QP: Scrapping over data mining

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While Justin Trudeau was off to New Brunswick, and Andrew Scheer elsewhere, it was up to Erin O’Toole to lead off, reading a quote about the job of the opposition to ask questions, attributing it to the PM, and wondered why the government wouldn’t let Daniel Jean appear before committee. Ralph Goodale calmly responded that the crux of the motion was around the Atwal invitation, that it was rescinded. O’Toole insisted two more times that MPs had a right to hear the briefing, but Goodale defended Jean’s career and insisted there were no contradictions in the positions put forward. Pierre Paul-Hus tried again twice in French, and Goodale poked holes in the Conservative Supply Day motion in return. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, and decried that only $15 million out of the $1 billion given to CRA to combat tax evasion. Lebouthillier reminded him that the investment was over five years, and it would be ramped up in order to take a strategic approach. Caron then railed that the CRA’s anti-avoidance committee met in secret, while Lebouthillier said that it was a committee of experts that meets as necessary. Peter Julian took over in French, and demanded taxation on web giants, to which Bill Morneau said that they were conducting studies to ensure that the system would work well. Julian changed to English to insist that studying the issue would mean doing nothing, but Morneau reiterated that they wanted to have a plan before acting.

Round two, and Peter Kent, Alain Rayes and Blaine Calklins is returned to Christopher Wylie/Liberal Research Bureau conspiracies (Brison: The Research Bureau made a clear statement, and what about your closed-doors Facebook sessions at the Manning Confedence and Hamish Marshall’s data-mining company). Tracey Ramsey railed about the TPP side letters (Goldsmith-Jones: This is a great deal for Canada), and Karine Trudel worried about Supply Management again (MacAulay: We will protect Supply Management). Gérard Deltell worried about CRA privacy breaches (Lebouthillier: The majority of breaches are as a result of mis-mailings), and Pierre Poilievre worried that carbon taxes aren’t really revenue neutral because you charge GST/HST on them (McKenna: We want to put a price on pollution to get innovation, and GST has always been part of final prices). Matthew Dubé worried about privacy breaches across departments (Lebouthillier: CRA takes this seriously), and Pierre Nantel demanded taxing web giants “to protect Quebec businesses” (Joly: The international community is examining this issue and are working to reach a consensus).

Round three saw questions on pipeline protesters injuring RCMP officers (Goodale: People have the right to express dissent but it must be done within the law, and violence is unacceptable), rail grain issues (Garneau: We are monitoring), Service Canada conducting inspections on farms that use temporary foreign workers (Hajdu: We want to ensure that employers live up to their obligations), MMIW inquiry extension (Jones: The minister is discussing the request with counterparts), the Trans Mountain expansion (Carr: We have buy-in from communities), the Arctic surf clam contract (LeBlanc: You are making assertions from media reports that may not be true), the Mali mission (Freeland: We are taking safety seriously but there are risks because peacekeepers to where they are needed), and icebreaker contracts with Davie shipyard (Qualtrough: We are negotiating with Davie).

Overall, I will have to say that I did appreciate the fact that when the Christopher Wylie questions came up, Scott Brison was actually willing to get his elbows up and hit back for a change, rather than just dishing out some bland pabulum as this government so often does. Add to that, all parties engage in data mining of some form, which is why these questions are hypocritical in the extreme, and good on Brison for making that point. Meanwhile, several Conservative MPs kept up the swipes at Service Canada adopting gender neutral language in the service of their other questions, and this is something that needs to be called out for what it is, which is intrinsically homophobic and transphobic. I will also note that the NDP taking the position today that governments should deal with complex international problems by barrelling ahead on actions without coming up with an actual game plan was…curious. The days of Thomas Mulcair insisting that they would be good public administrators seem to now be long gone.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Seamus O’Regan for a tailored black three-piece suit with a white shirt and pocket square and a black tie, and to Shannon Stubbs for a black dress with a dark fuchsia sweater. Style citations go out to Sheri Benson for blouse with a black vest with large white florals, and to Lloyd Longfield for a dark grey suit with a dark pink shirt and a purple tie.