The PM was absent, despite having just been at the installation ceremony for the new Governor General, while Pierre Poilievre was also absent, giving a speech in Calgary, leaving it up to Gabriel Hardy to led off in French, where he used the usual tired script of framing the “recession” accusations around use of food banks. Steven MacKinnon patted himself on the back for the good job numbers that were released on Friday. Hardy then tried to equate something Carney said about a “technical recession” when he was governor of the Bank of England, which MacKinnon ignored and instead listed the supports in the enhanced GST credit that went out over the weekend. Tim Uppal took over to read the script about a “recession,” and this time, Wayne Long got up to first praise Jeremy Hansen’s attendance, before exhorting the Conservatives to get on board with their plan. Uppal recited more of the the “technical recession” talking points, and Long continued to pat himself on the back for the programmes they are rolling out for Canadians. Andrew Lawton then loudly recited the same script, to which Tim Hodgson disputed the talking point about investment leaving the country, and listed projects moving ahead. Lawton took a swipe at Hodgson and kept shouting his script, to which Hodgson listed jobs being created at approved projects.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, unusually for a Monday, and he lamented the prime minister’s directive to wipe out all levies on web giants for Canadian content, to which Marc Miller accused the Bloc of turning up their noses at the $600 million for culture. Blanchet noted the comparison to the EU, who are adding to these levies, and Miller said that Quebec’s cultural media sector praised their investments. Blanchet railed that they re undercutting the cultural emotion, and Miller took a swipe back at Blanchet in return.

Round two, and Carol Anstey demanded to speak to the manager about the “recession” (Thompson: Employment is up, and we are investing in small craft harbours; Hooray for our support for the skilled trades) Kelly DeRidder read the “recession” script again (Robertson: We are seeing rents declining and we are investing in affordable housing; We are investing in infrastructure), Sukhman Gill read the script again (McKnight: Canadians see the tariffs hitting our economy and they see the work we’re doing), and Harb Gill read it with added indignation (Solomon: You are just running down the economy).

Maxime Blanchette-Joncas worried about provisions in the budget bill that would let the government arbitrarily override pesticide regulations (Michel: We can work with the agricultural sector while protecting the health of Canadians; I need to meet with industry stakeholders).

Luc Berthold read the “recession” script en français (Lightbound: The OECD forecasts our having the second-highest growth in the G7), Eric Lefebvre recited some revisionist history of Harper’s record before returning to the “recession” script (Gainey: Youth unemployment is declining and we have more programs to help them get jobs), and Richard Martel read the same again (Bendayan: Canada is created jobs per capita twice as fast as the U.S.)

Round three saw yet more questions on the supposed “recession” (Turnbull: Let me quote William James about pessimism versus optimism; You are choosing to run down the economy; McLean: Canadians deserve facts not spin, and the Bank of Canada warned against narratives without context; van Koeverden: The Conservative photocopier is running out of toner; Olszewski: You must have missed the latest job numbers). There were also questions on PrescribeIT (Michel: There were governance issues at the company, we only have one seat on the Board but the CEO is out and we are fixing the governance issues; You are blocking the sturdy on HIV at committee; MacKinnon: These questions coming from your leader are not convincing Canadians), racist questions on non-citizen criminals (Sahota: Hooray for the police making arrests of organised crime groups; Pass Lawful Access), Indigenous consultation and the North Coast tanker ban (Alty: There is no project yet, so the duty to consult is not yet engaged).

According to Ruby Sahota, if you oppose lawful access, you are on the side of “big social media.” #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-08T19:04:31.053Z

Michelle Rempel Garner is outraged by our “woke judiciary.” #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-08T19:05:20.729Z

Overall, it was a pretty lacklustre day as much of it was just recycled scripts from the past week, and the government still patting itself on the back for last week’s job numbers, and to a lesser extent, the enhanced GST credit going out over the weekend. There was so little new that the only exchanges of any substance were at the end around PrescribeIT, and that the government’s narrative has changed on the governance issues at Canada Health InfoWay, which are being dealt with.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Giovanna Mingarelli for a white suit over a white v-necked top, and to Ryan Turnbull for a tailored navy suit over a white blue shirt with a light grey patterned tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Yves-François Blanchet for a greyish-toned jacket with a khaki windowpane pattern over a light blue shirt, navy tie, and multicoloured pocket square, and to Marie-Hélène Gaudreau for a short-sleeved white dress with multicoloured florals. Dishonourable mention goes out to Rebecca Alty for a mustard yellow jacket over a cream-coloured top and black slacks.