QP: Tax credits vs carbon taxes

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While Justin Trudeau was away in Toronto, Andrew Scheer was absent once again (despite having been in Ottawa for the National Prayer Breakfast), leaving it to Lisa Raitt to lead off, worrying that Atlantic Canadians haven’t had a real wage increase which would be made worse by a carbon tax. Catherine McKenna reminded her that climate change impacts will make things worse and more expensive, and wondered why the other party didn’t have a plan. Raitt concerned trolls that high fuel prices would mean people can’t make choices to walk, to which McKenna turned the concern around to point to the children in the Gallery and the world they will inherit. Raitt demanded the government support their Supply Day motion about not imposing carbon taxes, and McKenna reminded her of the costs of climate change, and the trillion dollar clean energy opportunity. Alain Rayes then raised in French all of the tax credits that the government cancelled to decry the imposition of a carbon tax, to which McKenna again asked what the Conservative plan was. After another round of the same, Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, raising the changed candidate for the new Chef Electoral Officer, to which Brison reminded him that they should respect the privacy of those who engage in the appointment process. Caron asked again in English, to which Brison reiterate his admonishing. Hélène Laverdière was up next to raise the federal report on use of Canadian LAVs in Saudi Arabia, questioning its veracity. François-Philippe Champagne reminded her that they are passing legislation to strengthen control of arms abroad. Laverdière quipped that the bill has holes in it, and then reiterated the question in English before calling on the government to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia. Champagne reiterated his remarks about the bill, thanking MPs for their input.

Round two, and Pierre-Paul Hus raised a court challenge related to an asylum seeker apparently shopping jurisdictions, and demanded that border crossers be put on the G7 agenda (Garneau: We will enforce the rules in Canada, and nobody gets a free pass), Alice Wong, Zaid Aboulatif, and Michelle Rempel raised the disingenuous “queue jumper” concerns, including making persecuted LGBT refugees wait (Hussen: You cut resources a refugee healthcare; We have funded the Rainbow Refugee Society). Brigitte Sansoucy and Niki Ashton demanded improved EI sick benefits (Duclos: The EI system has been improved, with new benefits for caregivers, and we will continue to work). Gérard Deltell demanded the costs of the carbon tax on families (McKenna: Quebec has a price on pollution with a growing economy), and Pierre Poilievre cleverly deduced that because GST gets collected on carbon taxes proves that it’s just a cash grab (McKenna: You just don’t get how a price on pollution works). Pierre Nantel demanded the government tax web giants in light of La Presse going non-profit (Joly: We are ensuring a coordinated approach, and we support La Presse), and Charlie Angus made some slurs about the relationship between the government and web giants (Joly: We want to ensure a better balance in policy for the realities of the digital era).

Round three saw questions on the Arctic surf clam quotas (Beech: Our robust process included Indigenous communities), Phoenix pay problems for Parks Canada employees (Qualtrough: This remains my top priority, and we are looking for a new system going forward), wave damage to a small harbour (Garneau: We have taken note, the pilot of the ship was found guilty and punished, and compensation will be granted by the province), voter ID rules (Brison: Participation, not fraud, is the main challenge with our system), the Trans Mountain pipeline legislation (Carr: We will ensure this pipeline gets built), the “sexist” question posed to the RCMP Commissioner (Goodale: We are proud of Brenda Lucki, and she is the best person for the job), the “refugee camp” at the irregular border crossing versus the needs of the North (Goodale: That facility is responding to need), and the backlog of refugee claims (Garneau: We are taking several measures).

Overall, it was largely a repeat of yesterday in terms of trying to frame the imposition of carbon pricing against the sob stories of people who need to drive, as though they don’t have choices in the matter (whereas choices could mean more fuel-efficient vehicles than rather than an SUV), or as though provinces can’t design programmes to mitigate the costs to low-income households or rural Canadians, like Alberta and BC does. Likewise, Rayes quoting the PBO report as him “being neutral” before bastardizing what he actually wrote, reciting only half of the figure without the context for it, is more of the disingenuous lines of questioning that we’re seeing. Catherine McKenna’s performance has continued to improve, where her fallback to platitudes only really came up in French. Her biggest trip-up today was not phrasing her responses properly, and the Speaker had to remind her on at least three occasions to address responses through the Chair. Hopefully we will continue to see improvement later in the week.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Raj Grewal for a tailored black three-piece suit with a light blue shirt, and a red tie and turban, and to Jennifer O’Connell for a tailored navy suit with a pink collared shirt. Style citations go out to Kelly Block for a black dress with dull florals, and to Kevin Waugh for a reddish jacket with a blue windowpane pattern with a white shirt and plaid tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet for a light yellow jacket with a blue shirt and black slacks. On a further sartorial note, I notice that there are a lot of floral patterns suddenly appearing with the spring weather. Stop. Most floral patterns are terrible. Don’t contribute to this style menace.