The PM was absent, in Toronto for an announcement before jetting off to Paris, while Pierre Poilievre was also absent. Melissa Lantsman led off, and she raised the death of a Toronto police officer earlier in the day, and asked for a government response. Gary Anandasangaree gave some words of condolence for his death. Lantsman asked which security agencies were engaged on this, as the officer was investigating the shooting of the US consulate in Toronto, and Anandasangaree listed some of the agencies, including the RCMP, involved and that this was a collaborative process. Jasraj Hallan took over, and he once again accused the prime minister of “stuffing his face” on in-flight catering and the costs associated with it, and Steven MacKinnon called for Hallan to up his game. Hallan accused the prime minister of not caring that Canadians are losing sleep because of food insecurity, and MacKinnon reminded him that we are in the midst of a trade war. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French to again complain about the costs of the prime minister’s in-flight catering. MacKinnon dismissed this given how much trade and investment the prime minister brings home when he travels. Paul-Hus kept railing about the costs, and François-Philippe Champagne rose to add his voice go the condolences for the fallen officer, before repeating the assurances of the prime minister’s trade prowess.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and she said that with Trump looking to give up the New NAFTA altogether, so they sacrificed Quebec culture for nothing. MacKinnon got up to take a swipe at the Bloc, ignoring the question. Normandin suggested that the strategy of weakness was not working, and this time Marc Miller rose, and touted how much the government is investing in culture, including their cultural export programme. Martin Champoux took over to ask the same again, and Miller pointed out that the filmmaker Champoux mentioned is funded by the National Film Board.

Round two, and Alex Ruff wondered about the pending due date for the review of the NSICOP Act (Anandasangaree: We will conduct the review later this year), John Brassard haughtily read some pointed allegations about the spaceport lease (McGuinty: This brings jobs and sovereign capability), John Barlow asked about the expenses of the head of Farm Credit Canada (Guay: It’s an independent Crown Corporation that operates at arm’s length), agricultural research cuts (Guay: We are spending less to invest more, and we remain the largest research funder), Eric Duncan returned to the issue of the PM’s in-flight catering (Hajdu: Canadians want a government that stands up for them which is what we are doing, and we cut taxes), Mel Arnold worried about salmon fishery allocations on the west coast (Thompson: I have met with stakeholders and we are working on the decision), Jamie Schmale worried about northern communities awaiting a carbon levy refund (Chartrand: I will working with you to find a solution).

Andréanne Larouche worried about rule changes for the New Horizons for Seniors programme and the timelines for this week year (McLean: These changes were announced in April, and Service Canada is available to assist, as are MPs, whom we offered a briefing to that you didn’t attend; The changes put this programme in line with other programmes delivered by the government).

Jacques Gourde groused loudly about the high-speed rail’s budget (MacKinnon: The answer is no), Luc Berthold returned to the New Horizons for Seniors programme changes (Lightbound: I hope you will tell those same seniors you voted against dental care for them), Gérard Deltell complained about how much the Indigenous Languages Commissioner spent hosting an conference (Miller: I have called for an investigation), and Gabriel Hardy accused the federal government of interfering in provincial jurisdiction (Lightbound: Where were you when we announced $10 billion for infrastructure with the premier of Quebec?), and Joël Godin worried about increased violence in prisons (Champagne: We are working with the Quebec government on this issue).

Round three saw questions on COVID vaccine injuries (Chi: We brought the administration of the programme internally), violent crime and gun smuggling (Anandasangaree: The amnesty order extension respects the judicial process), trafficked labour on infrastructure projects (Robertson: Our investments follow the Canada Labour Code), changes to the Procurement Ombudsman’s powers (Lightbound: I dispute this characterisation), First Nations Policing delays (Anandasangaree: We have been working with First Nations and are increasing resources available), food insecurity in the North (Chartrand: The subsidy alone with not solve the issue, so we are working to find solutions for each community), seniors facing homelessness (Hajdu: You voted against things that help those seniors), the vacant Responsible Enterprise Ombudsman’s office (Sidhu: We will make a difference in due course), telecom coverage maps (Bardeesy: Cell phone rates have decreased and we are pushing companies to expand their infrastructure), changes to Access to Information (Ali: [fumbling with papers]; Champagne: Summer must be coming because they are excited, and we have some of the strongest transparency laws in the G7), why the government is tabling a new forced labour bill when they claim we already have strong laws (Fortier: We do have some of the most rigorous laws, and we are hiring more CBSA officers), exempting certain companies from forced labour reporting (Fortier: We share the goal of keeping goods produced with forced labour out of the supply chains and we will take further action), the inability to answer questions (Hajdu: You vote against things like feeding hungry children), the lack of capacity to recycle decommissioned ships (MacKinnon: This is a worldwide industry and we will work on this file), and possibly buying Gripens for a potential total 144 fighter fleet and if that money should be spent elsewhere (McGuinty: We are acquiring a new fighter fleet and are looking at different procurement options).

The incompetent minister of Treasury Board couldn’t answer a question, just uselessly flipping through his briefing binder until Champagne stood up to answer in his place. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-06-11T19:05:32.760Z

Overall, it was a feisty day, and a very different day than usual. Instead of three topics, the Conservatives asked a whole litany of different questions on different issues, which almost reminded me of what QP used to be like in the old days. This being said, there was a specific tactic at play—most of the time, the next Conservative up to speak would complain that they didn’t get an answer to a “specific question,” which was not always true, or in some cases, they were asked with no intention of their being a reply in mind. This was a tactic to try and demonstrate that the government is inept at their jobs (and hoo boy did Shafqat Ali deliver on that front—that was a complete demonstration of incompetence and why he has no business being in Cabinet), and at the end of the Conservatives’ questions, Lantsman stood up again to give a grand pronouncement that the government was “unable” to answer any of their questions, and to be fair, most of them have been out of practice from actually answering questions because for years now, they’ve been conditioned to just give happy-clappy talking points or back-patting in response to repetitive questions that have only been intended for rage-bait clips. It’s now novel to ask ministers questions based on news of the “day” (though in most cases, these are news of the past few months). So while it was a nice harkening back to the QPs of old, it was still bullshit in the service of a stunt, so it soured the whole experience.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Melissa Lantsman for a tailored burgundy suit with a white collared shirt, and to Maninder Sidhu for a tailored black suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark blue tie. Style citations go out to Blaine Calkins for a powder blue jacket with khaki slacks, a white shirt and a creamsicle-orange striped tie, and to Claude DeBellefeuille for a black and floral top under a fuchsia jacket and black slacks.