conservatives seem to think that we are hiring mall cops. But no, Gary Anandasangaree again failed to provide an adequate answer than to say the first cohort are graduating in the coming weeks, which the Conservatives dismissed rather than having their question be shown to be as ridiculous as it really was.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Burton Bailey for a navy three-piece suit over a light blue shirt with a medium blue paisley tie, and to Rachel Bendayan for a navy suit over a black scoop-necked top. Style citations go out to Anna Roberts for an off-white and black geometric patterned smock jacket over a black top with a matching off-white stripe and black slacks, and to David Bexte for a navy jacket, white shirt, purple tie, and blue jeans. Dishonourable mention goes out to Jennifer McKelvie for a bright yellow jacket over a black top and slacks.