Tag Archives: Public Health

Roundup: Letting a hockey game take precedence

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Day twenty-four, and the announcements didn’t really matter because the only thing anyone was concerned about was the fact that tonight’s French debate was at the same time as a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, and the Bloc and NDP demanded the debate be rescheduled (but when exactly, given that it’s Easter weekend and that’s when the advance polls are open). So, the organizers and the networks agreed to change the time to 6 from 8, which means that it’ll be on at 3 for anyone out in BC. Yeah, that’s going to get viewership by francophones in the west. We are such a parochial country sometimes.

Mark Carney was in Saint-Eustache, Quebec, and announced a plan to provide more assistance for job training or retraining in certain priority areas, with some additional promises for those whose jobs are affected by the tariffs. Carney will have a photo op in Montreal around noon before the debate, now two hours earlier.

Pierre Poilievre was in Montreal, and he announced plans to crack down on people who scam seniors, which means forcing phone companies and banks to have mandatory “scam detection systems,” which sounds a bit like a magic wand given that the field is constantly changing to keep one step ahead. I also fail to see what tougher penalties will do given that the vast majority of these scams operate overseas. Poilievre will hold a press conference this morning, in advance of the debate.

Do we need to have a conversation about why those prices are up? -Beef continues to rise because drought has meant culling herds, which raises prices-Eggs are up because we have bird flu outbreaks, albeit not as bad as the US-That fruit figure is mostly oranges, because the FL crop was devastated

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T19:02:03.936Z

Are the Conservatives planning to do anything about climate change that has meant more droughts on the prairies? Nope. Part of what devastated the Floria orange crop were hurricanes, which are exacerbated by climate change. Again, do they want to do anything about that? Nope.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T19:02:03.937Z

Now, have the Liberals pointed any of this out? Of course not. They're too busy patting themselves on the back for killing the consumer carbon levy, and pretending that it was imposed by some mysterious force. We have real issues to discuss in this election, but they're not being discussed.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T19:02:03.938Z

Jagmeet Singh was also in Montreal, where he promised to restore the changes to the capital gains inclusion rate, under the rubric of making the ultra-wealthy pay the price, and promising to use these revenues to fund all of his promises (good luck with that magical money tree), but didn’t actually spell out the actual issue of tax arbitrage and fairness for all different types of capital gains to be taxed at the same rate. Singh’s only engagement today is the debate.

In other campaign news, Poilievre is now saying there’s no timeline for defunding CBC after previously saying he wants to do so as soon as possible. Carney says that he wants the F-35 review to go swiftly, but DND is still establishing the parameters of said exercise. And the White House confirmed that annexation talk is still on the president’s mind.

This election is *really* testing my limit.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-15T21:35:48.964Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones hit homes on Odesa overnight, injuring at least three. This after NATO secretary general Mark Rutte was in Odesa to reaffirm “unwavering” support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, life in Sumy is carrying on after Sunday’s deadly attacks.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1912116063560495426

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Roundup: The still-ten-percent “pause”

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Day eighteen, and the parties were trying to get their messages out while we were treated to yet another day of market turmoil as Trump “paused” his global tariffs, but actually kept them at ten percent across the board, except for China, for whom he raised them to 125 percent, and then applied the ten percent to Canada and Mexico, but then didn’t, and the other tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum still apply, and it was a headache the whole gods damned day.

Mark Carney was in Calgary, and he proclaimed his desire to make Canada an energy superpower (stop me if you’ve heard this before), but wait—he wants it to be with both clean and conventional energy. Some of the details were mighty similar to what the Conservatives proposed, but I will grant that there was more of an emphasis on working with provinces and First Nations around Projects of National Interest, but again, I suspect their timelines are incredibly optimistic. Carney then headed to Saskatoon for a rally. He’ll start the day in Brampton, and head to Hamilton from there.

NEW: At a campaign rally in Calgary today Liberal leader Mark Carney spoke publically about queer and trans issues for the first time in this campaign, saying that these rights are “fundamental.” #cdnpoli

— Mel Woods (@melwoods.me) 2025-04-09T17:52:15.459Z

Pierre Poilievre was in Sault Ste. Marie, and vowed to crack down on repeat crime with a “three-strikes” law which is a) unconstitutional, and b) failed spectacularly in the States, where it actually increased the murder rate. They also put out a press release stating that they would end “Carney’s crime wave,” which is so stupid that we all lost IQ points reading that. During the same stop, Poilievre also claimed that the industrial carbon price will drive steel production to the US, which simply isn’t true. Poilievre will start the day in Milton, Ontario, and then head to Woolwich, Ontario.

Jagmeet Singh was in Vancouver, where he promised to finish the job of universal pharmacare within four years, and good luck to him on that with both getting provinces to sign on, and to negotiate a national formulary in that timeframe. I suspect this is another job for that Green Lantern Ring that Singh thinks is hiding in the PMO. Singh then headed to Saskatoon in the evening. Singh remains in Saskatoon for the day.

In other campaign news, here is a look at how Poilievre is shifting his attacks against Carney. Here’s a look at how climate change has been taken off the agenda as a front-of-mind issue.

Abso-fucking-lutely

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-10T00:47:25.276Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones attacked Kyiv in the early morning, and one person was trapped in a collapsed house. Ukraine’s military chief says that Russia has launched a new offensive in the country’s northeast. Ukraine’s state railway suffered a major cyber-attack and has only restored about half of its IT services. President Zelenskyy says that their intelligence shows some 155 Chinese citizens fighting for the Russian military.

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Roundup: Recovery and rent control

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Day fifteen, and not every campaign was busy today. Mark Carney was quiet in the early part of the day, where he had a call with UK prime minister Keir Starmer, but was in Victoria in the evening, where he started the western leg of his tour by holding a rally. Carney will remain in Victoria in the morning, and head to Richmond, BC, later in the day.

Readout of Carney's call with Starmer. I very much noticed the reference to "reliable partners." #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-06T20:59:36.949Z

Pierre Poilievre was in New Westminster, BC, and he promised funding for 50,000 more addiction recoveries (so I’m not sure how that translates to spaces), and said that “drug dens” (aka safe consumption sites) be forbidden from within metres of a laundry list of places, as though the people consuming on the streets care about that prohibition. Poilievre will start the day in Terrace, BC, and end the day with a rally in Edmonton.

Jagmeet Singh was in Halifax, and promised to use federal spending powers to bring in national rent control, which is 100 percent provincial jurisdiction, which they want to get around by essentially saying he would withhold federal housing money unless they brought it in (and it’s all about “corporate landlords,” but never about private ones being a problem, which many of them are). They also once again tried to trot out Ruth-Ellen Brosseau as a “star” candidate, never mind that it didn’t work the last time, and is unlikely to again this time. Singh plans to be in Toronto today.

*siiiiiiiiiigh* This way of intruding into areas of provincial jurisdiction is going to have all kinds of unintended consequences, guys. And yes, the fact that We The Media are essentially demanding it to happen is also a problem.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-04-06T17:28:30.325Z

In other campaign news, it’s the cut-off day for nominations today, and some parties are scrambling to get names on ballots. Here’s a look at how Singh has abandoned the message about becoming prime minister in favour of just trying to elect as many NDP MPs as possible, and another look at how much the campaign has been struggling since the beginning.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian troops are pushing into Ukraine’s Sumy region in the northeast.

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Roundup: First day retaliation

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[Clone Wars newsreel voice] Trade war! The American president has unleashed 25 percent tariffs across the board against allies Canada and Mexico, in violation of existing trade agreements. Retaliatory tariffs have been levied in response, and Canadian leaders are expressing their shock and dismay at what is clearly a plan to weaken our economy for annexation. But the retaliation is also coming with threats of further escalation…

It was indeed unprecedented in our lifetimes for a Canadian prime minister to stand up and blatantly call out an American president for the outright threat of annexation, and for his cozying up to Putin. Trudeau busted the notion that this was ever about the border or fentanyl, and promised further non-tariff measures to come.

On counter-tariffs. Yes they hurt one's own country more than the other country.But that's not the right way to think about it. The point is to inflict pain on the other country to make them stop their tariffs, even if self-painful.I don't like broad counter-tariffs, but use 'em where painful.

— Kevin Milligan (@kevinmilligan.bsky.social) 2025-03-04T16:41:41.923Z

https://bsky.app/profile/jrobson.bsky.social/post/3ljkwaokc3c2w

Provincial premiers each lined up to offer their own retaliation, much of which came in the form of removing American booze from liquor store shelves, but Doug Ford threatened export taxes on energy, and Danielle Smith (who is in a state of shock for being “betrayed” by Trump) said she wouldn’t do that…but they don’t have the power to levy them or not, because that power is federal. I’m sure they think that these performances make them look serious and tough, but would it kill a single premier to learn what their actual constitutional powers actually are before they start talking in front of the cameras? (And for everyone who is once again a newfound fan of Ford because of said performance, give your heads a shake).

Federally, Jagmeet Singh called for Parliament to be summoned for an emergency session, but offered no guarantees about how long he would let it last before he decided to vote non-confidence, and the real kicker there is that implementation for any measures they want voted on takes time, which is a concept the NDP have never been able to actually grasp. As for Pierre Poilievre, his own speech largely consisted of him insisting that he’s not MAGA, blaming the Liberals for getting us to this point, and repeating his same slogans and policy demands that he’s always made, and insisted that any funds from counter-tariffs go to tax cuts, which is Trump’s whole plan for tariffs. It’s the exact same plan, but he’s totally “not MAGA,” and is proving it in a very weird way. Oh, and no, building more pipelines and refineries isn’t going to solve any problems, guys.

Consider this a reminder especially for the NDP, who seem to think that once a bill is passed, implementation happens instantly.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-03-04T19:09:05.571Z

There is little distance given that he expressly said he intends to use tariff revenue to fuel tax cuts in Canada. He is nothing more than mini-Trump.

— Dr Lindsay Tedds (@lindsaytedds.bsky.social) 2025-03-04T18:57:36.457Z

Tax cuts do little to aid those who are already and will lose their jobs. Tax cuts were what PP offered as a solution to the pandemic. Look back to March 2020 when he offered that as the solution to the pandemic. Like it or not, we don't need tax cuts, we need employment support programs.

— Dr Lindsay Tedds (@lindsaytedds.bsky.social) 2025-03-04T19:01:41.462Z

And then, toward the end of the day, Trump’s commerce secretary says that they might come to some kind of compromiseon the tariffs later today. Maybe, and it “won’t be a pause.” Because they all think they’re playing 3D chess here.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian drones hit an industrial target in the Russian city of Syrzan. Reuters has a look at the effect of the halt on US’ military aid for Ukraine, and the aid that other allies have provided (to date).

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Roundup: Maligning legitimate Senate appointments

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One of CBC’s worst reporters is back again with the “scandalous” news that the prime minister is preparing to fill all ten vacant Senate seats before he resigns, and the original title of the article was “Trudeau plans on stacking Senate before retiring: source” before it was toned down in an update. The framing that the prime minister—who is still the prime minister—is doing his job and filling these vacancies as he is constitutionally mandated to do, is somehow inappropriate or unfair, is wrong, and frankly, is well into the category of misinformation (which is probably why the headline got changed).

It's notable the media consistently uses hedging language when it comes to things like racism (Musk's explicit Nazi salute) but will casually imply wrongdoing in headlines about debatable constitutional practices like making Senate appointments.

— Emmett Macfarlane (@emmettmacfarlane.com) 2025-01-27T15:05:32.107Z

The story then quotes a single Conservative senator to claim that this is somehow illegitimate, which it’s not, and there is no counter voice from an expert. For the TV version of this story, said reporter got video of Andrew Scheer claiming it’s inappropriate and that the vacancies should be left until after an election, which is again false, and there was no counter. There was no proper acknowledgment that Trudeau won a series of confidence votes in December, and that gives him the constitutional right to make these appointments, but hey, then he couldn’t frame the story as this being somehow wrong or inappropriate, and the fact that he gets away with this is infuriating.

This particular reporter has a pattern when it comes to trying to gin up scandals around any appointments. When it’s with judges, he resorts to histrionics about appointees who made political donations in the past, as though the low campaign contribution limits in Canada allows one to buy influence or access, or that they somehow bribed their way into these appointments. With recent Senate appointments, he’s now judging what is and is not a partisan appointment given past history, ignoring that a) there is no Liberal caucus in the Senate for them to be a part of, and b) past legislative experience is actually a good thing to have in that Chamber, and that the lack of it with so many appointees has been a problem. But hey, the CBC editors let him get away with these self-imposed purity tests, so he’s going to keep on doing them. It’s a disservice to the country, and the gods damned public broadcaster shouldn’t be letting their reporters personal bugaboos dictate their coverage, particularly when it taints the reporting.

Ukraine Dispatch

An overnight air attack injured four in Kharkiv after houses were hit. Other critical infrastructure was damaged during overnight drone attacks on Sunday night, where 57 out of 104 drones were downed. Russia’s Ryazan oil refinery suspended operations after a Ukrainian drone attack last week. President Zelenskyy says that the realities of the current war means that they can’t change mobilisation rules as soldiers leaving for home en masse would mean Russians would “kill us all.”

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QP: Fantasizing about a “collapsing” economy

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Wednesday, the final proto-PMQ of the year, and the prime minister was indeed present and ready to respond to all questions put to him, while his deputy was elsewhere. All of the other leaders were also present today, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and again cited the Globe and Mail story about the supposed tensions between Freeland and Trudeau over the size of the deficit, and demanded to know why he pushed her to break her promise on capping it. Justin Trudeau said that Poilievre was dramatizing things to distract from his voting against programmes that help people, and that he muzzles his MPs to prevent them from speaking out for their communities, or get his security clearance. Poilievre again demanded to know why Trudeau forced his finance minister to break her promise and Trudeau responded with a list of things Poilievre voted against. Poilievre switched to English and repeated his first question on the Globe story, and Trudeau once again called these little “dramas” a distraction from his record of voting against supports for Canadians or refusing to get his security clearance. Poilievre accused a Trudeau of bullying Freeland, said that he is too weak to control his own caucus, and then Poilievre proclaimed that he leads by inspiration and that Trudeau leads by intimidation. Trudeau said that Poilievre likes to claim things are broken because he keeps breaking them. Poilievre  mocked this, and then claimed that Freeland was going to be humiliated by reading a fiscal update authored by Mark Carney, and Trudeau accused Poilievre of using Canadians’ struggles for his own gain but that he won’t lift a finger to help them.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, complained about a committee study, and wondered what the PM would say to the thousands of Muslims who are happy to assimilate into Quebec. Trudeau praised diversity and rights. Blanchet then wondered if Trudeau was defending religious “indoctrination” at certain Quebec schools, to which Trudeau praised the Charter, and then said it was the responsibility of those schools to hire the best teachers they could.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, said that Trump was a bully and that Trudeau was too weak to stand up to him. Trudeau said that they were taking a measured approach, working with leaders across the country, and were not freaking out like the NDP were. Singh exclaimed that Trudeau’s job wasn’t safe either, and then repeated the same question/demand in French. Trudeau reminded him that they defeated Trump tariffs in the past.

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QP: The “brains and backbone” to defend Canada

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The prime minister was present and ready to take all questions, as is his usual wont on Wednesdays, and nearly all of the other leaders were also there. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and worried about the threat of tariffs from the US, but insisted that our economy, the borders, and the PM himself was weak, and demanded an election so that a “strong leader” could put Canada First™. Just Trudeau said it was ironic because they had given the Conservatives a chance to put Canadians first, but they kept voting against initiatives to help people, such as dental care and the school food programme. Poilievre repeated the mocking falsehood that Trudeau’s only plan was a Zoom call with premiers, Trudeau insisted that while the other guy was putting on a little show, he and his party were there for Canadians, and added that the Conservatives are only sowing chaos and discord. Poilievre switched to English, and once again listed things he considered the government to have “weakened,” and wanted an election so there was someone with the “brains and backbone” to defend the country, to peals of laugher from the Liberal benches. Trudeau said that while Poilievre is concerned only about himself and Trudeau, they were focused on Canadians. Poilievre said that was an example was a sign that Trudeau has lost control, and demanded an election. Trudeau mocked that Poilievre was up all night practicing that line in the mirror, and listed ways that the government was there for Canadians. Poilievre insisted that was a “mass hallucination” and that those programmes don’t exist outside of his head, and again demanded an election. Trudeau said this was an example of Poilievre trying to gaslight Canadians, and used dental care as an example of a programme that is working.

Poilievre says that only he has the “brains and backbone” to defend the country.The Liberal benches erupted in peals of laughter. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-27T19:33:11.389Z

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and said that nobody wants Trudeau’s vote-buying Christmas gift, to which Trudeau praised the GST holiday as helping those struggling. Blanchet said that those who need the cheques most won’t get it, and demanded a confidence vote. Trudeau said it was up to the opposition parties to vote to help people rather than engage in petty partisan games.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP to raise the story of a woman on disability who can’t work, but her spouse is a high-income earner and he will get the cheque and not her (which doesn’t seem like a great anecdote). Trudeau mocked that he remembered a time when the NDP stood up for workers, but now they are not supporting this rebate for workers, and said that they wanted the rebate to acknowledge the hard work of workers. Alistair MacGregor took over in English to also denounce that seniors were not getting the cheque, and Trudeau repeated his same mocking in English. 

No, that spike of inflation was not the worst we had ever seen. It was much higher and more persistent in the seventies and eighties. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-27T19:39:49.718Z

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QP: Trotting out a Canada First™ slogan

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In the wake of the panic over the first Trump 2.0 pronouncement about Canada, the PM was present for QP, though his deputy was not. All of the other leaders were presented for a second day in a row, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and immediately demanded a “Canada First™” plan for the border and security, and claimed the government had no plan other than a Zoom call, and blamed Trudeau for the “chaos” at the borders. Justin Trudeau responded that he had a good call with Trump last night and that he underscored how well they have worked together for decades in order to create prosperity for all, and insisted that they would always defend Canadian jobs in an non-partisan way as a team. Poilievre said the call didn’t work because Trump threatened with tariffs a few minutes later—not true—and brought up softwood lumber and Buy America, and claimed Trudeau had not gotten any gains for Canada, and claimed Trudeau broke the immigration system. Trudeau said that there are international students who come to Canada, and after they complete their studies, they return home in the majority of cases, and they have a system when they don’t return, and praised their latest immigration changes. Poilievre switched to English to again demand a ”Canada First™” approach, and claiming that Trudeau didn’t have a plan other than a Zoom call, and listed a number of specious issues. Trudeau again noted that he did speak with Trump, and that they had a good conversation and that he was working with the premiers. Poilievre again claimed that the tariff announcement was after Trudeau’s call, and then lent credence to Trump’s nonsense about drugs and the border. Trudeau noted that Poilievre was making stuff up, that the call was after the announcement, and that it was time to work togetherness rather than engage in partisanship. Poilievre, flailing, tried to claim that the timing was somehow worse, and then claimed that Trudeau was putting a “tariff on jobs” and demanded tax cuts and an end to the carbon levy. Trudeau said that again Poilievre was making stuff up, and if he wanted to re-criminalise marijuana, he should just say so.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, noted the disruptions all around, and wanted the “rebate” cheques extended to seniors. Trudeau noted that everyone gets the tax cut, but talked around the issue with somewhat hollow platitudes. Blanchet wanted the threshold for the cheques pulled down so seniors could get the cheques, and Trudeau noted that people are struggling in different ways, and listed programmes to help like child care, dental care, and enriched OAS and GIS.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and demanded a plan to fight back, because bullies only respect strength. Trudeau said that rather than panicking, they are engaging in constructive dialogue with all sides, and that they will stand up for jobs and prosperity. Singh repeated his demand in French, and Trudeau reiterated that they are need to take action in a way that isn’t out of panic.

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Roundup: Just which system is privileging the party?

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Yesterday morning, the charlatans at Fair Vote Canada put out a press release that, straight-faced, said that Pierre Poilievre’s refusal to let his MPs advocate for Housing Accelerator funding is because the current single-member plurality voting system means that it’s always “party first,” which is hilarious because one of the defining features of proportional representation, which they advocate for, is that it privileges the parties over the MPs—so much so that certain PR systems don’t even allow for independents because of how the voting is structured.

Hilarious nonsense from the charlatans at Fair Vote Canada.PR privileges parties over MPs. This kind of behaviour would be worse under PR, not better, because the party has more control over individual MPs, not less.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-18T14:30:33.890Z

Their argument was more along the lines of “If you have more than one member in a riding, they don’t have to fight to be the sole voice” or something like that, which is only a feature in certain forms of PR (because there are many), but one that is wholly unworkable in Canada. Why? Because of our vast geographic distances. Some ridings are already the size of France, and allowances need to be made for some of these rural and remote ridings to have a smaller population than the median riding size because the distance is just too great otherwise. Each of the Territories is a good example of that. Expanding those ridings to be multi-member is a non-starter, and if you think that means that we can have two different systems—multi-member ridings in cities, single-member ridings in rural and remote areas—well, good luck convincing the Supreme Court of Canada that the inequities are constitutional.

Nevertheless, it will never not be hilarious for Fair Vote Canada to try and claim that the current system puts the party first when in actual fact, it privileges the rights of individual MPs to make their own choices, and allows them the freedom to buck their party lines if they have the spine to do so, because they are elected as an individual, not as a name on a party list. That matters a lot in terms of the rights of an MP, and for them to dismiss it is yet another sign that they’re a bunch of pretenders who don’t actually understand the system, or let alone enough to want to change it for some hand-waving that pretends it will be a panacea to problems when in fact it will just trade one set of problems for a new set that could very well be worse.

Especially when it consists of three-word slogans, or feel-good pabulum.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-18T14:18:06.943Z

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian missile hit a residential building in Sumy late Sunday, killing 11l and wounding over 89. On Monday, a missile hit a residential neighbourhood in Odesa, killing ten and wounding over forty-four. President Zelenskyy visited the frontline towns of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has found evidence of Russia using tear gas last month in battles in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Here is a look at how the 1000 days of Russia’s invasion have changed the landscape of drone warfare, and what the invasion has cost Ukraine. Here is a look at what the US’ decision to allow Ukraine to use its weapons for strikes in Russian territory could mean.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1858432305305424302

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QP: The worst Halloween-themed response imaginable

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Neither the PM nor his deputy were present today, which was probably just as well considering what an absolute pathetic mess yesterday’s QP turned out to be. Most of the other leaders were also absent, but Pierre Poilievre was present and started off in French, and he selectively quoted the GDP figures released this morning, and claimed this was the government “destroying” the economy. Jean-Yves Duclos noted that inflation, interest rates and unemployment are all down, but it being Halloween, children should be afraid that Poilievre refuses to get his security clearance. Poilievre countered that diminishing paycheques are what is scary, took credit for all housing starts when he was “minister,” and demanded the government accept his GST proposal. Duclos noted that children could count to six, which were the number of affordable housing units he built as “minister” (not really true), and repeated the security clearance point. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his selective economic doom and demanded an election, to which Randy Boissonnault recited the good economic news about inflation. Poilievre gave some specious comparisons to American economic data, and this time Boissonnault recited the security clearance talking points. Poilievre continued to make facile and false claims about the economy, and demanded the government cut taxes. Boissonnault recited a bunch of non sequitur talking points about foreign direct investment in return.

Claude DeBellefeuille led for the Bloc, and demanded the government enrich OAS for all seniors, to which Marc Miller noted that the Bloc has consistently all measures the government has put forward to help seniors, including dental care. DeBellefeuille took a swipe at Duclos before repeating the demand, and this time Duclos said that they are simply looking for problems before noting that they have reduced seniors’ poverty since they came to office, and offered a warning about cozying up to Conservatives.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP to worry about software used by landlords to raise rents, and demanded an inquiry be launched. François-Philippe Champagne said he would ask the Competition Bureau do just that with the new powers they have been given. Bonita Zarrillo demanded the same in English, and Champagne repeated that they are going to ask the Bureau to do so.

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