QP: Doom or strength?

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All of the leaders were present today, for a change, and with so much news on offer, it was a question as to which rabbit hole Andrew Scheer would decide to go down for the day. Scheer led off, mini-lectern on desk, and he listed the portents of economic doom — doooooooooom! — and demanded the prime minister fight for Canadian jobs. Trudeau stood up and listed the positive economic indicators and promised they would continue to invest in the economy. Scheer insisted that it was Liberal policies dooming the economy, and demanded businesses be exempted from carbon taxes. Trudeau listed more measures that the government has taken to ensure competitiveness and stated that pricing carbon was necessary to transition to a green economy. Scheer demanded again — as though carbon taxes had anything to do with GM having too many plants globally to meet reduced demand — and Trudeau again listed measures the government was taking before taking a shot at Scheer’s lack of plan. Scheer deliberately misled the House regarding carbon taxes, and Trudeau praised their green transition plan. Scheer accused Trudeau of wanting to phase out the energy sector before the next election, and Trudeau deployed the handy “the economy and environment to hand in hand,” before he switched to French to lambaste Scheer for not asking anything about protecting French language services. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, demanding a national auto strategy, to which Trudeau spoke about fighting for the sector in NAFTA talks and noted the investments made in the sector under his government. Caron switched to a French to make the same demand, to which Trudeau listed the ways they have been attracting investment in the sector. Karine Trudel demanded that the prime minister fight for jobs in Oshawa, to which Trudeau, with a script, assured her that they were fighting for jobs. Peter Julian made the same demand in English, and Trudeau assured him that they were fighting.

Round two, and Lisa Raitt and Alain Rayes concern trolled about the status of Raj Grewal (Trudeau, with script: He informed us of his challenges and put out a statement and we agreed it was the right step to take; any RCMP investigation happens without notifying us or getting our advice), and Peter Kent worried about the optics of tax credits for newspapers (Trudeau: This is conspiracy theorising that is insulting to the intelligence of Canadians and to the professionalism of journalists). Nathan Cullen returned to the Grewal questions (Trudeau: He informed us of his issues and we agreed with his decision to step down). Pierre Poilievre worried about the deficit in the face of new economic headwinds (Trudeau: We turned around your record of low growth and are investing in the future). fin Donnelly asked about the oil spill off of Newfoundland (Trudeau: We have an Oceans Protection Plan™, and work with scientists and communities), and François Choquette wanted action and not just talk for Franco-Ontariens (Trudeau: We are investing in official languages).

Round three saw questions on carbon taxes (Trudeau: We have a plan to transition to a green economy), the oil sector (Trudeau: We are working to get them access to new markets), a local airport issue (Trudeau: We are concerned with their safety and we want NavCanada to continue their consultations), a First Nation that can’t get a road project completed (Trudeau: We are working with Indigenous communities), the Mark Norman trial (Trudeau: It’s inappropriate to answer these questions; All of my ministers have my full confidence), a UN vote against condemning Cuba’s actions (Trudeau: We make decision on the best way to support Canadian values), Veterans disability delays (Trudeau: I will take no lessons from you on how to treat veterans), declaring a commemoration of the Nanjing Massacre (Trudeau, with script: This shouldn’t be forgotten), forced organ harvesting (Trudeau: We take this issue seriously, and will continue with interested parties), not including the Nunavut government on Dene treaties (Trudeau, with script: Treaty negotiations are negotiated in confidence with the parties at the table).

Overall, the day was a decent one in terms of exchanges, and Trudeau was far less reliant on scripts than he has been of late, which is good news – not that he had much to say that was new. Then again, neither were most of the questions new or interesting either. I would note that Trudeau used his final response to Scheer in the leaders’ round to dig at him about his not pressing Doug Ford over the French-language service cuts in Ontario, and that this exchange was a little over an hour before all party leaders met in Trudeau’s office to discuss issues facing Francophones nationally. So indeed, Trudeau is trying to box Scheer in on that issue. The Raj Grewal questions were bordering on conspiracy theory given that his questions around money laundering at Finance committee were the same kinds of questions that everyone else was asking. Likewise, the concern trolling over the tax credits for newspapers is getting tiresome, especially as every time the Conservatives ask the question, they leer up to the gallery to try and get us to react to them. Thanks, guys. That’s one place where Trudeau did hit back with a little more force and called out the conspiracy theorising for what it is, but both sides are making this worse for everyone involved.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Lisa Raitt for a long dark grey jacket with lighter grey trim, and a dark grey top and black slacks, and to Emmanuel Dubourg for a tailored dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a light blue tie. Style citations go out to Robert Sopuck for his light brown corduroy jacket, a darker brown waistcoat, a grey shirt and blue tie, and to Candice Bergen for a fuchsia dress with huge florals and huge sleeves.