QP: Bothered by bonuses

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While a torrential downpour descended on the nation’s capital, he third-last week of the spring sitting got underway. Andrew Scheer led off in French, mini-lectern on desk, decrying the “failure” of the government to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and the revelation that executives were getting million-dollar bonuses. Justin Trudeau took up a script to read about their decision to stand up for workers, but would not comment on the internal workings of a company. Scheer switched to English to repeat the question, with added verbosity. Trudeau had no script this time to reiterate the same thing, and adding that public investment has long been necessary to develop resources in Canada. Scheer switched topics, offering some revisionist history in saying that they immediately supported the government in retaliating against the imposition of US tariffs, but worried that our measures wouldn’t come into effect until July 1st. Trudeau reminded him that they wanted to consult to ensure that no Canadians would be inadvertently hurt by these measures. They went another round of the same, and Scheer switched topics again to Iran, and the recent tweets by the Supreme Leader, to which Trudeau took up a script to read some pro forma condemnation of Iran’s actions. Ruth Ellen Brosseau led for the NDP, reading some condemnation about those Kinder Morgan bonuses, and Trudeau, sans script, gave the response about the $15 billion Canada loses annually by not getting a world price for oil. Brosseau worried that the pipeline trampled on the rights of First Nations, to which Trudeau suggested that they did a lot of consulting on the issue. Georgina Jolibois reiterated the question in English, and Trudeau said that they listened to all First Nations, including those who disagreed with them, and they tried to do what they to allay concerns. Nathan Cullen got up to reiterate the question of Kinder Morgan bonuses with added sanctimony, to which Trudeau repeated the $15 billion talking point and the fact that it fit within their climate plan.

Round two, and Luc Berthold railed about Supply Management (MacAulay: We support it), John Barlow and Candice Bergen railed about the notion that farmers support carbon taxes (MacAulay: We know that farmers are stewards of the land and we have exempted on-farm gas and diesel from the feral backstop), and Pierre Poilievre tried to wedge the notion of carbon taxes with the US tariffs (Wilkinson: We can protect the environment while growing the economy). Karine Trudel and Tracey Ramsey were scandalised by the the Trump-imposed tariffs and demanded compensation for Canadian workers (Bains: We are engaging to see what are the next steps to defend them; Leslie: We are consulting to make sure that no Canadians are inadvertently harmed by our measures). Shannon Stubbs and Gérard Deltell returned to the Kinder Morgan bonuses (Morneau: We found a way to ensure that we can complete a pipeline to get our product to international markets). Pierre Nantel and Rachel Blaney raised the CRTC report on digital levies to preserve CanCon (Casey: We are reviewing this legislation but we are investing in the sector).

Round three saw questions on irregular border crossers (Cormier: We have given $50 million to Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba), athlete safety programmes following sexual assault allegations (Duncan: There is no tolerance for harassment or abuse, and we have established a working group to examine a number of these issues, and federally-funded groups need to have these policies in place to get funded), PTSD treatment for veterans (O’Regan: We are working with National Defence and ensuring that veterans have flexible measures), EI for seasonal workers (Duclos: There will be support for our partners in the provinces), foreign interference in elections (Gould: We are doing everything we can to stem the flow of foreign funds and are tightening loopholes), compensation for any damage by G7 protesters (DeCourcey: Procedures for businesses are the same as they were in 2010 when they hosted it), the Arctic surf clam fishery (Beech: Many of these allegations are unsubstantiated), a postal outlet closure (Qualtrough: We encourage Canada Post to expand its partnerships), federal funding for a group that has been accused of antisemitism (Hajdu: If they don’t respect their obligations they won’t get funded and officials are looking into these allegations), farmers being forbidden from spreading manure during the G7, which affects local farms (DeCourcey: We are proud to host this event), and Canadian steel used in infrastructure projects (Miller: We have free trade obligations).

Overall, I found Andrew Scheer’s kick-off to be a bit galling, insisting that they immediately supported the government in response to the US-imposed tariffs and retaliatory measures (no, Erin O’Toole and Scheer himself came out of the gate calling Trudeau a failure, and only later did the Conservatives vote on a motion in the Commons to support the government’s move), and given their loud and public condemnation since the tariff announcement, I’m not sure that he gets a pass on saying that they supported the government from the start. As for the myriad of questions on the bonuses for the Kinder Morgan executives, I can understand why Trudeau would want to steer clear and not say anything about the internal operations of a company – fair enough – but this was not some bonus for the sale of the pipeline, it’s a retention bonus to keep management in place for the next two years as it transitions to new ownership so that there’s executive continuity, and that actually matters in the business world. Of course, that’s an inconvenient narrative for any opposition party to make, so they tarted it up as some kind of payout, and nobody challenged them on that assertion. Yay facts or truth.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Karen McCrimmon for a dark grey suit with a white collared shirt, and to Seamus O’Regan for a tailored light grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a grey-blue tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Mark Holland for a teal blue jacket with a pink striped shirt and black slacks, and to Karen Vecchio for a maroon poncho top with a paisley pattern and black slacks.

2 thoughts on “QP: Bothered by bonuses”

  1. I wonder why the government respondents don’t just say ” your facts are in error and I will order my staff to respond in writing and I will have the response tabled.” There isn’t much time in question period for snappy rebuttals and that is why canned answers prevail. For me the current format is frustrating and not informative.

    • I wish I knew, but somewhere along the way they decided that non-sequitur talking points were preferable to admitting that they didn’t know. *shrugs*

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