The PM was present today, as were all of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he took issue with a statement that Carney made in March about affordability being the best it’s been in ages. Carney said that what he said was about costs and wages, and that wages are now rising at double the rate of inflation. Poilievre disputed this and listed things that he claims Carney was wrong about, to which Carney noted that they measure affordability using rates and wages, and wages are increasing Faster, while things like rents are decreasing. Poilievre switched to English to lament the high food price inflation, and returned to the comment about affordability being the best its been in years. Carney stated that the record is that since he’s been prime minister, wages have risen faster than inflation, before he plugged the enhanced GST credit. Poilievre again disputed that this was wrong, and Carney again noted that asking rents have been declining, and that wages are increasing. Poilievre again took issue with affordability and demanded Carney acknowledge that, and Carney defended the measures and wage levels. Poilievre continued to insist that Carney was wrong, and Carney again touted the entranced GST credit and their cuts to fuel and income taxes.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he took a swipe at the new Canada–U.S. trade advisory committee before lamenting the issue of tariffs. Carney praised the members of the committee, naming Quebec members. Blanchet demanded temporary measures for companies affected by the latest round of tariffs, and Carney pointed out that these tariffs were global and yes, they are considering temporary measures. Blanchet again worried about the affected sectors, and Carney gave more reassurances. 

Round two, and Poilievre returned to demanding a correction for the affordability comment (Hajdu: The Canada Child Benefit is indexed to inflation; Long: You have contribute nothing while our leader has a record of accomplishments; van Koeverden: You supported Brexit and opposed same-sex marriage; Solomon: You are cherry-picking statistics and wages are growing faster than inflation; Fragiskatos: Same again; Valdez: You cost Canadians $2.3 million to run in a new seat in when you lost yours while we are helping Canadians).

“Debate me!” Poilievre demands as Carney sits there once the leaders’ round is over. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T18:32:42.183Z

“STAND UP! STAND UP!” the Conservative benches are chanting. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T18:35:53.190Z

Poilievre referred to Solomon as the “artificially intelligent minister” and got warned by the Speaker. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T18:38:42.309Z

Marie-Hélène Gaudreau worried about a particular veterans rehabilitation programme that some veterans find more harmful (McKnight: I have directed the department to launch an independent review of the programme to see where it’s working and where it is not; There are opportunities to improve, and we will undertake a review).

Jason Groleau demanded a cut to all gas taxes (Lightbound: We have paused the excise tax and have other supports), Jacques Gourde growled about affordability (Provost: We are working on gas taxes, essential benefits, and creating jobs), and Bernard Généroux demanded all gas taxes be cut yet again (Leitão: Let’s look at the facts—there is a war and international prices have risen, so we are given relief to taxpayers).

Round three saw questions on negotiations with the U.S. (LeBlanc: Conversations are happening hall the time; Hooray for the new advisory council; I’m surprised you don’t believe w should be here with Canadian workers; Bardeesy: We are working with affected sectors; Anand: We are concluding other agreements with ASEAN and Mercusor), immigration (Fragiskatos: You know that’s not what the deputy minister said), non-citizens committing crimes (Fraser: We are moving forward with serious reforms to criminal laws, and there is no rule for leniency for non-citizens), and oil companies taking in profits from higher prices (Champange: The fuel excise tax suspension came in yesterday, and we gave additional powers to the Competition Bureau).

Once again, if you believed the Conservatives, apparently Trump is rational and has been willing to negotiate but the problem is Carney. This is risible. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T19:03:58.938Z

The Conservatives keep insisting Mexico is getting a deal while we’re not. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-21T19:05:08.324Z

Overall, it was not a shining example of how MPs should behave as Poilievre spent fully half of QP on a Twitter-focused strategy fo demanding Carney debate him on the notion that his statement in March that there was the best affordability in years, based on particular measures. Carney did respond during the leaders’ round to explain his remarks and what it was based on, which Poilievre refused to believe, and he kept asking. Again, and again, and again, and during most of the second round, where Carney did not answer, and a roster of minsters and parliamentary secretaries stood up to take swipes at Poilievre, while he tried to goad Carney into responding, when he woudl not. It was a sad little spectacle that will result in clips about Carney being “too afraid” to debate him, or to admit his “mistakes,” or what not. It was just a childish display in the end.

Additionally, the Conservatives spent most of the third round focused on the notion that Carney is somehow the roadblock to a tariff deal with the Americans,and not, oh, Trump (seriously?!), and kept repeating the claim that Carney promised a deal by now, which is not really what he said. and again, pretends that Trump is somehow a rational actor but he is not. Trying to pretend that he is does a disservice to everyone, to say nothing about the inherent dishonesty that it portends. They also threw in some very questionable bits of outrage bait about non-citizens who commit crimes as well, because of course they’re not going to let any outrage bait go, no matter how gross or unseemly. I will also add that the only real question and response we got today came from the Bloc and the Veterans Affairs minister. That was it. Ridiculous. 

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Giovanna Mingarelli for a light-grey three-piece suit with a white collared shirt, and to John-Paul Danko for a dark grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and a dark pink tie. Style citations go out to Yves-François Blanchet for a light taupe jacket with a pale blue windowpane pattern over a dusky blue shirt, a navy striped tie, and a near-black pocket square, and to Madeleine Chenette for a tight floral-patterned jacket over a pale purple top and black slacks.