On a rainy Monday in the Nation’s Capital, with the three by-elections underway in the GTA and Terrebonne, the PM was in town but not in QP. Pierre Poilievre was also absent, leaving it up to Melissa Lantsman to lead off, and she decried the price of gasoline, and demanded the government cut “gas taxes” (even though the clean fuel standard is not a tax and is not actually a government charge). François-Philippe Champagne declared that they will not take lessons from the Conservatives, that there is a conflict in the Middle East that they are monitoring, and that they just met with their provincial counterparts. Lantsman demanded action, like cutting those taxes, rather than just monitoring the situation. Champagne reminded her that they already cut taxes, and that they are helping with other programmes like dental care. Lansman tried one more time, and this time, Patty Hajdu got up to pat herself on the back for the various programmes the government has put into place that help with affordability writ large. Gabriel Hardy took over in French to again demand all gas taxes be removed, to which Steven MacKinnon reminded him that they already took off the consumer carbon levy. Hardy tried again, decrying that we weren’t like Norway (erm, really), and repeated his demand. Champagne took this one, and reminded him of their tax cuts thus far. Jason Groleau took over to make the same demand, and Joël Lightbound reminded him of the other investments they have made to reduce costs.
Alexis Deschênes led for the Bloc, and raised the supposed ethical conflict of the finance minister with the high-speed rail project. Champagne dismissed this as ad hominem attacks, and that he followed all of the rules. Deschênes tried again, trying to tie this to the Terrebonne by-election, and MacKinnon got back up to chide him for his dishonourable question. Deschênes took one last swipe, and MacKinnon again insisted that Canadians have been waiting for a high-speed train for 50 years now, and that this will change the mobility landscape in Canada.
Round two, and Jasraj Hallan tried to tie high food prices with high fuel price and demanded gas taxes be removed (Long: We cut taxes and have the enhanced benefit), Lianne Rood read the same script about gas taxes (Zerucelli: We voted to make life more affordable and those guys voted against it; Valdez: We re delivering relief for Canadians), Richard Bragdon tried again (MacDonald: We are not in charge of what is happening in the Middle East, but we are taking measures to make life more affordable; McLean: People in my riding wanted an income tax cut and we did it), and Kelly DeRidder tried yet again (McLean: Seniors remember when Conservatives wanted to cut their OAS).
Jasraj Hallan claims the “$90” enhanced GST benefit isn’t enough to buy a jug of milk weekly. That’s…dubious. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T18:32:31.638Z
Rhéal Fortin took another swipe at Champagne and the high-speed rail project (MacKinnon: This is still a dishonourable question, and people want this train; People in Terrebonne want this train, and we are listening to their concerns).
Gérard Deltell returned to the gas tax demands (Lightbound: Oil prices are affected by a number of factors, but you could support our affordability measures), Joël Godin gave another sob story to demand the gas tax cut (Provost: Here are ways we are helping with affordability), Bernard Généroux read the same talking points (Leitão: Yes prices increased because of the war in the the Middle East, but we have benefits to help families).
Round three saw yet more questions on gas taxes (Solomon: Hooray benefits; McKnight: Hooray for our benefit programmes, and we are strengthening food infrastructure), the Cowichan decision (Alty: We have filed an appeal; The Musqueam agreement doesn’t affect property rights; Fraser: You have misconstrued the position of the government, and you appear not to have read the filings; Robertson: We support the rights of private property owners, but you are pushing fear and misinformation; McKnight: This will not change private property rights), alleged conflicts of interest (MacKinnon: There is no risk and the minister complies with the rules), electric busses in winter (Robertson: Hooray for our zero emission transit funding), and banning surveillance pricing (Champagne: We have increased the power of the Competition Bureau).
Overall, one was in danger of nodding off during QP today because it was just so gods damned repetitive, to little effect. The longer the same questions went on, the more you had random ministers standing up go get clips of themselves praising their programmes (which will be clipped without the question that was asked), and it’s so very tiresome. This being said, I did find it funny that the Conservatives decried the increase in revenues that the government is likely to rake in from higher royalties from the higher prices, which they claim should justify the tax cuts, but these are also the same Conservatives who wail and gnash their teeth about the size of the deficit, so you would think that a windfall would be welcome? Oh, but it’s the wrong kind of windfall.
Otherwise, I will note that Rebecca Alty did stand up and give actual answers for a change when it came to the various questions on the Cowichan decision (and occasionally punctuated with the Musqueam agreement), and no matter how many times Alty and the other ministers stated that they are standing up for private property owners, the same scripted questions kept being asked—again, all for the sake of clips, but it certainly was demonstrative of the Conservatives refusing to take yes for an answer and unable to pivot because everything is so scripted.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anna Gainey for a black v-necked top under a black suit with brass buttons and black slacks, and to John-Paul Danko for a dark grey three-piece suit over a white shirt and pocket square and a burgundy tie. Style citations go out to Randy Hoback for a taupe jacket over a light blue shirt with faded blue jeans with no tie, and to Andréanne Larouche for a pink floral top with a ruffled collar with shiny dark blue tights.