In the wake of the fiscal update, the PM was present today as were the other leaders, because they all had a show to perform. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, where he deployed the same lines he has all week—credit card budget, just another Liberal, and that he doubled Trudeau’s deficit. Mark Carney praised the limitless possibilities that the update would provide. Poilievre mouthed his lines about food price inflation and blaming it on deficits, while Carney said that Poilievre was obsessing over Trudeau while he was focused on the future. Poilievre switched to English to say that he was being unfair to Trudeau because Carney had doubled his deficits, and wondered what he limit was on the “credit card.” Carney patted himself on the back for reducing the deficit by $11 billion in the face of a trade war and and actual war, before racing through some of his applause lines and slogans. Poilievre slowed down his cadence to look like he was talking down about the comparative sizes of the deficit, and Carney took a pause, said he wouldn’t go there, and then patted himself on the back for the focus on affordability. Carney said the Liberals were like the Bourbon dynasty, learning nothing and forgetting nothing, before he listed their supposed sins. Carney retorted that Canadians would not forget that Poilievre voted against benefits for them. Poilievre then claimed that Carney was wrong on every economic issue of the past decade, and Carney retorted that Poilievre was wrong on crypto and wrong on Brexit, but he could go on, while the government was building.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and worried about the new tariff calculations by the Americans, and Carney thanked him for his concern and that there would be an announcement on new measures in the coming days. Blanchet pointed out that there were no measures in the economic update, and Carney said it was always a good idea to believe what the prime minister says. Blanchet offered to set aside partisanship to focus on affected businesses, and Carney said that he and his ministers will take action to help those businesses. 

Round two, and Jasraj Hallan read a script about interest payments on debt (Hajdu: Hooray for our skilled trades announcement), Mark Strahl read the same script with added bluster (Robertson: We are focused on the future, and hooray for our trades announcement), Scot Davisonson tried again (Zerucelli: Skilled trades!), and Jonathan Rowe yelled the script with a Newfoundland accent (Thompson: The people in our provinces are interested in our investment in small-craft harbours, while your theatrics can come mat a school play).

Mark Strahl just called @acoyne.bsky.social “Liberal friendly.”#QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-29T18:37:04.108Z

Mario Simard complained that the skilled trades announcement is provincial jurisdiction and demanded Quebec’s share be transferred unconditionally (Lightbound: We will work in a way that respects their jurisdiction but you need more skilled workers; Mark this date as the day the Bloc said they don’t want a Quebec-Ottawa squabble).

Eric Lefebvre denounced the so-called sovereign wealth fund and the deficit (MacKinnon: Let’s talk about future generations, so let’s talk about our skilled trades funds), Dominique Vien read the credit card script (Joly: The data backs up the fact that we are building a strong economy; You don’t understand the urgency facing our economy), and Gabriel Hardy read the same script again (Gainey: Skilled trades!).

*Danko

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-29T20:36:13.197Z

Round three saw yet more questions on the deficit (Alty: Hooray skilled trades; McKnight: Skilled trades! Hodgson: The CEO of Shell says there has never been a better time to invest in the energy sector; We are cutting CPP contributions; Anand: We have one of the strongest fiscal positions in the G7…and hooray skilled trades; We reduced the deficit by $11 billion while you vote against school food; Turnbull: The deficit is smaller and we are doing better in jobs and investment than the U.S.; Long: The former prime minister lives rent-free in your heads, and hooray for changes to the Disability Tax Credit; Solomon: You just talk down the economy…and hooray skilled trades; Joly: We have an auto strategy that includes parts; MacKinnon: You had about 32 identical questions, and while we lower costs and raise salaries, you are against it), and the end of the favouritism showed to the Commissionaires Corps (McKnight: The policy no longer meets the needs of veterans, and guard services are just one option).

Carney stuck around to take a backbench question on the Cowichan decision, and said they will always stand up for property rights. Conservatives are howling, saying he isn’t. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-04-29T19:12:31.254Z

Overall, it was an incredibly repetitive day where each party had a particular message they wanted to pound into people’s heads through their clips. For the Conservatives, it was not only their line about “credit card budgeting,” even though national debt has absolutely nothing in common with a credit card, but they also kept repeating that Carney doubled Justin Trudeau’s deficit, and every time they said Trudeau’s name, the Liberals would start chirping from their benches, and we got a couple of lines about Trudeau living rent-free in the Conservatives’ heads. On the other side, the Liberals patted themselves on the back for their announcement on support for skilled trades apprenticeships in response to virtually every single question today, and it was not only repetitive, but it just reach the point of being inappropriate.

The only other particularly interesting note today was that Carney stuck around to the end to take a backbench question, which he has never done before, and it was on the Cowichan decision, which frankly, the minister has done a pretty decent job in actually answering questions about (rather than just providing platitudes). The fact that they chose Carney to deliver this message, to get the clip of him doing so, and that they waited until the last backbench question of the day was very interesting. Yes, this is an issue that has been subject to a lot of mis/disinformation, but the fact that they felt the need to clip Carney himself on it (when he insists that they govern as a team) is choice they made.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and pocket square with a dark pink paisley tie, and to Sandra Cobena for a burgundy jacket over a black top and slacks. Style citations go out to Ginette Lavack for a moss green floral dress with a gathered neckline and big sleeves, and to Dane Lloyd for a navy suit with a shiny grey shirt and no tie.