The PM was in the building after a signing ceremony for another “strategic partnership,” this time with the Crown Price of Abu Dhabi, but once again not in the House for Question Period. Pierre Poilievre led off by declaring we already have a trade deal with Europe and a defensive alliance with NATO, but worried that we would be ceding sovereignty to the EU and its “costly policies” of taxes, immigration, and regulation, and that it would infringe on provincial jurisdiction, and turned this into the bellyache from the premier of Quebec that he’s not being allowed to speak at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal later this week. Joël Lightbound noted that the EU is 450 million consumers and 18 percent of the world’s GDP, and that Canada is negotiating an agreement that is interests of Canada and Quebec, and thanked the Quebec delegation’s work in Brussels. Poilievre noted that CETA still is not fully ratified, before he pivoted to inflation “skyrocketing” (Note: it absolutely is not) and railed about the federal debt. Lightbound noted the increase in exports out of the US, and then noted that when he speaks about “inflationary programmes,” does he mean the children who benefit from the Canada Child Benefit? Poilievre switched to English to continue his nonsense point about inflation, and the size of the federal debt. Wayne Long trotted out his talking point about the fact that Poilievre has not accomplished anything in twenty years while the PM has A Plan. Poilievre insisted the PM should be standing up to talk about his record, and he repeated the claim that interest on the federal debt costs each family $6000 per year. Long said that real leaders have a plan, like theirs does, unlike the Conservatives. Poilievre switched topics to housing, and the response to an Order Paper question staying that starts will go down, and that the government is blaming immigration. Gregor Robertson got up to say that he would “reprimand” the leader of the opposition—got drowned out—and eventually said that everyone comes from immigrant stock, so nobody should blame immigration for housing shortages. Poilievre waved the Order Paper question response in the air to say that the government themselves blamed immigration, and Robertson started saying something to the effect of the difference between immigrants and immigration, before he again got drowned out, before he got out the fact that the leader of the opposition demonises immigrants before he again got drowned out.

Yves-François Blanchet then led for the Bloc, and he too whinged that the prime minister isn’t letting the new Quebec premier speak at the Canada-EU summit. Lightbound reminded him of how many Quebec Liberals got elected and patted himself on the back for the increased trade with Europe, in collaboration with the provinces. Blanchet continued to bellyache on PSPP’s behalf, and Lightbound insisted that Quebeckers want the government to carry on with their trade plans. Blanchet got increasingly pissy about the supposed snub, and Lightbound said an invitation was extended for him to greet dignitaries and to be at the dinner, and he hoped the premier would be there.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to claim that the west coast tanker ban was a “gift” to Donald Trump to proclaim that there was a company willing to ship by rail to Prince Rupert, and exhorted the government to support their bill to repeal the ban (Hodgson: Stop fighting Indigenous people and Build Canada Strong™; Join us to build these other major projects), Michael Chong complained about the government blowing through “fiscal anchors” (Turnbull: We are spending less to invest more; Our net-debt-to-GDP is the best in the G7), Melissa Lantsman read a script about the interest on the debt (Turnbull: You are blinded by pessimism; Church: Let me read some good news economic stats), and Eric Lefebvre read the same script in French (Lightbound: We know people are having a hard time making ends meet, but you just vote against help for them).

Andréanne Larouche cited union opposition to Bill C-39 (MacKinnon: The Bill will Build Canada Strong™), and Gabriel Ste-Marie cited law professors comments about the bill’s “totalitarian tendencies” (MacKinnon: There is some exaggeration there).

John Brassard complained that members of the government blocked a request for Carney’s wife being summoned to committee to explain her new role (Klassen: She is an expert in climate policy, and this as an attempt by the Conservatives to score cheap points; MacKinnon: This is a particularly spurious attack, and we thank her for volunteering in this role), Michael Guglielmin asked about the latest on the Stelco dispute (Joly: I met with the steelworkers and they are behind us, and this should not be a partisan issue), and Jason Groleau noted steel workers in his riding before demanding a return to the negotiation table (Joly: We should be unite to counter the Americans’ attempt to weaken our economy).

Round three saw questions on immigration levels (Diab: Immigration has built this country, and it’s critical to addressing skill gaps; Our population has come down for the first time in our history; Robertson: The levels are under control, and we are seeing success in our housing programme; You vote against affordable housing at every opportunity), a company who fired Canadians to hire foreign workers (Zerucelli: We are building!; Klassen: We announced new funds to provide more market diversity; LeBlanc: We are providing funds to support young people find new jobs in the current trade climate), the tanker ban (Hodgson: We’re working with Alberta, BC and First Nations to sell our oil to the world; Here are other companies and countries investing in our sector; MacKinnon: Hooray for our projects already announced), the Alto project (MacKinnon: Quebeckers have taken note of you opposition to this transformative project), building trust with coastal First Nations (Alty: C-39 doesn’t change the duty to consult), and BC Ferries procurement (MacKinnon: You know full well that is a provincial Crown corporation). 

Overall, it was a bit of a weird day, with Poilievre leading off on his anti-Europe nonsense in French, but not in English (and that was only partially about the PSPP bellyache about not being invited to speak, which is not the role of any premier). There were questions on the tanker ban, which Tim Hodgson has not been very good at countering, more nonsense about the debt figures which nobody bothers to debunk, particularly as it relates to inflation, and more blatantly racist immigration nonsense which the government absolutely fumbled in responding to yet again. It shouldn’t be that difficult, guys.

Most embarrassing, however, was the way in which the government absolutely shit the bed on a series of questions relating to an Order Paper question that the government responded to relating to subsidies given to a fishery company that fired workers to hire allegedly “illegal” foreign workers. This was something the government should have an ability to answer—they answered it for the Order Paper. They should have some kind of response. Instead you had two unrelated ministers or secretaries of stage and a parliamentary secretary flailing on camera avoiding the question entirely and providing complete non-sequiturs. This is rank incompetence of the kind that you would think Carney would yell at people about in either the caucus room or at the Cabinet table. It was absolutely inexcusable on the part of the government, and I cannot believe that they chose this kind of response.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Chi Nguyen for a dark blue plaid jacket over a dark grey button-up top with black slacks, and to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt, matching pocket square and a pink paisley tie. Style citations go out to Ernie Klassen for a dark grey checkerboard patterned jacket over black slacks within a white shirt with a black tie with florals, and to Rosemarie Falk for a dark green dress with light green and orange florals.