The PM was away at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, but all other leaders were present. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, noted the midterms in the U.S., and claimed that the PM was just “losing” against the Americans, and demanded a deadline for a new U.S. deal. Dominic LeBlanc insisted that they were negotiating to come to an agreement that was in Canada’s interests, which Poilievre would not recognise. Poilievre repeated the same in English, and LeBlanc was more pointed in saying that Poilievre would be the leading expert in the House of Commons on theatrics, and said that they did agree there was economic harm, which is why they were supporting Canadians rather than accepting a bad deal. Poilievre insisted that the government should be at the table right now, and again insisted the government was only offering theatrics, and LeBlanc repeated his same points. Poilievre raised a food bank report from Toronto and demanded to know when we would get a “good deal,” and LeBlanc again said that unlike the opposition, they were not neglecting Canadians who are affected. Poilievre then insisted that there are two economies—one who for people who follow the rules, and one who make them, and raised the issue of corporate-paid employees seconded to the Major Projects Office. Leblanc cautioned him not to invent conflicts of interest where none exist, and that those people are stepping up to serve the country. Poilievre railed about “corporate power brokers,” apparently confusing himself with the leader of the NDP, and lamented people skipping meals before he demanded help for them in the budget. Tim Hodgson listed the jobs that approved projects are supposed to create.

Marilyn Gladu is sitting in Carney’s seat, and I still can’t get my head around it. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T19:22:47.161Z

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he said that Carney has sold out to the Americans, whether it was selling out on the digital services tax or on the environment in service of American corporate giants. Joël Lightbound praised their cultural spending in the budget, and told him to wait for Thursday’s “excellent” budget. Blanchet demanded the GST credit be doubled again, or to lift the GST on second-hand goods, and Lightbound recited the tax breaks and benefits already delivered that the Bloc didn’t support. Blanchet demanded action on their list of budget demands (which is funny because the document is already printed), and Lightbound praised their cultural spending “historical” infrastructure agreement with Quebec.

Round two, and Michael Chong asked about the PBO’s projection of the declining deficit to GDP fiscal anchor (Long: Canadians elected a leader with economic and business credentials and not your leader, and here are good news statistics; We are focused on building a strong economy), Adam Chambers worried about debt service payments (Turnbull: Our debt service costs are low relative to our peers; If you wrote the budget, it would be called “Prisoners of Pessimism”), Tamara Jansen worried about Toronto children relying on the food bank (van Koeverden: We acted on the advice of the Food Banks Canada report), and Dominique Vien read the deficit script en français (Gainey: We are aware of the challenges of the cost of living, which is why we have taken measures).

Gabriel Ste-Marie noted that the Liberal Women’s Commission has denounced Bill C-39 and suggested the government listen to them (Dabrusin: We have not changed evaluation standards for the environment, but we need to build clean electricity; We continue to respect the environment).

Julie Dabrisuin, with a straight face, says that they continue to respect the environment. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T19:42:10.882Z

Shuvaloy Majumdar demanded the government get a deal with the Americans (Hodgson: You are the pirates of pessimism), Melissa Lantsman demanded to know that no tax dollars will go to the EU or that their laws won’t apply here (Fortier: We are having discussions and we will bring any deal to the House of Commons; This alliance is built for people and sovereignty), and Pierre Paul-Hus asked the same again in French (Fortier: Same answer).

The Conservatives continue to insist that the Carney just called the by-elections so that they can exploit fear of Trump. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T19:44:33.564Z

Now the Conservatives want a guarantee that Canadian tax dollars won’t go to the EU, and that we won’t be subjected to their regulations. Sweet Leto mother of Apollo, this is so fucking stupid. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T19:47:50.337Z

Round three saw questions on the by-elections versus trade talks (LeBlanc: You are trying to create a link where none exists; Leitão: We continue to support Canadians affected by tariffs including several in your riding; McGuinty: We are reinvesting and renewing the Canadian Forces; We are procuring across the Canadian Forces family), demanding the Auditor General appear at committee about her report on munitions shortages (McGuinty: We are reading her report and thank her for her work; We just stood up the defence industrial strategy and one of the priority items was munitions production, which your party didn’t do in government; Fuhr: This is the fastest we have moved in generations; alleged conflicts of interest in the Cohere investment (Noormohamed: You are just talking down Canadian champions; You just don’t like success), downstream aluminium and steel tariffs (Leitão: We are helping businesses with these challenges), steel used in housing components (Robertson: We are supporting these industries), stripping a chapel on a military base (McGuinty: Policies to support diversity are necessary for an effective force, and the member knows this), the toxic drug crisis (Michel: We support the provinces in their actions, as this is their responsibility), and First Nations court challenges to the Pacific Link pipeline (Hodgson: The consultation was the most intensive and comprehensive ever).

“The prime minister promised a deal!”There is no deal to be had.This is not the gotcha you think it is. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2026-11-03T20:03:57.903Z

Overall, the day was, in a word, stupid, and in another word, incoherent. The Conservatives’ message didn’t make any sense—they demanded the government get a deal with Americans immediately (even though there is no deal to be had), while also intimating that there was some sort of conspiracy about Carney calling the by-elections and then putting out a readout that he had a call with Trump, and this was supposed to somehow be some kind of theatrical electoral gambit. It doesn’t make any sense, but I’m sure that when they edit for clips, that they will drive outrage regardless. Nevertheless, sitting though it did make one feel dumber by the end for having done so.

There was also a new conspiracy debuted about the “truth” about the investment in Cohere, where the Conservatives insist that this was all about investments that Dominic Barton and one of his business partners had made into the company, and that the government was trying to enrich them, which…is a stretch. Of course, in response, the government’s parliamentary secretary just mouthed some happy-clappy nonsense about how great Cohere is because it’s Canadian and not a US or Chinese-based digital asbestos company, and that is so great for our digital sovereignty, which also feels just mind-numbingly ridiculous, so it’s just complete nonsense all around. Everything is stupid, but it doesn’t need to be. Everyone made a choice for it to be this bad.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Shelby Kramp-Neumann for a navy dress with three-quarter sleeves, and to Jagsharan Singh Mahal for a dark grey three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt and a Conservative-blue turban and tie. Style citations go out to Eric Melillo for a burgundy suit with a white shirt and a bright orange tie, and to Mona Fortier for a navy suit with a white top with a yellow and green floral (but possibly lemons on a branch?) pattern. Dishonourable mention goes out to James Bezan for a black suit with a light blue shirt with a yellow pocket square and a blue and yellow striped tie.