Category Archives: Question Period

Recaps from Question Period in the House of Commons

QP: Watch out, the kids are back

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The prime minister had not planned to be in the Chamber today, and yet there he was, present for the moment of silence on the Day to Combat Islamophobia, and then stuck around for the Leaders’ Round. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, raised the prime minister’s vacation, and then blamed him for rising rents in Montreal. Trudeau stood up and gave a statement about the Day to Combat Islamophobia in French. Poilievre again blamed the prime minister for students living in shelters and demanded he end inflation and let developers ensure affordable housing. Trudeau noted that the was merely launching personal attacks, and that he voted against actions to help accelerate housing. Poilievre switched to English, and returned to the issue of Trudeau’s vacation, and wanted to know if he paid the “full carbon tax” on the flights he took. Trudeau read that Poilievre has no plan for climate change, while climate change causes droughts, which causes droughts, which rises food prices, and Poilievre has no plan for that. Poilievre called Trudeau a “high-carbon hypocrite,” and Trudeau called out individual Conservatives for voting against things they previously believed in. Poilievre then accused Trudeau of “muzzling” backbencher Ken McDonald and demanded he put his leadership up for review. Trudeau recited how they are working with mayors to build housing, before calling out Leslyn Lewis’ lunch with Christine Anderson.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he returned to his private little conspiracy theory about the Century Initiative around immigration levels. Trudeau pointed to the need for immigrants, and that the levels are stabilising. Blanchet then demanded better distribution of asylum seekers, and Trudeau insisted that hey were working with provinces. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed about homelessness but it was hard to hear him over Conservative roaring. Trudeau read a script about using every tool they have to ensure housing affordability, such as their announcement that morning. Singh switched to French to decry renovictions, which is a provincial issue. Trudeau read some boilerplate language.

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QP: Out not with a bang, but with an [insert farm name here]

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The prime minister was on his way to Vancouver and his deputy was meeting with her provincial counterparts. Jagmeet Singh was again absent because his wife just had a baby, while the Bloc leader was also elsewhere. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and worried about household debt servicing and blamed federal deficits for it—which is a huge reach. Anita Anand accused him of talking down the economy and read some good news statistics, saying that these results don’t come from slogans. Poilievre countered with other statistics that sounded less healthy, and blamed it on deficits. François-Philippe Champagne wanted it put on the record that Canada is third in the world for attracting foreign investment. Poilievre switched to English to raise the mushroom farm in his riding’s carbon price bill, demanding answers on what they should do about it. Steven Guilbeault got up to talk about being at COP28 in Dubai to ensure there is a future. Poilievre insisted this was “high-flying hypocrisy” and again demanded answers on this farm’s carbon price bill. Seamus O’Regan got up to intone about hypocrisy, and linked Poilievre’s dismissal of Ukraine to Neville Chamberlain. Poilievre gave a rambling statement about detonator going to Russian and Iranian agents operating in Canada. Gould said that he doth protest too much, and called on Conservatives to stand up to their leader to vote for Ukraine.

Claude DeBellefeuille led for the Bloc, and she wanted the government to just send money to Quebec for dental care rather than their federal programme. Mark Holland said this was about a national country that would help nine million people across the country. DeBellefeuille repeated her demand to transfer the money, and Holland reiterate his same point.

Rachel Blaney rose for the NDP and accused the government of not standing up to grocery CEOs, and Champagne insisted that he did stand up to them when he summoned them to his office. Alistair MacGregor gave his own version of the same, and Champagne insisted he always fights for Canadians.

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QP: Fighting over a mushroom farm

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The prime minister was present today, while his deputy was off to the Senate to testify there on her bill. Most of the other leaders were present, but Jagmeet Singh was once again absent, as he has been for a couple of weeks now. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, worrying about household debt, and complained about supposedly inflationary deficits. Justin Trudeau produced a list of Quebec-related items that the Conservatives voted against last week. Poilievre complained that government spending hasn’t achieved results, and Trudeau continued listing things the Conservatives voted against. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and Trudeau took a swipe about Poilievre having a lack of vision and needing his glasses while pointing out they just cut. Poilievre gave an exaggerated complaint about the school food programme framework they voted against, and made a pitch for passing Bill C-234. Trudeau said that Poilievre wanted to let the world burn, which also meant that food sources would go with it. Poilievre raised the mushroom farm in his riding, and whether the prime minister reached out to the about their rising carbon prices, and Trudeau said that officials did reach out to that “very successful” farm and offered then advice on lowering their emissions.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and commended him for changing this vote at the UN, and wanted legislative changes to eliminate loopholes around hate speech laws. Trudeau gave some reassurances about fighting antisemitism and Islamophobia. Blanchet repeated his call for these changes, and Trudeau noted that this was a delicate situation because balancing freedom of speech and and religion.

Peter Julian rose for the NDP in French, and wondered where the “wartime effort” on housing was over the past eight years. Trudeau read a script about the pre-approved housing designs as a policy they are working on. Jenny Kwan demanded national rent control, which is provincial jurisdiction. Trudeau noted that this was something they were working on with provinces, but that they had a multi-faceted approach to tackle housing.

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QP: Quoting Trump or Chamberlain?

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The prime minister was present today, as was his deputy and most other leaders, save Jagmeet Singh. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and raised the “whistleblower” testimony around the STDC and his accusation that the minister lied about it. Justin Trudeau rose and spoke instead about the supposed $2 million price tag of the vote-a-thon about the things the Conservatives voted against. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the same question, and Trudeau repeated his same response, adding in a “Republican-style” epithet in there. Poilievre responded to the “stone age” quip with saying people were being forced to eat “stone soup,” before demanding the prime minister tell “his Senators” to vote for Bill C-234 (there are no Liberal senators). Trudeau kept reading a list of things the Conservatives voted against. Poilievre insisted that the government’s spending was all useless and didn’t do anything they promised but cause inflation, and Trudeau read some talking points about Putin’s war in Ukraine that was raising food prices, and said the Conservatives were plying into the Kremlin’s hands by voting against Ukraine. Poilievre insisted this was just a distraction and “spreading falsehoods about faraway lands” and demanded the government cut the carbon price. Trudeau listed yet more things the Conservatives voted against.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he raised jurisdictional questions around dental care, and said that this was just about throwing “sweets and candy” to the NDP. Trudeau said it was funny that he was talking about sweets and candy while he was trying to fix the teeth of people who can’t afford it. Blanchet insisted that the programme “harms Quebec,” and Trudeau reiterated his feel-good talking points about people getting the care they need.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP to demand the government demand a ceasefire in Gaza, and Trudeau insisted that their positions has been “responsible” about protecting civilians and establishing a two-state solution, and that they would continue to help Canadians see eye-to-eye.  Heather McPherson called the Canadian position “appalling,” and repeated the demand for a ceasefire in English. Trudeau reiterate his same points in English, and mentioned the statement he just put out with Australia and New Zealand, but didn’t mention the language of a “sustainable ceasefire” in the statement.

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QP: Crowing about dental care

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While the prime minister was in town, he was not in QP today, though his deputy was present. None of the other leaders, aside from Pierre Poilievre, were either. Poilievre led off in French, and he spoke about the doubled cost of housing, and that rent has gone up in Montreal by 14 percent—which is strictly a provincial issue—and demanded the government follow his “common sense” plan. Karina Gould responded in English, quipping that it was nice to see Poilievre show up for work today rather than going to another fundraiser, and called last week’s vote-a-thon a right-wing Republican tactic. Poilievre then raised the report that food prices could increase by $700 next year for an average family, and blamed it on the Bloc for supporting the carbon price (because that makes sense). Diane Lebouthillier listed things that the Conservatives voted against last week, and asked if hurting vulnerable Canadians makes him feel stronger. Poilievre switched to English to declare that they were proud to vote against more “wasteful, inflationary spending,” and then repeated his worry about food bank use and said report on food price increases next year. Chrystia Freeland got up to decry that the Conservatives voted against Operation Unifier on Friday, which was unbelievable. Poilievre insisted this was “spreading fear and falsehoods about matters in other countries” to distract from their record, and this time, Sean Fraser listed more measures that they voted against on Friday. Poilievre doubled down on his insistence this was a distraction from the government doubling housing prices. Karina Gould pointed out that they voted against the new suicide prevention hotline, to much shouting on both sides.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he accused the government of incompetence and accused them of picking fights with Quebec around dental care. Mark Holland says this isn’t a matter of jurisdiction but a matter of healthcare (erm…), and said that this as a matter of health and prevention. Therrien said that Quebec already has a system that could have been improved with more money, and wondered why they created a system that was incompatible with Quebec’s. (Blame the NDP, guys!) Holland said this was about filling in the cracks and expects his same points.

Don Davies got up for the NDP to thunder about taking praise for the dental care programme, and Mark Holland gave some enthusiastic praise for it. Alexandre Boulerice read the French version of taking praised and Holland repeated his boasts in French.

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QP: Today’s script was about a food report

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The prime minister was on his way back to town from Montreal and was not present today, though his deputy was. None of the other leaders were present either, for what it’s worth, and Speaker Greg Fergus was back in the chair today, and that was definitely an issue for some. Melissa Lantsman led off, and she read some slogans about carbon prices, and paid mention to a report that predicts that food prices will increase next year for a family of four by $700, before demanding the carbon price be lifted. Jonathan Wilkinson notes that a carbon price is an important part of an emissions reduction plan and that most people get more back in rebates than they pay, and the Conservatives are only fighting for the rich. Lantsman accused the prime minister of calling senators to intimidate them on Bill C-234 (which is risible). Karina Gould note that most of the Conservatives senators didn’t show up to vote on that bill. Lantsman repeated the concern about the food report, to which Wilkinson noted that farmers are already largely exempt from carbon pricing, and that farmers are on the front lines of climate change, before taking a swipe at the Conservatives for voting against the bill on the trade agreement with Ukraine. Luc Berthold took over in French repeat the same accusation with some added swipes taken at the Bloc. Jenna Sudds rose and spoke about how humbled she is to work on behalf of Canadians, and decried that the Conservatives voted against a (symbolic) bill about school food programmes. Berthold raised the stories of children asking for grocery gift cards for Christmas and demanded the government cancel the carbon price to lower grocery prices (which it won’t do). Chrystia Freeland said that everyone knows that Conservatives don’t support those who aren’t well-off, and raised the UNICEF report about how Canada lowered child poverty thanks to the Child Benefit that the Conservatives vowed against.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised the notion about the government allegedly owing Quebec for asylum seekers, and demanded the minister get out his cheque book. Mark Miller noted that there isn’t a one-way relationship, and he’s working well with his provincial colleague. Therrien thundered that they needed to pay more, and Miller noted that they transfer a lot of money to Quebec for a lot of things.

Jagmeet Singh appeared by video to badmouth grocery CEOs, to which Marie-Claude Bibeau stood up to praise the government’s competition legislation. Singh repeated his question in a French, and Bibeau repeated her same response. 

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QP: An ejection stunt among the scripts

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The prime minister was present, but would only be for the leaders’ round today instead of his usual Wednesday practice of taking all questions, as he needed to head to the École Polytechnique vigil in Montreal. His deputy was absent, as was Jagmeet Singh, who has not been seen in person for over a week now. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he noted the day for remembrance of École Polytechnique before pivoting this to questions of children who are asking Santa Claus for food, and asked if the prime minister “ordered his senators” to vote against Bill C-234. Trudeau read a statement about Polytechnique and gender-based violence. Poilievre then raised a question in the Senate asked of the president of CHMC, who said there wasn’t a plan to add 40,000 housing units and then plugged his “documentary.” Trudeau dismissed the chasing of clicks and praised their housing strategy. Poilievre returned to English to repeat the same question, but called the CMHC the “prime minister’s housing agency,” which is risible. Trudeau read a script that Poilievre chases clicks, and uses homeless people as props. Poilievre blamed Trudeau for causing homelessness, and accused him of attempting to “manipulate and intimidate” senators to vote against Bill C-234. Trudeau quipped that the only farming Poilievre cares about is rage-farming. Poilievre pilloried him for reading talking points from junior staffers, and repeated his same accusation. Trudeau, with a script in his hand, says that Poilievre is so ideologically opposed to climate action that he wants to take parliament hostage, and accused Poilievre of only being fuelled by the sound of his own voice.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he railed about Catherine Tait’s leadership at CBC/Radio-Canada and the cuts being made. Trudeau read some scripts about cancelling Harper cuts and their work on the Online News Act. Blanchet hoped that they would not conclude that Liberal cuts were better than Conservative ones and took another swipe at Tait. Trudeau reminded him that they will look at the protection of French as part of CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate.

Lindsay Mathyssen rose for the NDP, and read statistics on gender-based violence before accusing the government of cutting funds to women’s shelters (which is not actually the case). Trudeau read a script about supporting shelters and working with provinces and territories on strategies to eliminate gender based violence. Lori Idlout accused the government of deliberately keeping Indigenous women in violent situations by not adequately funding housing. Trudeau read a script about co-developing housing strategies and solutions, while they have already helped build and renovate 30,000 housing units for Indigenous communities. 

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QP: A non-partisan private screening?

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The prime minister was present today, while his deputy was not. Most of the other leaders, but not all, were present as well. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he immediately praised his “documentary” and crowed that four million people have watched it on Twitter, before wondering if the prime minister would watch it. Justin Trudeau noted that Poilievre has asked the federal government to withdraw from the housing sector, and said that they would’t repeat the same mistakes Poilievre made when he was “housing” minister and denounced Poilievre’s proposals, saying that Poilievre was focusing more on his own popularity than housing people. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his back-patting on his “documentary,” and Trudeau declared that Canadians need the government’s “bold action,” and declared that the federal government has an important leadership role to play and listed some actions. Poilievre mocked Trudeau releasing his own video in a development, then claimed to “set partisanship aside” to offer a private screening of his “documentary.” Trudeau noted the things that Poilievre was promising that wouldn’t actually get more houses built, and that they were more focused on houses than clicks. Poilievre recited a series of slogans, before Trudeau noted that Poilievre was satisfied with his ability to deliver misinformation and disinformation online, which he was very good at. Poilievre called Trudeau the “king of self-aggrandisement,” and praised his “documentary” again. Trudeau noted that he didn’t think he’d be hearing an infomercial instead of QP, and recited lines about how the government was working with cities to take concrete measures to get houses built while Poilievre is busy talking to himself online.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and worried both the dire state of the media, particularly with the recent CBC/Radio-Canada cuts. Trudeau insisted that they have been there for the media for years, and praised their Google deal. Blanchet insisted that the Google deal was not enough, and that was particularly concerned about cuts to French services at CBC while executives would still get bonuses. Trudeau read a script about cancelling the Harper cuts to CBC, and praise for the Online News Act, taking a swipe at Poilievre in the process.

Jenny Kwan rose for the NDP, and demanded immediate action on housing. Trudeau said that they were reaching out to municipalities and provinces to deliver, and that they all needed to roll up their sleeves to solve this process. Alistair MacGregor went on a rant about corporate greed driving people to food banks, to which Trudeau read a script about competition legislation to crack down on predatory pricing and ensuring more competition in the sector to lower prices.

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Roundup: Speaker Fergus is in trouble

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The incident over the weekend where Speaker Greg Fergus appeared in a video at the Ontario Liberal leadership convention, in his robes, in his official office, blew up in the House of Commons today, and it wasn’t wholly unexpected. Fergus led off the day with an apology and a promise to be more careful in the future, but also an insistence that this was a personal message to outgoing interim provincial Liberal leader John Fraser, for whom he las a long-standing friendship, and non-partisan.

This didn’t mollify the Conservatives, who immediately launched into a point of privilege, led by Andrew Scheer, while the Bloc immediately decided that Fergus needs to resign over this, while the Conservatives also came around to this demand. The NDP, for their part, said that this needs to go to a committee for study, but all the while, Fergus recused himself from this discussion (as well he should have, which as something that Anthony Rota didn’t do after his particular incident), but the Deputy Speaker, Chris d’Entrement, indulged. It was quite clear that this was really more of a dilatory tactic from the Conservatives, who put up speaker after speaker to this point, for hours on end, which again, d’Entrement indulged when he shouldn’t have. But this is what they’re doing at this time of year, to run out the clock, like they do at the end of every sitting, and this was just today’s excuse rather than insisting that they really, really needed to debate a three-line committee report from eighteen months ago.

A couple of observations here:

  1. This wasn’t necessarily a breach of non-partisanship because this was at a provincial and not a federal event. Scheer tried to use the analogy of an NHL referee giving a pep talk in on team’s dressing room while in uniform, but that doesn’t hold—this would be an NHL referee giving a note of congratulations to someone in the OHL. But Scheer is a serial liar, so of course he’s going to turn out a work of fiction on this.
  2. Fergus should have known better, and while Fraser is trying to take the blame for this, Fergus should have had better judgment than to appear in his robes, in his official office, regardless of the circumstances. As a friend of mine noted, the Liberals can’t seem to help themselves with this kind of thing, and Fergus has been a little too proud of his new post and to be showing off his robes at every opportunity, and that’s going to get him in trouble. Well, more than he already is. Did he learn nothing from the fact that Rota was a genial idiot using his position to pose for photos in his uniform at every opportunity, and it led to his downfall? Seriously.
  3. If people want to get precious about what is and isn’t non-partisan for a Speaker, Rota would be making government funding announcement in his riding all the time, which he shouldn’t have done because he’s not a minister, and he’s the Speaker and shouldn’t have been there for them. And yet, nobody said boo about this practice, which they really should have.

Bottom line is I don’t think Fergus should have to resign over this, but man oh man, what terrible judgment so early in his time in that office.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say they have successfully attacked oil depots in Russian-occupied Luhansk, while the deputy commander of Russia’s 14th Army Corps was killed in fighting in Ukraine. The death toll from the strike on the eastern town of Novohrodivka has risen after more bodies were found in the rubble of a residential building.

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QP: Did you watch my documentary?

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While the prime minister was in town, he was not present, though his deputy was. Most of the other leaders were absent as well, for what it’s worth. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he decried that rent was rising faster than salaries, and blamed the prime minister for it, and implored him to watch his “documentary” which he called “common sense,” and demanded a “common sense” plan. Sean Fraser got up to respond that it was a shame that Poilievre doesn’t put as much energy into generating housing policy as he does videos, and that the reality was when when he looks at Poilievre’s proposals, it would mean fewer houses get built. Poilievre insisted that minster must not have watched his “common sense” video, which he claimed was being “widely acclaimed” (it’s not), and listed some of his proposals. Fraser said that while Poilievre was more concerned about clicks, he was concerned about putting roofs over people’s heads. Poilievre mocked the progress the government has made and their insistence of photo ops, to which Fraser pointed out that Poilievre likes to go around the country on the taxpayer’s expense, and take photos in front of projects the government funded. Poilievre gave a soliloquy about how all of the government’s projects are imaginary, and this time, Fraser pointed out how much the government’s housing strategy has provided, and that they have turned the corner after three decades of federal inaction. Poilievre gave another pitch for his nonsense plan, and Fraser responded with the responsibility that they all have to ensure that everyone has a home.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and wanted to know how long the heritage minister knew that cuts were happening at CBC/Radio-Canada, as though she is the manager in charge. Pascale St-Onge praised their record on reinvesting in CBC and the media sector. Therrien then went on a rant about Catherine Tait having her term expend to make these cuts, to which St-Onge reminds him that CBC operates at arm’s length, and that they were doing more the media sector thanks to their Online News Act.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, took a swipe at St-Onge, before worrying about the Operation Santa Claus letters about children asking for food, and turned it into a rant about grocery giants. Chrystia Freeland talked about how the Canada Child Benefit has lifted families out of poverty but they were also advancing new competition measures. Alaister MacGregor took over in English to decry the grocery CEOs, to which Freeland repeated her praise about benefits, and their bill to enhance competition. 

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