QP: Portents of economic doom

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 As Justin Trudeau met with Commonwealth Heads of Government in London, and Andrew Scheer spent the day in Quebec, which left Shannon Stubbs to lead off, and she read some declinist fan fiction about the collapse of the Canadian economy because the prime minister allegedly wants to phase out the oil sector. Jim Carr responded by listing some good economic news, including how Alberta is set to lead the country in growth, which the other party apparently couldn’t support. Stubbs read more doom, and Carr responded with the number of approved pipelines that were coupled with their oceans protection plan. Stubbs demanded championing of the sector, but Carr listed that the previous government didn’t get pipelines to tidewater, and that they ignored their constitutional obligations toward Indigenous Canadians. Gérard Deltell took over in French, lamenting IMF forecasts, to which Kirsty Duncan stood up to read some statistics about job growth and economic growth leading the G7. Deltell repeated the demand to champion investment in energy, to which Carr reiterated his lines about the Conservative record in French. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, accusing the government of kowtowing to Texas oil giants, to which Carr reminded him that they took the lessons of the previous government’s failures and engaged in new consultations, which they felt covered off their Section 35 obligations. Caron reiterated the question in French, and Carr reiterated that their process was different than the Harper government’s, because that one had failed. Nathan Cullen was up next, to repeat the same question in English, with some added sanctimony, and Carr’s repeated response had a bit of exasperation creeping into it, and then they went yet another round of the same.

Round two, and Stephane Kusie, Colin Carrie, and Pierre Poilievre returned to plaintive wails about the flight of capital from the Canadian economy (Carr: You’re pushing through an open door and can’t take yes for an answer; Lametti: We are pursuing an innovation strategy). Ruth Ellen Brosseau gave some standard Supply Management virtue signalling (Lesile: We support Supply Management), and Tracey Ramsey demanded more CBSA staff and trade remedies to ward off steel tariffs and dumping (Leslie: We have been working toward full exemption). John Nater, John Barlow, and Luc Berthold demanded interprovincial alcohol sales (Lametti: We have been working to get the provinces to sit down and negotiate internal free trade with this in mind). Pierre-Luc Dusseault and Peter Julian asked about the fear that charities have around tax rules (Khera: We want charities to do their work without fear of political harassment, and we will respond to the consultation recommendations in the coming months).

Round three saw questions on irregular migrant arrivals (Hussen: We are committed to rules-based immigration and have committed funds to border security and faster processing), funding cuts to HIV service organisations (Blair: We have invested $87 million this year), LGBT criminalisation in the Commonwealth (DeCourcey: We are a tireless advocate of LGBT people around the world), court delays (Wilson-Raybould: We have taken steps by introducing Bill C-75, and I have already appointed 167 new judges), a looming strike at CP Rail (Hajdu: Federal mediators are on site and working hard on negotiations), promised MMIW hearings that haven’t been held (Jones: We are committed to the inquiry), service dogs for veterans with PTSD (O’Regan: The drive for a national standard was going nowhere, so we have tried to use standards for psychiatric service dogs), a court challenge about Quebec debating laws only in French (Joly: This is before the courts), and our GHG emissions (Wilkinson: We are confident we will meet our targets).

Overall, I found it hard to take much of the plaintive wails about the state of the economy seriously precisely because our economic data shows that unemployment is at a 40-year low, and when there have been particular rough months with many metrics, it’s often related to things like unexpected auto plant shutdowns for maintenance rather than any particular weakness. However, the attempt to construct this narrative that Trudeau is actively working to undermine the economy for some unknown reason sounds like the kinds of alt-right memes about “globalists” destroying the country through international trade and immigration, or whatever. If this is some attempt to pander to that particular crowd, I would be fairly concerned about such a strategy as it’s playing with fire. And as I have been all week, I’m glad that Jim Carr has been bringing actual answers to QP, which has made the week tolerable to watch.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Terry Beech for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt, pink and blue tie and pink pocket square, and to Linda Lapointe for a dark purple dress with a subtle leopard print pattern with a lavender jacket. Style citations go out to Sheri Benson for an oversized red collared top with a black and white patterned vest, and to Mark Eyking for a black suit with a faded cranberry shirt and purple tie. Dishonourable mentions go out to Cheryl Gallant for a yellow dress with a black jacket, and to Deborah Schulte for a black jacket and slacks with a yellow top.