QP: Demanding a tax pledge

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Another snowy day in Ottawa, and things got back underway in the new Chamber, with numerous statements of remembrance for the Quebec City Mosque shooting two years ago. While Justin Trudeau was present today, Andrew Scheer was not, preferring to tweet instead about Google search results he didn’t like. That left Lisa Raitt to lead off, raising the case of Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, and allegations that Scott Brison was withholding personal emails from the courts. Trudeau stood up to read that they were respecting judicial independence and would not comment. Raitt tried again, calling it a “concerning cover-up,” but Trudeau’s response did not change, only he recited the lines from memory. Raitt then moved on to a homily about affordability and wanted assurances that the government wouldn’t raise taxes. Trudeau assured her that they were cutting taxes for the Middle Class™ while they were growing the economy. Alain Rayes took over in French to demand a balanced budget with no tax hikes. Trudeau deployed his lines about growing the economy and helping the Middle Class™. Rayes tried again, and this time Trudeau insisted that they lowered taxes and would not raise them, while the Conservatives preferred tax cuts for the rich, when “trickle down economics doesn’t work.” Peter Julian led off for the NDP, accusing the PM of misleading the House on housing stats. Trudeau delivered some pat lines about their National Housing Strategy that has helped a million Canadians so far. Julian name-dropped the riding of Burnaby to demand new affordable housing, to which Trudeau cautioned him against maligning the refurbishment of existing housing which ensures Canadians have safe and affordable places to live, which is what they were ensuring. Brigitte Sansoucy went into a paean about personal debt and affordable housing, and Trudeau deployed more talking points about the investments they made. Sansoucy then said that he didn’t consider seniors in his response, to which Trudeau deployed his standard talking points about increasing the GIS.

Round two, and Gérard Deltell worried about the size of the deficit (O’Connell: Your plan was austerity, and now Canadian families are better off), while Pierre Poilievre lamented the cancellation of boutique tax credits and worried about future taxes (O’Connell: Why won’t you be honest about the cuts you plan to make?). Don Davies decried the Patented Medicines Review Board not moving ahead with some drug price cuts (Petitpas Taylor: We want to ensure that people have access to needed drugs; We are developing a plan and will have recommendations by the spring). Jacques Gourde, Bob Saroy and Michelle Rempel railed about the costs for irregular asylum seekers and the short window for family reunification applications (LeBlanc: We are working with provinces; Hussen: Your government didn’t prioritise these and called them a burden). Karine Trudel and Tracey Ramsey demanded action on steel and aluminium tariffs (Freeland: The US tariffs are unfair and illegal and we are working to get them lifted). 

Round three saw questions on carbon taxes (McKenna: You are peddling misinformation and people will get more back than they pay), aid for steel and aluminium manufacturers (Bains: We are helping these companies), the Cat Lake First Nation (O’Regan: I spoke to their leadership, but officials were unable to make it in today because of bad weather), a single tax return for Quebec (Lebouthillier: You have no intention of respecting our federal workers in Quebec), banning Huawei (Goodale: The issue is under careful examination, and any decisions will not sacrifice national security), family reunification applications (Hussen: We listened when they wanted a first-come-first-served basis, we quadrupled the cap and reduced wait times), a by-election for Nicola Di Iorio’s riding (Chagger: He only just resigned so we will study the situation and act accordingly), demanding French proficiency for Quebec immigration (Rodriguez: You are trying to make this a point of division), and the Trans Mountain pipeline (Sohi: We are moving forward in the right way with meaningful consultations, and have eight teams engaged in that work).

Overall, it was a fairly lacklustre day with some moments of oddness thrown in. The Conservatives, true to form, asked a number of questions related to their Supply Day motion which demanded the government sign a pledge not to balance the budget without raising taxes, which the government shrugged off, but what was weird as Jennifer O’Connell hitting back that somehow they were taking orders from Doug Ford and that the Conservatives would cut things like education (a provincial responsibility). It was bizarre and completely lost the plot, and was the most ham-fisted attempt at deflection I have seen in a while. Meanwhile, the NDP continue to carry water for Jagmeet Singh with the questions around housing, and name-dropping Burnaby as part of the question was pretty crass – but that’s par for the course with these kinds of things.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to new Conservative MP Michael Barrett for a tailored navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark blue tie, and to Jean Yip for a burgundy top with a well-cut black jacket. Style citations go out to Stephanie Kusie for a leopard print v-necked dress with half sleeves, and to Michel Picard for a tan brown suit and tie with a light blue shirt and dark grey slacks.