QP: Carbon price or tax?

Posted on by

Rona Ambrose was still away, which left Denis Lebel to lead off again, where he wanted assurances that carbon pricing would not cost consumers more for the things they need. Justin Trudeau gave some of his usual assurances about economic growth while protecting the environment, but added that the pricing was revenue neutral for the federal government, so it was up to the provinces to determine how to reimburse their citizens. Lebel asked again in English, got the same answer — with a Trudeau slip in calling the price a “tax” which the Conservative benches were in uproar about, and then Lebel asked a third time, again in French, to get the same reply with some added chiding. Pierre Poilievre was up next with sob stories of people who can’t pay their power bills and get groceries (with some additional digs at the Ontario government), and Trudeau hit back at the way that the Conservatives were happy to give tax breaks and childcare cheques to millionaires, and then they went another round of the same. Thomas Mulcair was up next for the NDP, brandishing the name “Stephen Harper” as though it were a talisman with regards to emissions targets. Trudeau batted back the concerns, saying the NDP like to talk targets without any plans to achieve them. Mulcair wanted to know that they were working with Indigenous communities about GHG reductions, and Trudeau assured him that they were. Mulcair then raised “Stephen Harper’s cuts” to healthcare transfers, disingenuously calling a changed escalator a cut, to which Trudeau assured him that they were working with provinces to respond to the needs of Canadians, and they went another round of the same in French.

Round two led off with Ed Fast and Gérard Deltell lamenting a “carbon tax grab” that apparently wipes out the middle-class tax cut (McKenna: BC cut their income and other taxes with their carbon tax; Duclos: Look at how we are helping seniors out to prevent poverty there), and Lisa Raitt gave some homilies about people she knows who are concerned about new taxes (Champagne: Look at all of these tax cuts and new programmes; Duclos: Look at our programmes reducing child poverty). Roméo Saganash asked about obligations to First Nations children (Bennett: We are reforming these services in conjunction with First Nations), and Charlie Angus lamented underfunding First Nations schools (Bennett: We are working nation-to-nation to have them reform the system). Cathy McLeod lamented about how remote First Nations communities would be affected by carbon taxes (McKenna: We are committed to working with them because they are the most impacted by climate change), and Marilyn Gladu worried about manufacturing job losses from carbon taxes (McKenna: Look at all of these job creators who support carbon pricing). Karine Trudel worried about softwood lumber (Lametti: All options will be looked at with producers if we can’t get an agreement), and Tracey Ramsay cited a twelve-year-old’s opposition to the TPP (Lametti: We are getting reactions from all Canadians).

Round three saw questions on Yazidi refugees, a veteran on a hunger strike, legal battles against First Nations, a federal class action on sick benefits for mothers, human rights in China, Chinese control over UN peacekeeping missions, the Afghan war memorial, youth green jobs, labour concerns around an antique mill, and Inuit organizations not having enough representation around the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Inquiry.

Overall, there was some good back-and-forth today, as the PM was scrappier than usual and not just falling back on the same prepared lines, which was great to see. It made for much better exchanges than just relying on talking points, and it’s great to see some actual engagement on the issues than just rote performance. So that’s a plus. That said, I do find the phenomenon of ministers who can normally answer questions without resorting to a script in front of them will resort to said script when faced with a backbench softball lob. You’d think that it would demand even less effort since they tend to be good news prompts (and seriously, Liberal backbenchers, knock that off. Your job is still to hold government to account).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Scott Brison for a tailored dark grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and pink tie, and to Joyce Murray for a brown striped jacket with a white collared top. Style citations go out to Marilyn Gladu for a black dress with a white leaf pattern across it, and to Jim Eglinski for a taupe jacket with a blue checked shirt and black tie.