QP: Praising your own record

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While the PM was present once again for QP, the finance minister was over in the lock-up for the fiscal update, and Andrew Scheer was…elsewhere. Again. Lisa Raitt led off, and true to form, wanted to know when the budget would be balanced. Justin Trudeau stated that no government in history added more to the debt than Stephen Harper, and praised his own record on growth and employment. Raitt tried again, and Trudeau lambasted the Conservative record on deficits and noted the decrease in the debt-to-GDP ratio. Raitt accused Trudeau of being arrogant for breaking promises, and Trudeau listed off the Conservative record of cuts and low growth. Alain Rayes took over to ask again in French, and this time Trudeau picked up a sheet to talk about how many children in Rayes’ riding were being helped by the Canada Child Benefit. Rayes tried one last time, and Trudeau lauded his party’s record of economic growth. Guy Caron was up next, and he railed about the possibility that the government would legislate an end to the Canada Post labour dispute. Trudeau took up a script to read that they believe in collective bargaining, but that legislation was not a step they took lightly, but they were prepare to act. Caron switched to English to ask the same thing, and Trudeau read the French version of his script. Karine Trudel said the reported mail backlogs were exaggerated and that Canada Post was creating an artificial crisis, to which Trudeau remarked, without script, that they were working in partnership with unions, but they were ready to act if they couldn’t come to an agreement. Irene Mathyssen tried one last time in English, and Trudeau insisted that they transformed the relationship between the government and organised labour.

Round two, and Gérard Deltell and Pierre Poilievre returned to questions about the deficit (Trudeau: You added billions to the national debt; Here’s how much more money gets sent to your riding than under your government; Your approach sent cheques to millionaires while your benefits were taxable; You created a phone balance just before the election). François Choquette and Charlie Angus asked about the French language cuts in Ontario (Trudeau: The minister is engaging with her counterpart and is encouraging her to restore the change direction; I’m thinking of Mauril Bélanger, who would be leading this fight). Joël Godin and Dap Albas asked about Statistics Canada’s data collection project (Trudeau, with script: We take Canadians’ privacy seriously, but we want reliable data for Canadians, not just ideology). Niki Ashton asked about coerced sterilisation of Indigenous women (Trudeau, with script: This is a serious violation of human rights, and we have a role to play to ensure that they get proper healthcare and will work with partners to get access to culturally safe healthcare), and Hélène Laverdière asked about the review of arms exports to Saudi Arabia (Trudeau, with script: We are looking at existing permits for Saudi Arabia).

Round three saw questions on fighter jet procurement (Trudeau, with script: Your party mismanaged the file for a decade, which is why we have an open and transparent process), questions on Cabinet confidence (Trudeau: This is about an ongoing court case and we won’t comment), the Auditor General’s report on the CRA (Trudeau, with script: The CRA will look at its internal processes to ensure uniform treatment), the caregiver programme (Trudeau: We have been working to make the immigration system fairer, and are maintaining the confidence of Canadians), the UN global pact on migration (Trudeau: It’s important to show respect for immigration and accepting refugees), food safety with Romaine lettuce (Trudeau, with script: We are collaborating with provincial authorities and the US authorities), night service at a local airport (Trudeau: A second review is being undertaken), and irregular immigration (Trudeau: Whether people arrive regularly or irregularly, all the rules are followed).

Overall, it was a punchier day, and Justin Trudeau was pushing back against the Conservatives more than Bill Morneau has, and more notably was relying on scripts far less today than he has been in recent weeks – so that’s a plus. On the other hand, it was almost a complete rerun of the past two days, from the lineup to the questions themselves, which makes this a bit of a ridiculous exercise. It was a slightly higher-energy rerun, but a rerun nevertheless.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Seamus O’Regan for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and pocket square and black tie, and to Lisa Raitt for a long white jacket with a black top and slacks. Style citations go out to Rachael Harder fro a maroon blouse with a pleated loud floral skirt, and to Ramesh Sangha for a terra cotta suit and tie with a white shirt. 

One thought on “QP: Praising your own record”

  1. At last the L:iberals are being pithy when they talk about the 260 billion in deficits run up by the Harper Cons in ten years. As for Polievre, nobody gives a damn about anything that he says.

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