While Justin Trudeau was in town but not in Question Period, Andrew Scheer was also away for reasons undisclosed. Candice Bergen led off on the Vice-Admiral Mark Norman issue again, demanding that the government turn over recordings of Cabinet meetings where shipbuilding contracts were discussed. Ralph Goodale got up to respond by reminding her that this is before the courts and they can’t discuss it. Bergen raised the spectre that the government was destroying records because of the Ontario Liberals did in relation to the gas plants scandal. Goodale reminded her of the Standing Orders that state that matters before the courts can’t be discussed. Bergen tried again on the same insinuations, and Goodale said that the government follows the law. Gérard Deltell got up to try again in French, and Goodale reminded him about the independence of the courts. Deltell reminded him that Paul Martin released records for the sponsorship scandal, and Goodale cautioned him that commentary like that was not permitted. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, demanding expungements instead of pardons for former simple possession convictions. Goodale reminded him that the old system didn’t work which was why they changed it, and that they were putting in a new expedited process for those pardons. Caron asked again in French, and Caron reminded him that the expungements for when the law itself was discriminatory such as when it criminalised people for being gay. Hélène Laverdière got up next, and asked the government to apply the Magnitsky Act on Saudi officials responsible for the disappearance and possible death of Jamal Khashoggi. Chrystia Freeland assured her that they were working with partners to call for answers, but when Laverdière asked again in English, bringing up our arms sales, and Freeland gave a more pointed response about the G7 foreign minister’s statement that she led.
Tag Archives: EI Reform
Roundup: Giving succour to racists to own the libs
That heckler the PM had an encounter with late last week turned into a big Thing today as it was revealed that she was a member of far-right and anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant groups in Quebec, and that her heckles were a set-up that Trudeau walked into. Trudeau himself offered no apologies for his response, but wouldn’t you know it – the Conservatives have decided to go to bat for this woman.
Before you all tweet at me… 1) CTV shared a video that showed someone asking a question about the budget, and that person got called ”intolerant” by the PM because of it. 2) If our PM answered basic questions like this in any venue, we wouldn’t be having this debate.
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) August 20, 2018
No, seriously. “Asking a question about the budget.” That was not “asking a question about the budget.” The translation of her (shouted) question was “I want to know when you are going to refund the $146 million we paid for your illegal immigrants.” That’s not a polite policy difference about interprovincial politics, as so many other conservatives have tried to intimate, that her question was the same one asked by three different provincial governments. It was followed up by her asking if Trudeau was tolerant of “Québécois de souche,” which some people translate as “old stock Quebeckers,” but that lacks the racially-charged nuance of the phrase, which some have likened to the “Quebec-speak variant of Master Race.” Add her “question about the budget” to this racially-charged phrase shows that she’s not concerned about the budget – she believes that these asylum seekers are stealing from Quebec. But, you know, it was “a question about the budget.” But wait – it gets better.
Andrew Scheer is concerned that Justin Trudeau is engaged in name-calling.
The woman used racist terminology, but Justin “demonized” his critics.
You can’t make this up. pic.twitter.com/i7o3hVgvbG— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 20, 2018
Andrew Scheer decided to weigh in and, ignoring all of what happened and the context, and the woman’s racially-charged language, Scheer attacked Trudeau for “name-calling” and “demonizing” people who are critical of him. Trudeau calling an avowed racist, with a history of public racism, a racist, is apparently “a vile [personal] insult” because he’s afraid of “legitimate criticism.” So yeah – way to go for offering succor to racists and white nationalists to “own the libs.” And while this woman’s apologists go on about how Trudeau “inflamed the situation” rather than answering her question – as though it was asked in good faith (it wasn’t) and wasn’t going to be immediately followed up with her racist remarks (which it was inevitably, given that this was demonstrably a set-up), you have to wonder just how wilfully blind Scheer and company will be in order to try and make Trudeau out to be the real monster.
https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1031727549896957952
A few smart Tweets from @Alex_Panetta on the line a certain crowd is pushing: https://t.co/K28p1f1biK pic.twitter.com/ZWzrOuQgrw
— Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) August 20, 2018
Meanwhile, John Ivison says that confrontations like these are political gold for Trudeau because he can run against the image of a xenophobic Conservative party, which plays well to a certain segment of the population, while Chris Selley says that Trudeau needs to be careful when calling out intolerance because of his party’s own obnoxious tendencies.
QP: Bothered by bonuses
While a torrential downpour descended on the nation’s capital, he third-last week of the spring sitting got underway. Andrew Scheer led off in French, mini-lectern on desk, decrying the “failure” of the government to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and the revelation that executives were getting million-dollar bonuses. Justin Trudeau took up a script to read about their decision to stand up for workers, but would not comment on the internal workings of a company. Scheer switched to English to repeat the question, with added verbosity. Trudeau had no script this time to reiterate the same thing, and adding that public investment has long been necessary to develop resources in Canada. Scheer switched topics, offering some revisionist history in saying that they immediately supported the government in retaliating against the imposition of US tariffs, but worried that our measures wouldn’t come into effect until July 1st. Trudeau reminded him that they wanted to consult to ensure that no Canadians would be inadvertently hurt by these measures. They went another round of the same, and Scheer switched topics again to Iran, and the recent tweets by the Supreme Leader, to which Trudeau took up a script to read some pro forma condemnation of Iran’s actions. Ruth Ellen Brosseau led for the NDP, reading some condemnation about those Kinder Morgan bonuses, and Trudeau, sans script, gave the response about the $15 billion Canada loses annually by not getting a world price for oil. Brosseau worried that the pipeline trampled on the rights of First Nations, to which Trudeau suggested that they did a lot of consulting on the issue. Georgina Jolibois reiterated the question in English, and Trudeau said that they listened to all First Nations, including those who disagreed with them, and they tried to do what they to allay concerns. Nathan Cullen got up to reiterate the question of Kinder Morgan bonuses with added sanctimony, to which Trudeau repeated the $15 billion talking point and the fact that it fit within their climate plan.
That was some revisionist history from Scheer, insisting that they supported the government on the tariff issue. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 4, 2018
QP: Cheap shots on a trade war
While Justin Trudeau had intended to show up for Question Period today, the new imposition of tariffs by the United States had him off at the National Press Theatre instead. Andrew Scheer was also away, off to Nova Scotia instead. Erin O’Toole led off, decrying the steel tariffs and called the prime minister a failure on the issue, which ushered in cries of “shame!” from the Liberal benches. Marc Garneau admonished him for being partisan on this issue, and stated that the tariffs were unacceptable and that Canada would be imposing retaliatory tariffs against American imports. O’Toole insisted that the PM didn’t get anything for months while the Conservatives were engaged on the file, and demanded action. Garneau reiterated his response, and when O’Toole invited the government to work with the Conservatives on the issue, Garneau relate his response for a third time. Luc Berthold took over to make the charge of incompetence in French, to which Garneau repeated his response in French, and when Berthold accused the PM of naïvely believing the president when he said there would be no tariffs, Garneau said that Berthold should be ashamed of his partisanship. Ruth Ellen Brosseau then picked up the same line of questioning for the NDP, demanding to know what the government would do to protect workers, and Garneau repeated that they are consulting on retaliatory measures and would protect workers. Tracey Ramsey took over in English, and over two questions asked the same thing and made more accusations that the government was unable to secure a deal, to which Garneau repeated his response yet again. Karine Trudel took over for a final attempt at the very same question, and got the same answer. Again.
I really wonder how either opposition party thinks they would have secured an exemption from an uncertainty engine like Trump. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 31, 2018
Difference noted so far between #CPC & #NDP in QP, re: steel and aluminum #tariffs. New Democrats seem a little more free to blame @realDonaldTrump (as well as Trudeau.) Conservatives are more exclusively aimed at Trudeau. #cdnpoli
— Susan (@susandelacourt) May 31, 2018
QP: Conflicts, subsidies, and elections
While Justin Trudeau was off in Charlevoix, and Andrew Scheer in Laval as part of his “listening to Quebeckers” tour, there were no leaders in the Commons today except for Elizabeth May. Candice Bergen led off, raising new allegations from the Globe and Mail about the Arctic surf clam fishery, to which Dominic LeBlanc assured her the allegation was false, before reminding her that they included Indigenous people in the fishery when the previous government didn’t. Bergen reiterated the previous allegations about the process including the accusation that his family will benefit, and this time LeBlanc was a little more sharp in his reiteration that the allegations are false, and the fact that he has no family connection in the case. Bergen demanded that the prime minister remove him from the file, and LeBlanc assured her that he would cooperate with the Ethics Commissioner, but pointedly reminded her that she should stick to the facts. Jacques Gourde took over to ask the same again in French, and LeBlanc called out the fact that they were simply reiterating the same falsehoods in French. After a second round of the same, Ruth Ellen Brosseau led off for the NDP, demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies by 2019 and to know how much would be given to Kinder Morgan. Bill Morneau got up to say that they were on track to phase out subsidies by 2020, and that they were still talking with Kinder Morgan. Nathan Cullen reiterated the same in English, with a heap of added sanctimony, to which Morneau repeated his same answer. Cullen then got up to moralise about getting multi-party support for the elections bill, to which Karina Gould praised it going to committee to get the “study and interrogation” that it deserves. Brosseau repeated the same in French, and got the same response.
Sigh. Four days of debate at Second Reading is more than enough. Committee study is more important.
Procedure matters. #QP— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 24, 2018
QP: Tax credits vs carbon taxes
While Justin Trudeau was away in Toronto, Andrew Scheer was absent once again (despite having been in Ottawa for the National Prayer Breakfast), leaving it to Lisa Raitt to lead off, worrying that Atlantic Canadians haven’t had a real wage increase which would be made worse by a carbon tax. Catherine McKenna reminded her that climate change impacts will make things worse and more expensive, and wondered why the other party didn’t have a plan. Raitt concerned trolls that high fuel prices would mean people can’t make choices to walk, to which McKenna turned the concern around to point to the children in the Gallery and the world they will inherit. Raitt demanded the government support their Supply Day motion about not imposing carbon taxes, and McKenna reminded her of the costs of climate change, and the trillion dollar clean energy opportunity. Alain Rayes then raised in French all of the tax credits that the government cancelled to decry the imposition of a carbon tax, to which McKenna again asked what the Conservative plan was. After another round of the same, Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, raising the changed candidate for the new Chef Electoral Officer, to which Brison reminded him that they should respect the privacy of those who engage in the appointment process. Caron asked again in English, to which Brison reiterate his admonishing. Hélène Laverdière was up next to raise the federal report on use of Canadian LAVs in Saudi Arabia, questioning its veracity. François-Philippe Champagne reminded her that they are passing legislation to strengthen control of arms abroad. Laverdière quipped that the bill has holes in it, and then reiterated the question in English before calling on the government to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Champagne reiterated his remarks about the bill, thanking MPs for their input.
Rayes: “The PBO, who is neutral…” and then selectively quotes the report that mischaracterizes why it said.
Good job, guys. #QP— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 8, 2018
QP: Border concerns at the fore
All leaders were present, and before QP got underway, Guy Caron, Andrew Scheer, and Marco Mendicino made statements about the van attack in Toronto yesterday. After a moment of silence, Scheer led off, concern trolling that the government of Quebec had to go to the media to get action on irregular border crossers. Justin Trudeau said that they had been rebuilding the relationship with the provinces, and that they were working on the issue with them. Scheer demanded to know why nothing had been done over the past year to stem the flow of migrants, and Trudeau took up a script to list the fact that the previous government made cuts to CBSA and the IRB that they were still investing to clean up. Scheer worried that legitimate refugees or immigrants were not getting processed because of these backlogs, and Trudeau didn’t use a script to call out the Conservatives for having broken the system. Scheer protested that the Conservatives had a “generous” refugee resettlement programme, but Trudeau reiterated the cuts that the previous government instituted. Scheer tried one last time, and Trudeau noted that the backlogs now were as a result of those cuts, while his government was cutting processing times while still respecting the rules around international asylum claimants. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, accusing the government of rigging the Trans Mountain approval process, to which Trudeau deployed a platitude about energy and the environment going together. Caron switched to French to repeat the question, and Trudeau took a script this time to chastise the NDP for their incoherent position before retreating to the platitudes. Hélène Laverdière was up next to demand the suspension of the Safe Third Country agreement, to which Trudeau took up a new script to read about how they were investing in accelerating processing and strengthening the border. Jenny Kwan reiterated the question in English, to which Trudeau worried that the NDP may be trying to stoke fears around asylum seekers as well, before repeating his previous points sans script.
Uproar in the Liberal benches when Scheer says the Conservatives had a generous refugee program. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 24, 2018
QP: It’s true if they say it is
While MPs waited for the budget to be released, all of the leaders were present for the first time in a while, and we all awaited the performative outrage. Andrew Scheer led off, mini-lectern on desk, and in French, he immediately read the demand to know whether not names submitted to the events in India were vetted by security services. Justin Trudeau got up, and with a rare script in hand, he listed off the pabulum talking point that the invitation should not have been made, was rescinded, and security services did their jobs. Scheer switched to English and lit into Trudeau about how “disastrous” the trip was and the media briefing that put forward the theory that the Indian government was involved in Jaspel Atwal’s presence, but Trudeau picked up a different script to praise the Canada-India relationship. Scheer demanded to know if a public servant was put forward to run interference with the media, and Trudeau picked up another sheet to points out that they respect the non-partisan public service, unlike the previous government, and if one of them says something to Canadians, it’s because they know it to be true. Scheer tried again, and this time Trudeau put down the script to nor vigorously reiterate that the previous government used public servants for partisan ends and they did not. Scheer closed off by asking if they knew of other extremists who attended these events, but Trudeau demurred. Guy Caron was up next, and he immediately railed about cost-benefit analyses related to whether or not CRA went after large violators. Trudeau picked up a new script and listed off the measures they are taking to combat tax evasion, which includes exchanging data with partner countries. Caron switched topics to worry about web giants getting benefits over Canadian companies when it comes to taxation. Trudeau, sans script, reminded Caron that they would not increase taxes even if the NDP demanded it. Charlie Angus was up next and returned to the Atwal issue, and Trudeau picked up his script to read the praise for the trusted non-partisan security services. Angus tried to link Atwal with “partisan pork-barrel politics,” which was a stretch, and Trudeau reiterated that the invitation was rescinded.
Trudeau is sticking to scripts today, which is unusual for him. Playing it very cautious it seems. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 27, 2018
Pretty sure that Atwal is not a “convicted political assassin.” #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 27, 2018
QP: A smarmier version of Matlock
The first proto-Prime Minister’s Questions of the New Year, with Justin Trudeau finally in town on a Wednesday, and Andrew Scheer was once again no longer present. That left Lisa Raitt to leave off, who was worried that offshore investment into marijuana companies was not the front companies for organised crime. Trudeau stumbled off the block, and gave his worn points about why they are legalising marijuana. Raitt called out the talking points, but along the way, equated former Liberal fundraisers with organised crime, but Trudeau didn’t vary his response. Alain Rayes was up next, and in French, accused Liberal fundraisers of trying to line their pockets though cannabis and accused the government of interfering with debate in the Senate, it Trudeau stuck to his points in French. Rayes tried again, and this time, Trudeau said that they could assure people that they were not letting organised crime into the system. Rayes went one last round, asserting that legalised marijuana was somehow the new Sponsorship Scandal, but Trudeau reminded him that the previous prohibition model failed. Guy Caron was up next, and kept on the same line of attack, highlighting tax havens, and this time, Trudeau picked up some notes to say that they have been coming to agreements with provinces to provide transparency on corporations and that they were doing background checks on any significant investment in cannabis companies. Caron went again in French, railing about Liberals and tax havens, but Trudeau repeated the assurances in French. Pierre-Luc Dusseault asked the same question again, to which Trudeau assured him that they had an information network to combat tax avoidance and evasion, and when Peter Julian asked one more time, Trudeau picked up his notes again to assure him that there would be mandatory security checks with companies.
Calling something a new “Sponsorship Scandal” is becoming a lame attack line, especially when you keep trotting it out. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 14, 2018
QP: Litigating actual litigation
While the PM flew off to Chicago to begin his US tour, the rest of the benches in the House of Commons were full and ready for another scintillating day of bad litigation drama. Andrew Scheer led off, mini-lectern on desk, but with the PM away, today he led off on the news story of a government fighting a sexual harassment lawsuit from a Canadian Forces member, but wedged in an Omar Khadr reference at the end, because of course he did. Harjit Sajjan said that they were committed to a harassment-free environment in the Forces, but couldn’t speak to the specifics of the case — despite the fact that earlier this morning, the PM stated that he would have the case looked into. Scheer tried again, but got the same response. Scheer amped up his dramatics for the third attempt, and tried to draw in the justice minister, but Sajjan got back up to reiterate his points, including pointing out how many people they have discharged for sexual misconduct. Lisa Raitt got up next, and repeated the question with full-on anger, but Sajjan reiterated the commitment to Operation Honour, and they went again for another round. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, demanding taxation for digital giants, and Mélanie Joly said that they wanted to ensure that there wasn’t a piecemeal approach to digital platforms over the long term. Caron tried again in English, noting that Trudeau would be meeting with Amazon on his trip. Ruth Ellen Brosseau was up next to read her condemnation of the government’s actions with that lawsuit, and Sajjan repeated his points. Brosseau read the question again in French, and got the same reply. Continue reading