QP: Last shout in the Centre Block

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For the final QP of 2018, neither the prime minister nor the leader of the opposition were present (though Andrew Scheer did hold a press conference just hours before), leaving it up to Candice Bergen demanded urgent action on the opioid crisis, to which Ginette Petitpas-Taylor said that they were taking it seriously, and as a public heath issue and not a criminal one, which was why they were increasing harm reduction measures that Conservatives resisted. Bergen raised comments that she overheard Bardish Chagger say, apparently minimising the scope of the crisis, to which Chagger said that her comments weren’t meant to minimise the scope of the tragedy and she apologised. Bergen, with a script to follow, demanded Chagger to account for her comments again, and Chagger apologised a second time. Jacques Gourde then got up read the same demand for an apology in French, but Petitpas Taylor got up to talk about the measures they are taking. Gourde stuck to his script and demanded again, and got the same response from Petitpas Taylor. Guy Caron got up next for the NDP, and railed about VIA Rail not choosing Bombardier for its new fleet. Marc Garneau, noting that he had answered this repeatedly, said that Siemens did agree to at least twenty percent of Canadian content in their trains. Caron tried again in French, and Garneau more pointedly listed other investments that VIA made in Quebec. Pierre-Luc Dusseault got up next to demand action from the CRA on tax evasion, to which Diane Lebouthillier forcefully pointed out the investments they made and the number of new audits that have been conducted since they came to power. Peter Julian asked the same thing in English, and Lebouthillier repeated the actions they have been taking.

Round two, and Gérard Deltell, Leona Alleslev, Alupa Clarke, and Pierre Poilievre railed about the size of the deficit (Lightbound: The Conservatives spent through the surpluses that Paul Martin left them, and you left us in a technical recession in 2015; Goodale: In 2006, the Conservative government inherited nine surpluses and billions in fiscal capacity and they blew through it in two years and landed in deficit before the recession in 2008). François Choquette and Linda Duncan demanded tougher GHG targets (Fraser: We put a price on pollution and are investing in public transit and clean tech). Phil McColeman, Pierre Paul-Hus, and Erin O’Toole asked about an Air Force captain having a dispute over her prosthetic limb (Sajjan: We are committed to getting her the support she needs, and this is a complex file but we will work through it). Gord Johns asked about a First Nations fishery (Wilkinson: We are working with them on the court decision, and the appeal is coming from the First Nations and not the government), and Brigitte Sansoucy asking about failed asylum claimants being removed to Haiti despite violence in that country (Goodale: We share the concern regarding the situation in Haiti, and the decision to remove someone is not taken lightly, and if the circumstances are not safe, the removal won’t happen).

Round three saw questions on Bill C-69 (Sohi: We stand with the energy sector; The old system was not working), the west coast tanker ban (Sohi: Here’s some good economic news from Alberta), a gang member claiming asylum (Blair: The information in this case was not available to the IRB, and he has been in custody since June, and he will be removed in the New Year), people being forced to pay for Sears warranties (Bains: We are working on a whole-of-government solution), Canada Post pay equity (Hajdu: We did everything we did to support a deal), funding cuts for certain sciences (Duncan: We are committed to science research and this includes new funding programmes), a caribou protection plan (Fraser: We are engaging communities and Indigenous peoples), moving Aerospace testing from Cold Lake to Ottawa (Sajjan: We are increasing our investments in Cold Lake), dairy farmer compensation (MacAulay: Your party cut funding from the agricultural envelope, and we supported Supply Management), rural broadband (Bains: We are investing in rural broadband), bail reform (Wilson-Raybould: I will take your concerns under advisement), and VIA Rail’s fleet renewal (Garneau: The maintenance of these new trains will be done by VIA in Toronto and Montreal).

Overall, today was an object lesson in scripting questions and why it can be a very bad idea, which is too bad that this was the way they left the final day in Centre Block. The back and forth between Pierre Poilievre and Ralph Goodale was entertaining, and it was  good to see Goodale not holding back, particularly in the face of Poilievre’s fabrications, for what it’s worth. And that’s a wrap for Centre Block. I’ll miss this place, and hopeful the new Chamber will treat us well for as long as we’re in there.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Chrystia Freeland for a short-sleeved black dress, and to Scott Brison for a tailored dark three three-piece suit with a white shirt and a medium grey tie. Style citations go out to Bob Bratina for a burgundy suit with a white shirt and red striped tie, and to Ruby Sahota for a cream blouse with black trim and yellow and brown dots throughout.