QP: Tributes for Prentice

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Half of the leaders were present in the Commons today, and after some tributes for the late Jim Prentice from all parties and a moment of silence, QP got underway. Rona Ambrose, mini-lectern on desk, asked about the size of the deficit, which is more than had been promised. After a quick rebuke about making investments, Justin Trudeau gave a tribute to Prentice of his own. Ambrose was concerned that jobs were not being created and demanded that he stop spending and focus on jobs instead. Trudeau noted that the Conservative approach didn’t create growth, while he was cutting taxes for the middle class. Ambrose then mischaracterized a whole list of things as taxes before decrying the possibility of a Netflix tax. Trudeau repeated his response about cutting taxes on the middle class. Denis Lebel was up next, decrying the lack of a softwood lumber agreement and how it was hurting families. Trudeau responded with the list of ways they are helping families. Lebel doubled down on the softwood lumber agreement, and Trudeau agreed that they were concerned about the file, but the former government’s broken relationship with the Americans didn’t help. Peter Julian led off for the NDP, demanding money for home care while mischaracterizing the changes to health care escalators. Trudeau reminded him that the Harper approach to healthcare was to write a check and not ensure that the money was spent on healthcare. Julian demanded that the health transfer escalator remain at six percent for another year, but Trudeau was not responsive to his logic. Brigitte Sansoucy repeated both questions again in French, and got much the same response from Trudeau in French.

Round two, and Gérard Deltell worried about the size of the deficit (Champagne: We are jump-starting the economy), and Shannon Stubbs and Pierre Poilievre lamented the carbon tax on everything (Wilkinson: Most provinces have their own pricing scheme). Pierre Nantel asked about the lack of appointments to the CBC board (Joly: We will be making appointments soon), and Murray Rankin railed about judicial vacancies (Wilson-Raybould: I am mindful of the realities, and we are working to ensuring delays are addressed and new appointments are coming soon). Randy Hoback, Todd Doherty, and Gerry Ritz railed about the softwood lumber agreement (Freeland: We are getting it done). Brian Masse worried about US control of MacDonald Dettwiler Associates (Bains: Corporate reorganizations are not subject to the Investment Canada Act), and Fin Donnelly asked about a tug fuel spill on the West Coast (Garneau: I am working on a moratorium and we are working on marine safety).

Round three saw questions on a vote on human rights matters at the UN, Denis Coderre’s trip to Iran, air strikes in Iraq and Syria, softwood lumber, CETA negotiations, judicial appointments, First Nations transparency, the French test for immigrants, changes to HIV funding in Canada, tax policies, EI parental benefits, and face coverings.

Overall, it was a better day than we saw before and there were some lovely tributes to Jim Prentice. There weren’t any particularly good questions or responses today, but there were some particularly mind-boggling questions, with outright dishonest framing of fiscal policies and railing against provincial policies as though they were federal ones — particularly baffling unless they’re starting a bid to run for provincial politics in one form or another. Otherwise, I’m not sure what good it does to rail about Rachel Notley and Kathleen Wynne from federal parliament, as one might as well be yelling at the clouds. And as for the framing of questions, there are plenty of good points that can be made without having to talk about tax credits or carbon pricing in a blatantly dishonest manner. Creating false narratives serves absolutely no one’s interests in the end.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Patty Hajdu for a black top with a gold web pattern under a black leather jacket, and to Doug Eyolfson for a tailored dark grey suit with a lavender shirt and purple bowtie. Style citations go out to Michel Picard for a tan brown jacket with an off-white shirt and black tie with a fall leaves pattern, and to Mélanie Joly for a shapeless sheer black short-sleeved smock dress over a much more form-fitting black one.