Another day where the PM was in town but not at QP, while Pierre Poilievre had held a press conference in the Foyer earlier, and he was present. He led off in French, accusing Carney of being another Liberal with rising costs, crime, and “corruption,” before demanding that all taxes be cut on gasoline. François-Philippe Champagne responded by noting the cut in the gas excise tax. Poilievre whined that the question was for the prime minister, whom he declared was “hiding under the table” and received a caution by the Speaker for it, before he said that the reason the PM doesn’t respond because it would expose the illusion he has made thing worse. Champagne pointed out that they are helping Canadians, and that their economic update is coming next week. Poilievre turned to English, and called Carney “just another Liberal” before demanding all gas taxes be repealed. Champagne noted that Poilievre has been nowhere to be seen when they provided relief for Canadians before raising the economic update. Poilievre took a broad swipe at Carney, repeating the “hiding under the table” line, before pointing out that he “snarled” at a female journalist earlier in the day, and then denounced him in general. Hajdu said that if being just another Liberal means helping people, then sure, he’s just another Liberal. Poilievre listed Carney’s supposed sins as being “just another Liberal.” Hajdu tried another tactic and listed Poilievre’s supposed sins as being “just another Conservative.” Poilievre accused her of having imaginary conversations, before he went on a tear about the deficit and “printing money.” Champagne responded with his “take no lessons” line and listed supports they have provided while ensuring “sound fiscal management.”
Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she lamented that the tariff crisis had not yet been resolved, and wondered about whether the government would adopt their proposal on wage subsidies for affected industries. Champagne said that they have a strategic fund to help companies with supports, and that foreign exports are up. Normandin then demanded an enhancement to OAS for all seniors, as well as more supports for forestry. Joël Lightbound said that she was right to note the headwinds the country is facing, which is why the government is busy diversifying markets. Jean-Denis Garon took over to lament the planned reduction in health transfers, and said they could pay for it by taxing oil companies and web giants. Marjorie Michel patted herself on the back for how well she works with her Quebec counterpart.
Round two, and Melissa Lantsman tied interest rates to the government’s deficit (MacKinnon: Table a list of things you want to cut; The IMF says we will have the second-fastest growth in the G7), Sandra Cobena worried about the “entrepreneurial drought” (Ménard: We are supporting small and medium-sized businesses for exports and the defence industry; The reduction of red tape is part of our approach), Amanpreet Gill read a script about government debt (Long: Your current and former failed leader have no economic experience), Dan Albas complained about the lease on a potential future spaceport and accused the government of corruption (McGuinty: Why are you against reinvesting and rearming the Canadian Forces, which includes sovereign space launch capacity?; Twenty percent of our economy depends on satellites, and we need sovereign launch capability).
Patrick Bonin raised Steven Guilbeault’s newspaper op-ed worrying the government is abandoning net-zero (Provost: The climate crisis is real, just like the global crisis, but we need to work together; Lightbound: We can have economic development as well as protecting the environment).
Jason Groleau took a swipe at the new ambassador to Washington (Miller: The invitation should have been made in French) before complaining about the debt (MacKinnon: We are waiting for your list of proposed cuts), Luc Berthold read another script about the debt and deficit (MacKinnon: Are you calling dental care or school food “inflationary spending”?), Bernard Généroux equated government debt to a credit card (Lightbound: What are you calling inflationary spending—the child benefit, or raises for the military?)
We are back to the attempt to equate government debt to a credit card, and I may just lose my mind. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T18:46:27.771Z
Round three saw questions on the trade deal (Solomon: All you do is talk down the economy; Ehassi: We are working to all pull in the same direction; Sidhu: We are focusing on trade diversification; Hodgson: We have said we won’t do a bad deal), spending on a prescription IT programme (Michel: We decided to collaborate with provinces, but when the provinces didn’t jump in, we ended the funding,) healthcare spending on failed refugee claimants (Diab: The cost of healthcare for asylum claims are tied to volumes and the volumes are down, it was 0.2 percent of health spending), a drug bust and bail (Fraser: You should pass our bill; Sahota: Pass lawful access), drug consumption sites (Michel: We need a comprehensive approach, and we don’t fund these sites directly), seafood tariffs with China (Sidhu: We did get some trade relief and we are working to unlock more opportunities), transit funding (Robertson: Our new larger fund can help with public transit), and pharmacare stalling (Michel: We are committed to talking to provinces).
Now the Conservatives say the government is “capitulating” on tariffs. Just completely in an alternate reality. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T18:50:49.955Z
And now racist scapegoating of asylum claimants. The Conservatives are really leaning into their greatest “hits” today. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T19:00:43.065Z
Sahota: Lawful access should have been passed months ago!The bill you had to redraft because you admitted it was horribly flawed? Zeus wept. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T19:03:21.867Z
Overall, it was a it of a greatest “hits” package that was trying to cover the smell of flop sweat as Poilievre and his party are flailing about what to do given how ineffective any of their attacks have been. Poilievre was back to form, undoing his “new” persona yet again by doing his old schtick of pretending that Carney is in the room and simply too afraid to answer his questions. It’s so tiresome, but they keep doing it. And from there, we were back to questions about “inflationary spending,” government deficits (and the old canard that government debt is somehow the same as credit card debt), this absurd notion that Trump is the rational actor and it’s Carney that is the problem with getting a deal, and then it devolved into racist scapegoating of asylum seekers. It was purely Conservatives throwing everything at the wall in the hope that something sticks, and to continue to find some clips that they can mine for outrage, but it just all came off as desperate.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Ben Carr for a dark blue suit with a light blue shirt and a pink tie, and to Maggie Chi for a white suit over a brown top. Style citations go out to Marie-Gabrielle Ménard for a navy dress with a floral pattern under a black sweater, and go Buckley Belanger for a chocolate brown suit over a white shirt and a light brown patterned tie that looked like it escaped the seventies.