QP: Not taking the budget bait

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The day before budget day, and the Commons was not as full as it could or should be. Rona Ambrose led off, her mini-lectern on Andrew Scheer’s desk as it often is these days, and she read some concern about her supposition about the budget. Justin Trudeau insisted that they had a plan, and that the previous government didn’t get the job done. Ambrose tried to retort that they had the best job creation record in the G7, then turned a lament about raising taxes. Trudeau reminded her of the debt-to-GDP ratio. Ambrose insisted that investment has “fallen off the cliff” since the election, but Trudeau responded that economists said that this was the time to invest. Denis Lebel took over to ask about public confidence in the economy, which Trudeau reiterated their investment promises, and Lebel lamented the state of the forestry industry as an example of a measure needed in the budget, but Trudeau didn’t bite, and told him to wait for the budget. Thomas Mulcair was up for the NDP, and decried Bombardier’s plan to outsource some jobs, and demanded the protection of jobs in Canada. Trudeau agreed that they wanted to protect good jobs, which was why they were taking the time to assess Bombardier’s proposal. Mulcair demanded commitments on EI, for which Trudeau reminded him that they made commitments in their platform and they would keep that promise in the budget. Mulcair switched to English and lamented the conditions on First Nations reserves, for which Trudeau yet again reminded him that they made promises to renew the relationship, and that the budget would contain historic investment. For his final question, Trudeau asked about a family where the children were kidnapped to Kurdistan. Trudeau insisted that the return of those children were a high priority.

Round two, and Lisa Raitt worried about the deficit (Champagne: We made promises in the election), and worried about Ontario’s debt on top of federal debt (Champagne: Investments!), Phil McColeman wondered why there was a need to borrow so much (Champagne: Everyone is saying this is the time to invest), and worried about whose taxes would go up (Champagne: Middle class growth!), Ben Lobb demanded the expansion of the Toronto Island Airport (Garneau: We made the right decision that balances interests), and Maxime Bernier decried corporate subsidies for Bombardier (Bains: We are engaged with them because of their national importance). Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet and Charlie Angus asked about the problems with Kashechewan First Nation (Philott: We are working on the situation). Candice Bergen worried about LNG project approval delays (Wilkinson: The proponent gave new information that we need time to evaluate), and Shannon Stubbs asked more of the same with an added tax angle thrown in (Wilkinson: We are working through the process; Carr: We just approved a major project). Brigitte Sansoucy lamented the EI system’ woes (Mihychuk: We are making changes to modernize the system), and Niki Ashton asked about a court case involving women who got sick while on maternity leave (Mihychuk: I can’t speak about it but we are looking to resolve all court cases).

Round three saw questions on the Office of Religious Freedoms, not labelling ISIS as perpetrating a genocide (Goldsmith-Jones: The Americans can use the term differently because they are not members of the International Criminal Court, but as we are members, it means something different for us), safe injection sites, Saskatchewan issues, a former staffer in Chrystia Freeland’s office, the use of the Challenger jets, a staffer’s former comments on NATO, the cessation provisions in refugee laws, temporary foreign workers in agriculture, offshore tax evasion, and Energy East.

Overall, it was a pretty dismal day for questions, and some of them were downright ridiculous, such as the concern trolling about atheists’ concerns about the closure of the Office of Religious Freedoms, or the PM’s use of the Challenger jet for his vacation as is standard practice for Prime Ministers. Add to that MPs trying to prosecute clearly provincial issues in Ottawa, and it’s a bit of a call for MPs to grow up and do their jobs like adults. You’re not actually scoring points with childish games.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rachael Harder for a black dress with pink polka dots (and it actually worked), and to Pierre Paul-Hus for a tailored dark grey suit with a white shirt and dark blue tie. Style citation goes out to Rob Nicholson for a taupe suit with a white shirt and a tan and blue striped tie, and to Pam Damoff for a fuchsia turtleneck with a grey suit jacket.