The PM was finally present today for the first time since the GDP numbers were released, as was Pierre Poilievre, itching for a confrontation. Poilievre led off in English for a change, and he worried that nineteen of the G20 nations Arena not in recession, and asked for only leader of a G20 nation in recession to stand up. the Speaker said this was not a question but a request, and moved onto the next question. Poilievre then worried about all of the people in food insecurity and asked if we are in a recession or technical recession. Mark Carney first wished Poilievre a happy birthday before launching into a script about how much we are building as a country. Poilievre thanked him for the wishes, and noted that he is 47 but that’s 50 with inflation, before he listed more things going wrong in the country, and again asked if it was a recession or technical recession. Carney suggested he asked the CD Howe Institute and noted the OECD growth projections. Poilievre switched to French to repeat his G20 framing before asking again if it was a recession or technical recession. Carney corrected what the promise he made in the election was, and repeated his talking points about building. Poilievre returned to English to complain about the PM’s in-flight catering and again demanded to know if it was a recession or a technical recession. Carney decided to instead praise the international investment he has been able to attract to the country. Poilievre dismissed this as being about private corporations getting rich regardless while people suffered, and again asked if it was a recession or a technical recession. Carney said that we are in an economy in the midst of transformation and praised the increase in investment and exports to non-U.S. markets.
Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and lambasted the government for attempting to back track on the streaming levies charged to web giants. Carney said that this was about affordability and patted himself on the back for spending $600 million more on culture. Blanchet tried to again, and this time Carney said that everyday people would pay for that levy through increased costs, so they have decided to focus on affordability while ensuring the cultural sector is supported. Blanchet said this was worse than capitulating, but validating the American notion that the French language and culture are a barrier, and it also capitulated to the Conservatives. Carney insisted that they were investing, and that they have “more than made whole” the cultural sector (which I am less convinced about).
Round two, and Poilievre got back up, and he recounted a story of a constituent who lost her job, and Carney did get back up to again wish Poilievre a happy birthday before launching into a paean about what they are focused on. Poilievre got indignant about how the prime minister was being flippant about her situation before making his own flippant remark about her homelessness “being just a technicality” (Hajdu: You voted against the measures to protect people like her), he gave more sob stories and again wondered if this was just “technical” (MacKinnon: You are acting with glee as Canada faces headwinds; Champagne: Canadians don’t need slogans and you voted against every affordability measure before this House; Robertson: It’s important to recognise our investments in the economy that are creating jobs), and Poilievre accused Carney of a pattern of ruining economies and going into hiding after a small group get rich, before giving another sob story (Valdez: We have a plan that includes diversifying the economy), and he closed off with a condemnation of Carney not answering these Canadians (Long: Canadians don’t take your party seriously).
Gabriel Ste-Marie worried about housing conditions on a particular Quebec First Nation (Gull-Masty: We know this is important, and I am working with my colleagues to launch a housing programme in partnership with Indigenous communities), and Marilène Gill asked the same about Indigenous communities more broadly (Gull-Masty: Same answer).
Poilievre got back up again, and he tried to claim that the excuses for the “Liberal recession” kept changing, which isn’t really true (Guay: You conveniently forget that we are in a trade war) and went on about low GDP per capita growth (Zerucelli: We are in a trade war, but we are building; McGuinty: Your have offered nothing to Canada; MacDonald: I have been travelling across the country talking to farmers unlike them—which nearly started a riot); and said he can’t get out of a recession if they won’t admit we’re in one (Thompson: Have you heard the good news about small craft harbours).
The agriculture minister says he has been talking to farmers and the Conservatives haven’t. I thought we were going to have a riot. Ridiculous all around. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-03T18:54:44.944Z
Round three saw Poilievre get up to ask about forced labour in supply chains and tried to tie it to the PM’s supposed corporate interests (Anand: We condemn forced labour and I did so in my meeting with my Chinese counterpart, and we have robust import controls; We underline and ensure labour standards in our trade agreements; Naqvi: Same answer, over and over), and saying Carney created the “recession” (Champagne: We have been busy building the strongest economy in the G7; Just this morning the OECD said we would have the fastest growing in 2026/27). There were also questions on PrescribeIT (Michel: Why are you blocking the study on HIV at the committee, and I have discussed this matter a number of times; I was at committee two days ago and answered questions on this; Canada Infoway plays a role with healthcare infrastructure in the country), the recession (MacKinnon: Congratulations on being the fourth member who is not the leader to ask a question), the slow-walking of Bill S-2 as amended (Gull-Masty: It’s in front of committee, and we continue to work closely with groups across country).
Poilievre is taking every question in #QP today, and he’s running through the gamut of emotions trying to elicit clips.
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-03T19:03:12.124Z
Poilievre: “Put people before profit.”He’s saying that with a straight face. I just can’t. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-03T19:03:49.041Z
Overall, it was an absolutely bizarre day. I called how it was going to go in the leader’s round, but I had no idea just how much worse it was going to go as Poilievre took almost every single Conservative question on the roster, and he went through the gamut of emotions to try and get the best clips for his socials—smarmy and thinking he’s clever, “serious” and quasi-empathetic (but still flippant when he used the framing of these sob stories to ask if they are considered “technicalities,”), then indignation, then concern, and then this whole deviation into the issue of forced labour but again, with a smarmy and misleading framing that claims that Carney is still somehow controlling or benefitting from Brookfield, and then trying to tie that issue with the recession under the rubric of Carney somehow simply acting in the interests of the ultra-wealthy while he gets “fancy titles” while ordinary people suffer. In there was also an accusation that Carney caused the economic chaos in the UK and not Brexit, which is…a choice. What took the cake, however, was Poilievre exhorting the government to “put people before profit.” The guy who insists that doubling down on trick-down economics is the only solution to our woes. I feel like I’m losing my mind.
As for the Carney and the government, well, they refused to be goaded into saying anything about a possible recession, and just as I predicted, Carney gave his lines about building, and that was it. It was then the usual line-up of ministers to deliver their own lines about how great things are going with all of the building, while every now and again acknowledging that we’re in a trade war, but Carney’s edict about always having something nice to say was in full effect. And that in turn drove the Conservatives mad, and the Speaker lost control on several occasions, and I figured that we were going to have a riot at one point it was so bad. There needs to be a better way for both sides to handle this, but there is an absolute refusal to, and it’s no wonder that Canadians have tuned out, and why legacy media no longer bothers to broadcast QP. We’re just making everything worse, and they could all turn it around at any point if they actually cared about it, but they obviously don’t.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Natilien Joseph for a tailored navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a light pink tie, and to Melissa Lantsman for a burgundy suit with a white v-necked top. Style citations go out to Marie-Gabrielle Ménard for a black top with white and gold florals with a white pleated skirt, and to Ali Ehsassi for a light blue and grey windowpane-patterned jacket over a white shirt and skinny black tie and pocket square.