QP: Not just the rules, but listening to Canadians

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With just a couple of QP session left in the year, all of the leaders were present today, interim or otherwise. Rona Ambrose led off, worrying that the prime minster was bragging about being the target of illegal lobbying — which was not what he said, but whatever. Trudeau said that wherever he is, he talks about growth for the middle class and all of those wonderful things. Ambrose wondered when money became more than ethics. Trudeau insisted that he has the same message everywhere he goes, about taxing the one percent more to cut taxes for the middle class. Ambrose asked the same again, got the same answer, and then she worried that his true priority was fundraisers and that he’s left the impression that he can be bought. Trudeau reiterated that they raised taxes on the wealthiest to cut taxes for the middle class. Ambrose accused the Trudeau Foundation of laundering influence to the PM, and demanded that he tell them to stop accepting foreign donations. Trudeau assured her that he severed his connections shortly after he became party leader and they advance the cause of the humanities in a non-partisan manner. Thomas Mulcair was up next, also concern trolling about fundraising, and Trudeau repeated his same points about their priorities. Mulcair demanded support for the NDP bill to “give teeth” to ethics rules, but Trudeau repeated his same points. Mulcair moved onto marijuana legalisation and demanded immediate decriminalisation. Trudeau reminded him that their objectives were to keep it out of the hands of children and the profits from the hands of organised crime, and that until the law was changed, it stands. Mulcair pivoted again to the situation of Stelco workers, and Trudeau said that they were engaged in the challenge.

Round two, and Denis Lebel and Blaine Calkins, and Candice Bergen returned to fundraising (Chagger: “We are listening to Canadians and engaging with them and we are working for Canadians). Robert Aubin raised the new appointments to the NEB for Energy East (Chagger: There is no Minister of Pipelines) and Alexandre Boulerice railed about the government ignoring Quebec (Garneau: Look at all the things we’re doing for Quebec). Gérard Deltell, Peter Van Loan and Pierre Poilievre listed a number of fictional tax increases (Morneau: Look at all of the ways we’ve lowered taxes). Karine Trudel worried about softwood lumber (Carr: We are working to help forestry workers), and Niki Ashton demanded action on the Port of Churchill (Bains: I’m working with my colleagues from Manitoba on this file).

Round three saw questions on debating a peacekeeping mission, Hamilton steel workers, marijuana task force recommendations, safe injection sites, Yazidi refugees, toxic contamination near the oil sands, autism working group, and political financing rules.

Overall, things were getting a bit punchy today with the Speaker shutting down one MP and the House Leader smacking down an epithet in place of a minister’s title (and Calkins and Scott Reid trying to argue that question disallowance after QP to no avail). It also saw a whole new crop of talking points from both Justin Trudeau and Bardish Chagger, which was nice enough to change things up, but they remained repetitive, and they remained just as frustratingly non-answers as the previous batch of talking points. Trudeau did vary them more when the questions about the Trudeau Foundation came up, but I need to shake my head about those questions even coming up because they’re so patently ridiculous that I can scarcely believe that they’re even being asked. But here we are.

Sartorially speaking, there were a plethora of bad Xmas ties and sweaters, which always makes me cringe a little. Snaps go out to Nicola Di Iorio for a navy three-piece suit with a light blue shirt, dark blue tie and white pocket square, and to Rona Ambrose for a black dress with grey side panels and a black and brown checked jacket. Style citations go out to Cheryl Gallant for a bronze lamé jacket with a navy dress, and to Michel Picard for a greenish-brown corduroy jacket with a black waistcoat, white shirt and yellow and grey tie. Special mention goes out to Robert-Falcon Oulette for a red tartan jacket with an off-white shirt and grey bow tie.

One thought on “QP: Not just the rules, but listening to Canadians”

  1. Good grief, I suppose QP is all circus all the time. What a waste and they call that democracy. No wonder the Alt-Right is on the rise.

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