Category Archives: Question Period

Recaps from Question Period in the House of Commons

QP: More complaints about hotel quarantine

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While the prime minister normally makes an appearance on Tuesdays, he did not today in advance of his virtual meeting with Joe Biden. There were three Liberals in the Chamber, including a minister — Mona Fortier — for what it’s worth. Candice Bergen led off by video, demanding that the government impose sanctions on those responsible for the genocide against the Uyghurs. Rob Oliphant assured her that the government was working with its international allies on this issue. Bergen then pivoted to vaccines, and complained that other countries were planning their re-openings, to which Anita Anand reminded her of how many doses are arriving this week. Bergen carried on, insinuating that there was no plan for vaccinations, which Anand disputed and stated the procurement plan once again. Gérard Deltell took over in French to complain about the hotel quarantine phone hotline, to which Patty Hajdu recited the litany of border measures including hotel quarantine. Deltell then turned to the fact that there still wasn’t a legislative fix for the loophole around people who could claim sickness benefits during quarantine from voluntary travel, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that they have tried to move it by unanimous consent and the Conservatives refused.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he also complained about the hotel quarantine hotline, for which Rodriguez said that people were calling for information, which is now available from other sources. Therrien was outraged by the government’s slow action, and Rodriguez chided him for his theatrical outrage.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, he demanded a Canadian exemption for Buy American policies during Trudeau’s call with Joe Biden, for which Mary Ng reminded him that they have been engaging on this since the start. Singh repeated the demand in English, and got much the same reply.

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QP: Hotline blues

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Monday, and there were a mere two Liberals in the Chamber. Candice Bergen led off for the Conservatives by video, railing that vaccines were not being distributed fast enough, and demanded a plan from the government. Anita Anand reminded her that the plan is in place, and that over half a million doses are arriving this week. Bergen went two more rounds of the same, and got the same response both times. Gérard Deltell then took over in French, and demanded the government to declare how they would vote on the Uyghur genocide motion, for which Marc Garneau cited the government’s concern with the situation and their actions to try and get verification with international partners, but did not answer the question posed. Deltell cited that the Americans have made a declaration — which is meaningless because they don’t subscribe to the International Genocide Convention — for which Garneau repeated his response.

Alain Therrien rose for the Bloc, citing the hours-long wait times on the government’s hotline for hotel quarantines, for which Patty Hajdu praised their border measures and hotel quarantine making it more robust. Therrien then demanded stronger quarantine measures, for which he got the usual reassurances from Hajdu.

Rachel Blaney led for the NDP, and she complained that the UNDRIP bill had only received two hours of debate — ignoring the winter break and the shenanigans of the opposition in forcing debate on committee reports over bill debates. David Lametti reassured her that they felt the bill was important and hoped it would move along soon. Charlie Angus the railed about companies with poor track records getting contracts for First Nations water systems, for which Marc Miller pointed out that the First Nations choose the contractors, and the department works with them to get results.

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QP: Selectively quoting reports to one another

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There were only three Liberals in the Chamber today, which remains a problem, but they keep telling themselves they’re setting a “good example.” They’re not. Pierre Poilievre led off, and he lamented a Canadian Federation of Independent Business report citing that up to twenty percent of small businesses may close because of the pandemic. Appearing by video, Chrystia Freeland quoted this week’s IMF report that praised the federal government’s quick action in providing supports. Poilievre then gave a mendacious comparison of unemployment figures, to which Freeland responded with comparisons of the participation rates in the labour force. Poilievre railed about people not getting jobs, but Freeland repeated her IMF quotes. Pierre Paul-Hus was up next, and he gave a fictitious version of the CanSino deal, to which Freeland read the talking points on the vaccine portfolio. Paul-Hus demanded a back-up plan for vaccinations, to which Freeland haltingly read talking points about the breadth of the portfolio as being Plans A, B, C, and D.

For the Bloc, Sébastien Lemire quoted that experts did not agree with the CanSino deal and falsely quoted the “putting all our eggs in one basket” notion, for which Freeland read assurances that the government always listens to expert advice, before repeating the assurances about diversifying the portfolio. Lemire then complained about the Laval candidate not getting funding, for which Freeland read that the researcher got a million dollar subsidy from the government.

Rising for the NDP, Jagmeet Singh complained in French about the federal sickness benefit, and demanded it being improved — though in 94 percent of workplaces, sick leave is a provincial responsibility. Freeland read that the sickness benefit was an important programme, and that provinces have put protections for employment in place. Singh repeated his demand in English, and Freeland agreed that paid sick leave is important, which is why they provided the benefits they could.

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QP: Random accusations and incoherence

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For the day’s proto-PMQs, prime minister Justin Trudeau was present, along with three other Liberals — still a pathetic turnout and contemptuous of Parliament. After a late start, Erin O’Toole led off, mini-lectern and script in front of him, and he accused the prime minister of being out of step with allies and his own caucus on China, and demanded that Canada remove itself from the Asia Infrastructure Bank — as though that would do anything. Trudeau stated that they continue to express their concern about China’s activities and human rights record, solidarity with the two Michaels, and that more discussions were happening in next week’s virtual G7 meeting. O’Toole tried to wedge Canadian job numbers with the Asia Infrastructure Bank, and Trudeau took the opportunity to pat himself on the back for the measures they rolled out to help those who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. O’Toole then worried about our vaccination rollout, and the lack of domestic production capacity, and Trudeau read about their investments in Canadian bio-manufacturing, and how the vaccine plan was on track. O’Toole switched to French to repeat the question and got the same answer, before he demanded to know how many Canadians would be vaccinated next week — as though he can answer for the provinces, but Trudeau listed what deliveries we were expecting this week,

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and stated that the Quebec government was investing in that Laval vaccine candidate, to which Trudeau listed what investments that particular researcher was given by the federal government. Blanchet was not mollified, and he continued to rail that multinationals got contracts instead of Quebeckers, for which Trudeau chided that we can hear the frustration in the Bloc leader’s voice because Ottawa was delivering for Quebec.

For the NDP, Jagmeet Singh got up, and in French, demanded a promise from the government that they would not call an election in the pandemic, and Trudeau took the opportunity to call out the Conservatives for stalling the latest pandemic aid bill. Singh repeated his demand in English, and Trudeau noted that in a minority parliament, the government doesn’t have the sole determination of that, before praising their efforts today.

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QP: Demanding new national plans

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With the stay-at-home order lifted in Ontario, we had a whole five Liberals in the Chamber, including Justin Trudeau, for what that’s worth, Erin O’Toole led off, worried that the government had no plan for the economic recovery, to which Trudeau replied that the best economic recovery plan is a healthy population, which they were doing everything to support. O’Toole then raised the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s new economic recovery task force, demanding a national strategy for rapid testing — never mind that this is a provincial responsibility. Trudeau reminded him that they delivered some 19 million rapid tests to provinces, and that O’Toole himself was opposed to a national strategy on long-term care, so he wasn’t exactly being consistent. O’Toole then pivoted to vaccinations, complaining Canada was lagging, to which Trudeau reminded him of the hundreds of thousands of doses arriving this week and every week, and that we were well on track to six million doses by the end of March. O’Toole repeated the question in French, got the same answer, and then demanded a plan for three hundred thousand doses delivered per day, to which Trudeau gave his rote assurances on the portfolio and everyone being vaccinated by September.

For the Bloc, Yves-François Blanchet raised a Quebec scientist who developed a potential vaccine but did not get federal funding, calling it a slight against Quebec, to which Trudeau reminded him that they took the recommendations of science. Blanchet then demanded the full contracts were published, and Trudeau chided him, saying that he knows full well that there are confidentiality agreements, and they were transparent with the contracts, and the delivery dates.

Jagmeet Singh then rose for the NDP, and in French, he demanded leadership on vaccinations, and that all resources would be deployed into it, to which Trudeau assured him that it was what they were already doing. Singh switched to English to demand that the prime minister stop “hiding behind jurisdictional issues” and demanded funding for federal vaccinations sites. Trudeau chided Singh and the NDP for not understanding the constitution.

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QP: Pouncing on COVAX

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There was a second Liberal in the Chamber today, with Francis Drouin joining Mark Gerretsen, not that this made the situation any better. Candice Bergen led off for the Conservatives, appearing by video, and she demanded government support for their Supply Day motion on the creation of a Canada-US committee. Chrystia Freeland, also by video, responded that the Conservatives’ plan around Trump’s tariffs was to wave the white flag. Bergen tried again, bringing in the concerns over Line 5, to which Freeland offered calm assurances that they were working with the Americans on this file. Bergen then switched to the topic of vaccines, worrying that we were dropping in rankings, to which Freeland gave the usual assurances about the portfolio and that the schedule was still intact. Gérard Deltell took over in French, and he said it was “humiliating” that the government was drawing from the COVAX fund, misconstruing the deal. Freeland responded that COVAX was always part of the strategy, and this proved the system was working. Deltell pressed upon the urgency of the need for vaccines, and Freeland gave the same assurances.

Alain Therrien led off for the Bloc, and he too brought up the false reading of the COVAX programme, calling it “embarrassing,” and Freeland repeated that it was always part of the strategy and listed other allies who were part of it. Therrien demanded a plan for vaccinations, for which Freeland calmly stated that they also shared the sense of urgency, which is why they are sharing all of their information.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, he tied the loss of lives to vaccine delays, and wanted to know why the government let people down. Freeland read off the talking points on the breadth of our vaccine portfolio. Singh switched to English to repeat the same ghoulish framing and brought up COVAX to repeat the same question on letting people down. Freeland once again repeated that this was always part of the strategy.

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QP: Disputing the vaccine math

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Another day of the Liberals only putting up Mark Gerretsen in the House, another day of their ongoing contempt for what Parliament means in the face of a pandemic – made worse by this being PMQ day, and the prime minister would only appear virtually. Erin O’Toole led off, in person, on Enbridge Line 5 once again, noting that Imperial Oil is making contingency plans to move the oil by rail if it is shut down, and demanded action. Justin Trudeau, appearing by video, assured him they were engaging with the Americans on Line 5. O’Toole insisted that Trudeau wasn’t engaged as it wasn’t mentioned in any of the readouts of his calls with top US officials, and Trudeau repeated that they are engaging on Line 5 and pointing out its importance. O’Toole pivoted to the front page of the Globe and Mail and its denunciation of the vaccine plan, and demanded a new one — err, which is mostly provincial jurisdiction. Trudeau reminded him of their strong procurement plan, and investments in domestic options. O’Toole changed to French to raise the issue of PnuVax not getting any domestic production contracts, to which Trudeau reminded him of all the domestic investments they made. O’Toole railed that no shipments arrived last week, to which Trudeau reminded him that there will be the fulfilled contracts by the end of the quarter, in spite of fluctuations week-to-week.

Yves-François Blanchet got up to lead for the Bloc, and he lamented the vaccine numbers before demanding the contracts be made public, to which Trudeau contested his assertions.  Blanchet wondered if he got any contracts about getting Pfizer doses from the US, to which Trudeau called out his fear-mongering, and said that they were working to ensure supply chains remain open.

Jagmeet Singh was then up for the NDP, and in French, he wondered why the government didn’t plan for domestic production a year ago, to which Trudeau reminded him that they did invest in domestic options from the very start. Singh accused the government of giving “mixed messages” on domestic production — which is not actually true — before repeating his question in English, for which he got the same response.

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QP: Demanding a Line 5 tantrum

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It was another day of the Liberals showing contempt for Parliament by only putting Mark Gerretsen in the Chamber. Erin O’Toole led off in person, demanding that the prime minister stand up for Enbridge Line 5, to which Justin Trudeau, by video, reminded him of everything his government had done in order to push back against American encroachment. O’Toole said that this wasn’t raised in any call for the past several weeks, to which Trudeau dismissed Conservative armchair quarterbacking, asserting that they got the job done. O’Toole then pivoted to praise Northern Ireland for getting written assurances that they would be exempt from EU export controls on vaccines, and demanded assurances in writing, and Trudeau stated that they got “strong assurances” that Canada would not be affected by these transparency measures. O’Toole switched to French to call out the contradiction between the prime minister and industry minister as to when the Montreal vaccine facility would be able to produce the Novavax candidate — by summer, or the end of the year. Trudeau said that he had stated that the facility should be finished by the summer, and can start production before the end of the year. O’Toole then demanded a plan on vaccine delivery, to which Trudeau accused him of fear-no getting, and reiterated the talking points on the quarterly delivery commitments.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and moaned about health care transfers and that the federal government wants national standards — taking a swipe at the NDP while he was at it. Trudeau stated that they would increase health transfers, that they already had increased investments, and there would be more discussions going forward. Blanchet then railed about national standards over Quebec standards, to which Trudeau reminded him that the Canadian Forces stepped in to help those Quebec long-term care facilities.

Jagmeet Singh then got up for the NDP, and demanded paid sick leave, and fixing the existing federal benefit. Trudeau reminded him that they created a federal programme to help people immediately but it was great to see some provinces step up (because this is 94 percent provincial jurisdiction). Singh switched to French to raise his meeting with François Legault to demand an increase in federal health transfers, and Trudeau stated that they would continue to increase them, and reminded him of the tens of billions sent to province through the pandemic.

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QP: Not taking yes for an answer on Line 5

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It was yet another day where the Liberals had only a single MP in the Chamber yet again, no matter that there were plenty of other of their MPs in the building, continuing to show their contempt for Parliament as a result. (A second MP joined him for a few minutes, then left again). Candice Bergen led off virtually, and she railed about the threats to Enbridge Line 5, to which Seamus O’Regan agreed that the pipeline was vital and they were working to secure it. Bergen was not mollified and grumbled that the prime minister didn’t answer before demanding he do more to protect it. O’Regan assured her they were working on the file and it served no purpose to conflate it with other issues. Bergen railed that Trudeau had failed under three successive presidents to protect the energy sector, and O’Regan repeated his assurances that they were doing everything possible. Richard Martel took over in French to demand more vaccines, to which Anita Anand first started off by acknowledgement Black History Month and let it be known that she works to reach out to the Black community for procurement needs, before turning to the question and assuring him that there are two vaccine shipments arriving this week. Martel was not impressed and demanded vaccines immediately, and Anand assured him that factories were ramping up production to meet demand.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he demand a guarantee that vaccine deliveries were going to get back on track, to which Anand assured him that a Pfizer shipment was en route. Therrien railed that this was not good enough, but Anand insisted that they shared this priority of getting vaccines to Canadians, and that the overall schedule was not affected. Jagmeet Singh led for the NDP, and in French, he demanded all non-essential flights be cancelled, to which Omar Alghabra reminded him that they have some of the toughest measures in the world, and listed them. Singh repeated the demand in English, and got the same answer,

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QP: Delay, lag, and disingenuous concern

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It was another bleak day for attendance, when there wasn’t even quorum in the Chamber, because who cares about the gods damned constitution? Erin O’Toole led off, in person, mini-lectern on desk, and he worried about what is happening with Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan, and wanted action on this. Chrystia Freeland, via video, assured him that the understand the importance of the energy sector, and they were working with the American administration. O’Toole tried again, got the same answer, and then he switched to the Economist’s problematic prediction for when Canadians would be vaccinated, along with some disingenuous trolling about the misunderstood vaccine numbers out this morning. Freeland assured him that six million doses would still be delivered by the end of the first quarter, but did not explain the confusion around doses. O’Toole repeated the question in French, and got the same answer from Freeland in French. O’Toole tried to be theatrical in his concern in French — and it came off very badly— and Freeland repeated her assurances about doses arriving. Alain Therrien led off for the Bloc, and he complained about people being quarantined while accessing benefits, to which Freeland assured him that they were working to close this loophole and hoped the opposition would work toward that. Therrien was not mollified and demanded people repay benefits they got, and Freeland assured him, in a calm voice, that they were working on this and would be adding additional measures at the border. Jagmeet Singh was up next for the NDP, and in French, repeated the false reading about the Pfizer vaccine dose numbers, for which Freeland gave her rote reassurances without explaining the numbers. Singh demanded the vaccine plan in English — never mind that the rollout is almost wholly provincial jurisdiction, and Freeland again repeated her memorised reassurances.

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