The PM was in town but elsewhere, and had previously responded to reporters’ questions that morning about his lack of QP attendance as letting his team handle it because they work as a team, which doesn’t excuse his obligations as prime minister when it comes to the exercise of accountability. Pierre Poilievre was also absent, leaving it up to Andrew Scheer to lead off, and he returned to yesterday’s peevish demand that the prime minister recant his previous statement that affordability is the best it’s been in a decade. Patty Hajdu took the opportunity to praise the Canada Summer Jobs Programme, which has opened for the season. Scheer took a swipe about the prime minister not buying his own groceries, and this time, Adam van Koeverden took the opportunity to take a swipe of his own at the Conservatives’ anti-intellectual approach, and Scheer’s falsified credentials in that he never did get his insurance licence. Tim Uppal took over, and read his own script about the prime minister’s assurance about affordability, and Steve MacKinnon took this one, pointing to the conflicts that have created supply disruptions globally, which was why the government lowered the fuel excise tax. Uppal demanded that the government deliver results, to which Wayne Long pointed to how much people will save thanks to the government’s tax cuts so far. Pierre Paul-Hus was up next to read the same script en français, and Joël Lightbound took this one, praising the government’s enhanced GST credit as well as the cut on the fuel excise tax. Paul-Hus tried one more time, and this time Lightbound pointed to how many people in Paul-Hus’ riding benefitted from programmes like dental care. 

Christine Normandin led off for the Bloc, and after noting that it is Earth Day, she pointed out that the government is testing the waters on new pipelines while southern Quebec is facing floods brought on by climate change. Nathalie Provost touted the government’s plan for nature and protecting thirty percent of land and waters. Normandin was not mollified and wanted pro-environment Liberals to speak. Provost insisted that the world is in a precarious place which is why they are working on different levels with their nature strategy. Patrick Bonin took over to encourage people to fight back against pipelines and subsidies for oil companies. Provost repeated her line about working on several levels, and working with Indigenous People while they build and build well. 

Round two, and Shannon Stubbs returned to the lament for affordability (McLean: There are a lot of things we can’t control, but we want to help youth get ahead with the summer jobs programme; Gainey: Hooray for the school food programme), Tamara Jansen regaled her conversation with an Uber driver and contrasted this to the affordability issue (McKnight: I used to run a small business and I have been there, and our programmes can make a difference), Grant Jackson demanded increased domestic food production to lower prices—as though persistent drought on the prairies isn’t a problem (Valdez: Hooray for our supports; MacDonald: It’s too bad you disagree with our supports for Canadians), and Corey Tochor lamented food prices without any understanding about the causes (Belanger: Your MPs from Saskatchewan have done nothing for our province).

Martin Champoux lamented that the trade advisory committee had no one from Quebec’s cultural sector (LeBlanc: The Quebec cultural exception is not on the table and you know that; Miller: The cultural sector is not on the table, and I’m hoping your are not implying that Jean Charest doesn’t understand Quebec’s cultural sector).

Luc Berthold shouted about Carney’s comments on affordability (MacKinnon: You voted against supports for Canadians; Dental care and school food programmes are not pathetic), Gérard Deltell accused Carney of doing nothing over ten years (Lightbound: The first thing we did was lower taxes; You opposed the dental programme and Canada Child Benefit), and Richard Martel read another script about food prices (Miller: If you want tangible results, we lowered child poverty over the past decade).

Round three saw questions on immigration screening (Anandasangaree: CBSA already vets everyone who comes into the country) non-citizens who commit crimes (Fraser: The case law in Canada is to ensure that there is no distortion of sentences so that they fit the crime; Sahota: Support lawful access; We delivered a jail-not-bail law and we announced more supports for victims), a former ISIS recruiter getting parole (Sahota: Correctional services can put conditions on any release order), bail (Anandasangaree: We have put forward the most comprehensive justice reform), trade talks with the U.S. (LeBlanc: We are constantly engaged with our U.S. partners, and we are prepared to support workers until then; Hodgson: We are providing supports for the forestry sector; Solomon: You need to get on board with the plan), extortion attacks (Sahota: Support lawful access), and students from Gaza not getting their study permits (Diab: We are concerned about the situation and students must meet our visa requirements and we understand this can be challenging).

The Conservatives are really leaning into the racist scapegoating around non-citizen criminals #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T18:54:06.001Z

I do not understand the Conservatives’ position that apparently the government isn’t capitulating enough to Trump to get talks going. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-22T19:05:50.870Z

Overall, it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as yesterday was, but like Monday, it was less focused as the Conservatives again tried to jam several issues into their frame about affordability, but the whinging about what Carney said in March continues to grate because the only point of this is performance. And the fact that the government just puts up a rotation of ministers to pat themselves on the back is just so very tiresome. The final third was even worse, however, with the frankly racist scapegoating of non-citizens convicted of crimes and insisting that the government has to exert power over the courts or to put their thumbs on the scales with the independence of bodies like the Parole Board, and I will commend Sean Fraser for pushing back on some of these questions, but that got cheapened when you had Ruby Sahota get up to demand the Conservatives pass the lawful access bill in response to these same questions is just a reflection of how absolutely badly all sides are handling this. It doesn’t need to be this bad, but everyone keeps making these choices, and Canadians are the losers here.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a light blue shirt, a darker blue pocket paisley tie and a white pocket square, and to Jenny Kwan for a black and grey patterned dress under a black jacket. Style citations go out to Shannon Stubbs for a moss green and black mottled top with a bunched collar under a navy jacket and slacks, and to Burton Bailey for a light grey jacket with elbow patches, tan slacks, an off#white shirt and a dark cream tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Annie Koutrakis for a mustard yellow jacket over a black too and slacks, to Rebecca Alty for a faded yellow jacket over an off-white top and black slacks, and to Buckley Belanger for a black jacket over dark grey slacks, white shirt, and a yellow striped tie.