QP: Vote for my bill

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Despite being in town (and just having a completed a call with the White House), Justin Trudeau was absent for QP today, for which I will scowl. Thomas Mulcair was still away as well, part of the GG’s state visit to Sweden, leaving only Rona Ambrose the only major leader present. She led off, trolling for support for her private member’s bill on mandatory sexual assault training for judges — something that is not asking about the administrative responsibilities of the government. Jody Wilson-Raybould said that it was an important topic and that she would review the bill as it came to the Commons. After another round of asking in French and repeating the answer in English, Ambrose raised the case of Justin Bourque to demand that consecutive sentencing laws remain in place. Wilson-Raybould reminded her that they are conducting a broad-based review, and that there are already the highest mandatory penalties on the books for murder. Ambrose asked about that Chinese company that bought that nursing home chain and wondered if they figured out the ownership yet, but Navdeep Bains repeated this assurances from yesterday about the review of the sale. Ambrose finished off her round asking about the government refusing to release information on their carbon price cost projections, and Catherine McKenna reminded her that there are also costs for not tackling climate change. Nathan Cullen led off for the NDP, spinning a small conspiracy theory about fundraising by the chairman of Apotex, for which Bardish Chagger reminded her that the Lobbying Commissioner found nothing amiss. Karine Trudel asked the same in French, got the same answer, and then spun another question about the government’s ethics, and Chagger reiterated her same points. Nathan Cullen then railed about the government caring only about billionaires and not average Canadians, and Chagger chastised him for ignoring the ways in which the government has been listening to Canadians.

Round two, and Cathy McLeod, Diane Finley and Peter Kent worried about those nursing home sales (Navdeep: These are operated by Canadians but now have the capital to grow, and global capital helps growth), Gerry Ritz asked about secret meetings in Beijing for a bilateral trade agreement (Goldsmith-Jones: We are looking to expand trade in the region). Jenny Kwan asked about a report on immigration detention involving children (Goodale: We are investing to reduce detention as much as possible), and Matthew Dubé worried about the proposed pre-clearance bill (Goodale: We would rather people get cleared on Canadian soil with Charter protections). Gérard Deltell worried about the business climate (Morneau: We are making investments in our future for an economy with more growth), and Pierre Poilievre worried about energy prices with carbon taxes (McKenna: Look at all of these conservatives who agree with carbon pricing; Duclos: We are helping the vulnerable). Romeo Saganash asked about the decade since First Nations child welfare was deemed discriminatory (Bennett: We have made investments and we are working to overhaul the system), and Brigitte Sansoucy asked about advanced requests for medical assistance in dying (Philpott: We have launched consultations into the issues outside to the bill).

Round three saw questions on that Apotex chairman and other general fundraising issues, the Infrastructure Bank, the interim Super Hornet purchase, the size of the deficit, an official apology for the British Home Children, the sale of homes as tax declarations, and the sale of Rona.

Overall, the fact that the lead questions were Ambrose trying to ask about her own private member’s bill is more than shameless, it goes against the whole point of QP. QP is about asking questions of the administrative responsibility of the government. Private members’ bills are the exact opposite – they’re MP initiatives that are separate from government, so asking the government about them is defeating the purpose. They’re not government bills. Trying to get press about them is not taking your responsibilities as opposition seriously. I’m also not too keen about this dragging out a new convicted murderer every day to make a point about sentencing laws. It’s crass and a little gross, particularly from a party who keeps saying they don’t want to re-victimise families, and yet they are not above using them as political props. Good job, guys. Slow clap.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Chrystia Freeland for her black short-sleeved dress, and to Marco Mendicino for a tailored black suit with a light blue shirt and a navy tie. Style citations go out to Earl Deeshan for a medium grey jacket with a light grey shirt and a coral and blue tie, and to Linda Duncan for an orange and black striped jacket with black slacks. Dishonourable mentions go out to Niki Ashton for a mustard jacket with a black top and skirt, and to Karen Ludwig for a mustard jacket with a black top.