QP: Concerns about home-growth

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While the PM was in town today, he was not in Question Period, though Andrew Scheer was, amazingly enough. Scheer led off, first congratulating everyone who participated in last night’s by-election, and after some triumphalism, he said that the Conservatives respect provincial jurisdiction, and demanded to know why the government would force home-growth on Quebec. Ginette Petitpas Taylor responded with her standard talking points about stopping the black market and regulations. Scheer then demanded that counter-tariffs be placed on Americans immediately, to which Chrystia Freeland reminded him that they were consulting industry first. Scheer then concern trolled about the government “squandering” the strong fiscal position that they were left with and not having a contingency in the budget for trade uncertainty. Bill Morneau reminded him that they were left with billions in additional debt by the previous government as well as low growth, and there is always a contingency built into every budget. Alain Rayes took over in French to offer more triumphalism about the by-election results before reiterating about cannabis home-growth, to which Petitpas Taylor read some more bland talking points, and they went a second round of the very same. Guy Caron led off for the NDP, railing about the US policy of separating children from their families at the border, and demanded an end to the Safe Third Country Agreement (not that it would help in any of those cases). Marc Garneau said that the government was concerned and in Canada, we try to avoid immigration detention at all costs. Caron tried again, and Hussen responded in English that the UNHCR was monitoring the developments. Jenny Kwan tried again in English, got the same answer, and when she tried again, Hussen listed measures that Canada has taken to minimize immigration detention.

Round two, and Lisa Raitt, Gérard Deltell, and Pierre Poilievre returned to their Carbon Tax Cover-Up™ concerns (Wilkinson: We are going to tackle climate change and grow the economy, You have no plan to tackle climate change). Hélène Laverdière and Rachel Blaney returned to the issue of child removals at the Mexican border (Garneau: We have spared no effort to improve the detention system in Canada, what’s happening in the US is simply unacceptable; Hussen: We have taken leadership in ensuring the wellbeing of child migrants). Michelle Rempel wanted Canadian ISIS returnees handed over to the International Criminal Court (Freeland: We are standing up for the rights of survivors; Goodale: Our priority is to prosecute as soon as the evidence is available, which your government didn’t do), and Pierre-Paul Hus demanded prosecutions (Goodale: Here are the lists of measures we’ve taken, but the professionals in police and security agencies make the calls). Kennedy Stewart and Nathan Cullen railed about Trans Mountain pipeline (Goodale: People have a democratic right to protest; Carr: The project was approved, and we have a co-developed an Indigenous monitoring committee).

https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/1009142199727149056

Round three saw questions on auto tariffs (Freeland: We stand with auto workers; Mendicino: We are investing in the sector), the lobster fishery being shut down because of right whales (LeBlanc: We could be hit by international sanctions if we don’t protect whales, which would devastate the fishery), oil spills from pipelines (Garneau and Carr: The polluter pay principle is enshrined in law), cannabis home-growth (Petitpas Taylor: Same talking points), interim fighter jet procurement (Sajjan: We have started the competition to replace the fleet, but the interim purchase will keep the current fleet flying), making National Indigenous People’s Day a statutory holiday (Philpott: Thanks for calling attention to this day), and extending the MMIW inquiry only six months (Bennett: We have a substantial response to the interim report).

Overall, it was a bit of a scattershot day, and it’s very curious the kinds of things that the different parties are focusing on. The Conservatives’ triumphalist tone aside, their insistence that they are the only party who respects provincial rights is kind of odd, given how they have been demanding that the federal government bigfoot the BC government on the Kinder Morgan issue. Also, their attempts to showcase how much a carbon tax could cost families, using independent analyses, ignores that those revenues are usually returned in some form, whether it’s with tax cuts or rebates, rather than simply lighting that money on fire. But hey, why does context or the truth matter when you’re trying to build a bogeyman? The NDP meanwhile kept their focus on the US border issue with migrants separating children from their families, and the government was fairly circumspect in their replies (Garneau did say that the situation was “simply unacceptable”) but more curious was just how the much on the defensive the government was when it comes to the issue of immigration detention in Canada. To be fair, this is something that they have spent the past year making great strides on with reforming that system, which is good, but they are trying not to send more signals to create another flood to our borders – something that suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement would do (though it would be of little use for those on the Mexican border because they’d have to make it to a Canadian port of entry).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Bill Morneau for a well tailored navy suit with a white shirt and eggplant tie, and to Jane Philpott for a black dress with a dark pink jacket with three-quarter sleeves. Style citations go out to Cheryl Hardcastle for an orange floral top with hot pink jeans, and to Jean Rioux for a light grey suit with a pink shirt and a purple and blue tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Frank Baylis for a black suit with a pale yellow shirt and dark yellow tie.