QP: About the Fiscal Monitor…

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While Justin Trudeau was in Toronto to meet Prince Harry and launch the countdown to next year’s Invictus Games, the rest of Parliament was getting down to business. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on desk and raised the surplus figures in the Fiscal Monitor. Bill Morneau said that the department continues to tell him that the year will still end in deficit, but those figures won’t be available until September. Ambrose worried that Canadians can’t trust him if he ignores basic facts, to which Morneau gave some bland praise for their fiscal programme for the middle class. Ambrose then repeated her first question in French, and got the same answer from Morneau in French. Denis Lebel got up next, and asked the very same question, and got the very same answer. Lebel closed with a question about support for the forestry industry, to which Kim Rudd read some praise for the sector as part of the government’s commitment to innovation. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet led off for the NDP, decrying that the government wasn’t bailing out Bombardier. Navdeep Bains insisted that the government understood the importance of the sector, and that they were trying to set it up for success in the long-term. Boutin-Sweet then decried the loss of jobs inherent in Bill C-10, for which Marc Garneau insisted that the bill mandated jobs be in three province, and said the bill would clarify the law to prevent future lawsuits. Nathan Cullen was up next, demanding a legislated tanker ban on the North Coast of BC. Garneau said that he was in the midst of working on this with his cabinet and provincial colleagues. Cullen railed about the issue further, and Garneau repeated his answer in French.

Round two was led off with Lisa Raitt returning to the surplus question (Morneau: Canadians made the right choice on October 19th) and a question about his previous statements about debt (Morneau: We’re making the next generation better off), Phil McColeman asked about the surplus again (Morneau: The final figures won’t be until September), Gérard Deltell asked about a redacted report on the costs of new programmes (Morneau: The department answered that question under the rules). Brigitte Sansoucy demanded action on making the Catholic Church paying for residential schools (Bennett: They need to respect the commitments they made regardless of legal obligations), Charlie Angus demanded more funds for Indigenous child welfare (Bennett: We will fulfill our obligations, we are working with provinces and territories). Gerry Ritz demanded that the government ratify the TPP before the end of the US presidential term (Alghabra: We are working toward it through consultation), and Blaine Calkins continued to insist that Freeland’s trip to LA was only about her vanity (LeBlanc: She was proud to promote Canada to an American audience). Hélène Laverdière was concerned that CSE doesn’t give enough information to the Privacy Commissioner (Sajjan: They have proactively worked with the Commissioner).

Round three saw questions on Freeland’s travel, the TPP, Coast Guard communications, the Kitsilano Coast Guard station, Iran’s activities, generic drug regulations, small business tax cuts, barring a controversial French comedian, capital gains exemptions, the Saudi LAVs, and the rights of smaller parties to introduce amendments at Report Stage.

Overall, it was a fairly snappy day, with a few good exchanges, but it was also terribly repetitive. Asking the exact same question six times is not holding the government to account or advancing the debate. Instead, it’s this tired exercise of giving the same question to a number of critics and deputy critics in order to each give them a crack at it (and possibly a clip on the news). It’s tiresome and a reflection of the poor scripts and inability of MPs to think on their feet. Do better, MPs.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rob Oliphant for a nicely tailored blue-grey suit with a crisp white shirt and grey tartan tie, and to Lisa Raitt for a deep purple suit with a black ruched top. Style citations go out to Celina Caesar-Chavannes for a multicoloured floral jacket with a grey-blue belted dress, and to Mark Holland for a blinding fluorescent pink jacket with a white shirt and grey cross-hatched tie.