QP: Lavish lifestyles or austerity

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Thursday in the new Chamber, and neither the PM nor Andrew Scheer were present. Plus ça change… That left Candice Bergen to lead off with slams against the prime minister’s alleged lavish lifestyle before demanding to know whey they planned to raise taxes. Bill Morneau got up and noted that the first things they did was lower taxes on the Middle Class™. Bergen retorted that the Conservatives delivered a balanced budget (not really), and that today’s deficits were tomorrow’s higher taxes (not with a declining debt-to-GDP ratio), but Morneau noted that the facts didn’t match her rhetoric and that Canadians didn’t want to return to the “bad old days” of Conservative austerity. Bergen read more vitriol about Trudeau, to which Morneau listed off their tax cuts and Canada Child Benefit plans, and decried the Conservative legacy of debt. Gérard Deltell took over in French, and gave his usual demand to know when the budget would  be balanced. Morneau state that their plan was clear to invest, and that the approach was working as witnessed by lowest unemployment in 40 years and people with more money in their pockets. Deltell asked a second time, and Morneau repeated his pabulum. Guy Caron was up next for the NDP, and said that the PBO reported that the government paid too much for the Trans Mountain pipeline. Morneau replied that he had it wrong — that they bought the pipeline because it was good for the economy. Caron wondered why they didn’t invest instead in transitioning to a clean economy, to which Morneau reminded him of the need to get access to international markets, which was why it was necessary to buy the pipeline. Nathan Cullen took over in English to repeat the question with added sanctimony, to which Morneau said that their purchase price of the pipeline was in the middle of the commercial range, which meant it was a good one. Cullen tried again, and got much the same response.

Round two, and Kelly Block concerned trolled about carbon taxes making it more difficult for people to pay for airfare (Fraser: Pricing pollution is the most effective thing we can do to reduce emissions), Matt Jeneroux and Pierre Poilievre railed about how high carbon taxes would be raised (Fraser: We are going to bring emissions down and make life more affordable for Canadians), and Poilievre worried the government would need to buy carbon credits to meet their emissions targets (Fraser: Carbon taxes are effective). Daniel Blaikie and Tracey Ramsey worried about housing funding (Duclos: He have invested $5.7 billion, helped a million families, and have a ten-year plan). Leona Alleslev and Pierre Paul-Hus railed about delays in the VADM Mark Norman trial (Goodale: The government has policies on document retention according to the  Access to Information Act; This is before the courts). Don Davies returned to stories of people afraid of losing their housing (Duclos: Our national housing strategy is a game-changer for women and girls), and Charlie Angus demanded action on Cat Lake’s housing crisis (Vandal: Our officials met with their leadership and are developing a path forward).

Round three saw questions on a Raj Grewal fundraiser (Gould: We brought in strict rules, and have followed them while you guys aren’t), the chinook Pacific salmon fishery (Wilkinson: Our fisheries are based on science, and only one of five of these fisheries is open because of abundant stocks), EI sick benefits (Duclos: Since 2016 we have put in major measures to improve EI), a single tax return for Quebec (Lebouthillier: Do you want to cut jobs in Quebec with no regard for consequences?), the increased costs for the Joint Strike Fighter programme (Sajjan: We will ensure we have the equipment our men and women in uniform need), a local cellphone tower (Bains: I’ll work with you to address this issue), the terror attack in the Philippines (Freeland: Religious freedom is central to human rights and we are engaged with our partners to protect it), demanding immigrants to Quebec know French (Duclos: Canada is a welcoming country that goes back to the Chief of the Huron Nation welcoming Jacques Cartier), and the BC casino money laundering issue and what the RCMP knew (Schiefke: We are enhancing RCMP capabilities, and Bill Blair recently met with officials in BC).

Overall, it wasn’t a stellar day, and Bill Morneau’s answers were only slightly better than usual, but that’s not saying a lot. The Conservatives’ attack line about the prime minister’s trust fund, aside from blowing it well out of proportion, has taken on a bit of a nasty tone to it, and the fact that they keep wedging it into questions, no matter how unrelated it is, or how crass it comes across, is not only tiresome, but it’s just poor questioning. You’re supposed to be holding government to account for its actions, not because the prime minister had a slightly more privileged upbringing than most other people – something he has neither tried to hide, nor make a virtue out of. As well, the questions on the PBO’s report on the purchase price of the Trans Mountain pipeline grossly mischaracterised what he actually said, and he didn’t actually say they overpaid. I will also admit that I was wrong in my prediction that York Simcoe would be name-dropped in the NDP’s housing questions today, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it still gets a mention in the days ahead.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Jennifer O’Connell for a black jacket with a light pink collared shirt, and to Paul Lefebvre for a blue three-piece suit with a white shirt and a blue and pink tartan tie. Style citations go out to Darren Fisher for a light burgundy jacket with grey slacks, a light pink shirt and red tie, and to Linda Duncan for a black and orange striped jacket with a black dress.