QP: Tax credit meanies

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While Justin Trudeau was at Gleason gym in Brooklyn, and the Duffy verdict being read out a few blocks away, QP was ramping up for another scintillating session. In the lead up to QP, MPs sang a round of “Happy Birthday” and “God Save the Queen” in honour of Her Majesty’s 90th birthday, followed by a moment of silence for the National Day of Mourning. Rona Ambrose led off, complaining about the demise of the child sport tax credit. Bill Morneau reminded her that the new Child Tax Benefit offers more money for all families to use as they see fit. Ambrose asked again in French, got the same answer, and then moved onto complaining that the Liberals voted down her motion to declare ISIS a genocide. Stéphane Dion reminded her that the official recognition of genocide was serious and should only happen after an international investigation, which is what he was pushing for. Denis Lebel was up next, asking about the aluminium industry in Quebec. David Lemetti reminded him that they are working on the issue. Lebel asked about the issue of diafiltered milk, and Jean-Claude Poissant, responded that they were working on it. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and denounced Bill C-10, refusing to call Marc Garneau by his title. Garneau responded that they were going to rush the bill, which the NDP trie to kill. Mulcair then suggested that it was Carolyn Bennett who let the Catholic Church off the hook for Residential Schools. Bennett listed the dates to prove that it was the previous government, and the government couldn’t force the Church to do anything. Mulcair then changed topics to the Saudi arms deal, at which point Dion repeated Mulcair’s statements on honouring the agreement during the election. Mulcair thundered that the Liberals weren’t defending human rights, and Dion kept reminding Mulcair of his own words on the contract.

Round two, and Blaine Calkins and John Brassard returned to the issue about Chrystia Freeland’s trip to LA (Lametti: Remember when Harper spent $50,000 to hire a media consultant to get American media attention; Brison: She was a global thought leader before she was elected), and Brassard and Jacques Gourde asked about ministerial travel expenses not being filed on time (Brison: We have led the charge on proactive disclosure), and Gerard Deltell asked about C-10 and time allocation (Garneau: We invoked time allocation because the NDP tried to kill the bill). Pierre-Luc Dusseault accused the finance parliamentary secretary of hiding money in a tax haven (Morneau: He hasn’t contravened the law, and you must like our budget so much to dig up these non-stories), and Murray Rankin demanded an investigation into the KPMG issue (Morneau: We are committed to dealing with tax evasion). Ed Fast decried carbon taxes (Wilkinson: We are working with the provinces to develop a Canadian plan), and the Pacific LNG project (Wilkinson: The proponent submitted more information), and David Yurdiga decried a carbon tax on the Northern economy (Wilkinson: We are working with all provinces and territories). Niki Ashton and Guy Caron called the budget implementation bill an omnibus bill (Morneau: It’s not omnibus, as they are all budget measures).

Round three saw questions on defence procurement dollars, declaring ISIS a genocide (Dion: We want to do it by the proper process), Supply Management, Chrysler recalls, marijuana, humanitarian aid for Ecuador, Syrian refugees relying on charities, a referendum on electoral reform, and more questions on C-10.

Overall, the day was a slight improvement in some respects, particularly that there weren’t any false accusations of conflicts of interest where none existed, but the insinuations around Chrystia Freeland remain a bit puzzling in why they think it would be effective. Meanwhile, Ambrose and other Conservatives seem to have a hard time taking yes for an answer on the ISIS genocide question, where Dion said he agrees that their actions qualify as genocidal but he wants to do a declaration by the proper international protocols, which Ambrose and company can’t seem to grasp. (A reminder that democracy is process, which is why process matters).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Patty Hadju for an off-white patterned jacket and skirt set with some nice accessories, and to Navdeep Bains for a black suit with a white shirt and a purple tie and turban. Style citations go out to John McKay for frumpy black suit with a white shirt and a garish multicoloured tie, and to Cheryl Gallant for a melon pink sweater with a café-au-lait dress.