QP: Pipelines and weed puns

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It was Justin Trudeau’s first day back since the Francophonie and since Castro’s death, and one just knew that it was going to be everyone’s preoccupation. Rona Ambrose led off on the subject of pipelines, the big announcement coming after the markets close, and she wanted assurances that he would ensure that any approved pipelines get built. Trudeau started off by reminding the Commons that strong environmental protections were fundamental to economic growth, and that was a principle he was following. Ambrose then moved to the Castro issue, wondering what he was thinking of when praising him. Trudeau reminded her that whenever he travels, he always brings up human rights and he did in Cuba as well. Ambrose repeated the question in French, got the same again, and then moved onto the allegation that Bill Blair was hitting up marijuana lobbyists for donations. Trudeau fell back to the talking points about the rules, and when Ambrose raised that he admitted to talking up investment at his own fundraisers, Trudeau wasn’t moved, and stuck to praising the rules that were being followed. Thomas Mulcair was up next, insinuating that there was someone with canola interests at a fundraising dinner. Trudeau noted the widespread concern about the canola restrictions and his government secured market access for all farmers. Mulcair asked about the Blair fundraiser in French, Trudeau gave the rules points in French, and then Mulcair moved onto the Kinder Morgan process, calling it a betrayal. Trudeau noted the consultations they had with all sides, and that they were in the balance between a party that wants blanket approvals and another party that wants all things shut down. Mulcair went another round in French, and got the same answer.

Round two started with Tony Clement, Alain Rayes and Blaine Calkins all returned to the Blair fundraiser (Chagger: The member very well knows that we have strong rules). Georgina Jolibois and Romeo Saganash asked about a court ruling on Residential School survivors (Bennett: We are appealing because the judgment could jeopardise the agreed-to settlement process). Mark Strahl, John Barlow and Shannon Stubbs demanded that pipelines be approved (Carr: We will respect our principles and timelines). Matthew Dubé asked about CSIS spying on journalists (Goodall: We have confirmed that this is not happening at the federal level), and Don Davies railed about a foreign takeover by an insurance company (Bains: This is under review).

Round three saw questions on the fighter jet policy change, softwood lumber, car testing and investigation budgets, CBC funding, carbon pricing, credit card fees, Bill S-3 on Indigenous designations, and consumer protections in Quebec.

Overall, it was a dreadfully repetitive day, with the same questions being asked over and over again and the same responses time and again. The Conservatives were rowdy, and to make it worse, the Bill Blair fundraising story gave rise to a number of lame weed puns and references. Let me be the first to remind you that no, weed puns are never funny, and they are in fact lame and should be avoided at all costs. Stop using them. I will note that we did not get as many Castro questions as I would have thought, and that some of the other fundraising histrionics were absent today thankfully, but the topic continues to be blown out of all sense of proportion. I also found it exceedingly curious that there was not one question related to the Auditor General’s report that was released this morning, which is the the first time that I have seen it being so studiously ignored.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rona Ambrose for a grey mottled dress with a black jacket, and to Frank Baylis for a black suit with a lavender shirt and a purple tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Michael Cooper for a grey suit with a blue checked shirt and a black tie, and to Hedy Fry for her gold and black vortex dress. Dishonourable mention goes out to Salma Zajid for a mustard yellow jacket with a black top and slacks.