In advance of the spring economic update, the PM was absent, and the other leaders were not present, but were off getting briefed for the 4 PM media rush. That left it up to Melissa Lantsman to read the script about “credit card budgeting” and capping the deficit. Dominic LeBlanc said that he appreciated her enthusiasm but it was false, and good news was on the the way. Lantsman tried again, and LeBlanc equated her “tired talking points” to an eight-track. Jasraj Hallan repeated the same script with added scorn, and LeBlanc repeated his assurances that the good news was on the way. Hallan read some complete nonsense about inflation, and this time, Steven MacKinnon gave his prepared lines about demanding a list of Conservative cuts. Pierre Paul-Hus took over to read the French version of the script, to which Mélanie Joly patted herself on the back for putting the fiscal house in order while helping Canadians with measures like cutting the price of gas. Paul-Hus demanded a cap on the deficit, and LeBlanc said that within a couple of hours, they would have the good news they were waiting for.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she decried that the prime minister called himself a nationalist but wanted a pipeline which Quebeckers don’t want. Joly said that the prime minister called himself an economic nationalist which is why he was launching a national sovereign wealth fund. Normandin was not mollified, and on her follow-up, MacKinnon listed projects that government was supporting. Xavier Barsalou-Duval took over to worry about a parliamentary secretary meeting with a group that promotes contract truckers. Peter Schiefke said that he accepted an invitation to talk about road safety for truckers, and would do so again.

Round two, and Stephanie Kusie dramatically read another nonsense script about “credit card budgeting” (Hajdu: I want to mention that this is the National Day of Mourning, and hey, we have the support of private sector unions; I hear workers asking us to invest in them), Sandra Cobena read the same script with a more sober tone (Valdez: You voted against every affordability measure), Shannon Stubbs read the script with some increased histrionics (Hodgson: Hooray for our benefits; Long: it’s time to help us Build Canada Strong™), and Connie Cody read the script with less conviction (van Koeverden: Why don’t you be honest and tell your constituents which programmes you want to cut?). 

Alexis Deschênes complained about the new hurdles to get temporary foreign workers in rural Quebec (Lightbound: We are aware of Quebec’s needs, and we made some changes in Quebec as of April 1st; Eligible permits are eligible to be extended for twelve months).

Gérard Deltell worried about Quebec seniors facing food price inflation (McLean: You voted against help for seniors), Luc Berthold yelled the credit care script (Gainey: We invested in helping seniors; Gabriel Hardy read that script again (Provost: Seniors will get the enhanced GST credit), Joël Godin read it again (Ménard: We are studying the condition of seniors at committee and we are helping), and Jason Groleau tried yet again (Lightbound: We restored the retirement age). 

Round three saw questions on the debt and deficit (Zerucelli: We are spending less to invest more; Joly: We are Building Canada Strong™; Turnbull: Let’s pat ourselves on the back for what the IMF says; Solomon: Wages are going twice as fast as inflation and we cut taxes; van Koevereden: Hooray for dental care; Sidhu: Look at all the jobs our projects are creating; Belanger: More good news for Saskatchewan!), calling on the prime minister to divest his Brookfield shares (MacKinnon: He follows the rules which you guys put into place under Harper; These are spurious, bottom-of-the-barrel conspiracies), the stay of deportation to the driver from the Humboldt Bronco tragedy (Anandasangaree: The decision of the Federal Court is based on the evidence before then and we will review it), surveillance pricing (Joly: We believe in competition and we will work with provinces), and pharmacare negotiations (Michel: I am aware of the Newfoundland and Labrador minister’s comments, and we are following up).

“When will the prime minister stop maxing out the nation’s credit card?!” #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-28T18:58:13.301Z

Overall, most of the day played out almost exactly like it did yesterday, from the same ridiculous questions about so-called “credit card budgets” and complete and utter nonsense about inflation, as well as that same block of questions right in the middle where all of the Quebec Conservatives each got to ask a single question about the budget with the framing around poor seniors, one question each rather than one and one follow-up, because it was just about getting their clips. This remains the dumbest way to conduct QP, but everyone is doubling down on it. The only thing that was actually new today was the handful of questions ostensibly about the Ethics Committee report on the Conflict of Interest Act review that was a) a horseshit report that was opposition-penned and ignored the warnings of the experts they heard from, and; and b) it was done explicitly to be weaponized against the prime minister and try to insinuate that he had done something wrong or was illegally profiting from the Brookfield shares that went into his blind trust (even though we don’t know if they are still in his portfolio). It was pretty dirty and misleading nevertheless. 

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rachael Thomas for a light grey skirt suit with a subtle line pattern over a white top; and to Jagsharan Mahal for a medium-grey three-piece suit over a light blue shirt with a navy tie and matching turban. Style citations go out to Gabriel Hardy for a taupe suit with a dark brown shirt and tie, and to Rosemarie Falk for a tan short-sleeved top with white stripes over navy cropped slacks.