QP: Bringing in Anne McLellan

Posted on by

The news broke just before Question Period that Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick was retiring, and before things got underway, new MPs were shown in to take their places, including Jagmeet Singh, so now the NDP questions would no longer have to wedge his name into them. When things got underway, Andrew Scheer led off by first giving the prime minister the opportunity to address the shootings in New Zealand, auto which Justin Trudeau read a statement of sorrow, and made mention of the shooting in Utrecht earlier this morning. Scheer then switched to French to start up with question on the Double-Hyphen Affair, and wondered when the prime minister would “allow” the former Attorney General to speak at committee. Trudeau responded that because of the questions raised by this incident, he has appointed Anne McLellan as a special advisor to provide recommendations to the government. After the same question again in English, Scheer then raised Wernick’s retirement, and again demanded that Wilson-Raybould be allowed to speak. Trudeau read that he took responsibility for the erosion of trust between her and Butts, and that they already granted an unprecedented waiver, but the decision around prosecutions were always hers. Scheer tried one last time, and got the same response. Jagmeet Singh was up next, and after a brief statement about New Zealand, Singh demanded a commitment to building half a million new affordable homes. Trudeau first congratulated him on his election, before reading about the things they were doing to help Canadians and hoped he could count on the NDP’s support. Singh then switched to climate change and demanded an end to carbon tax exclusions for big emitters — shoeing he doesn’t understand the system. Trudeau responded with a memorised platitude about supporting the Middle Class™ while protecting the environment. Singh switched to French to worry about the OECD warning around SNC-Lavalin, to which Trudeau recited his lines about standing up for jobs. Singh repeated the question in English, and got much the same answer. 

Round two, and Candice Bergen and Pierre Paul-Hus demanded that Wilson-Raybould be allowed to speak at Justice Committee (Chagger: The committee has heard from all sides, and you should respect the committee), and Mark Strahl railed about Anne McLellan’s appointment (Chagger: You have the nerve to say we’re controlling the committees when the Harper Government did and we don’t). Tracey Ramsey demanded Wilson-Raybould be granted the right to speak her “full truth” (Chagger: You’re just parroting Conservative talking points), and Charlie Angus thundered some sanctimony (Chagger: We thank Michael Wernick for his work, but we will let the committee do their work while you focus on name-calling). Sylvie Boucher, Leona Alleslev, Rosemary Falk, and Rachael Harder returned to demands that Wilson-Raybould return to committee (Chagger: Members of the committee are doing their job). Anne Quach wanted climate action citing the climate strike protests (Fraser: We are taking action to reduce emissions), and Jenny Kwan demanded that the Safe Third Country Agreement be suspended (Blair: This remains an important tool for the orderly asylum system in both countries, and we are working to improve it).

Round three saw questions on the justice committee (Chagger: The members of the committee are capable of making their own decisions), the OECD letter (Freeland: We are proud of our participation, we support their work, and we will cooperate with it fully), media tax breaks (Fillmore: We have appointed a panel of experts to review the Broadcasting Act, and we are working with allied countries to ensure all Internet giants pay), CPP repayments (Duclos: We enhanced the GIC and the CPP — which wasn’t the question), if the RCMP contacted the PMO about SNC-Lavalin allegations (Chagger: No), the promised VIA Rail high-frequency corridor project (Garneau: This is still in the study stage and we are doing our due diligence), Supply Management (Bibeau: We stood up for this system, and are working with groups to find the best way to support them), the Safe Third Country Agreement (Blair: People are allowed to make asylum claims), this climate rallies (Harper: We hear the young people who protested, and we are putting a price on pollution as part of a serious plan to tackle climate change).

After QP, the Commons moved to speeches on the mass shooting in New Zealand last week, and saw a forceful oration by Trudeau to denouncing hatred and white supremacy, and calling out the winking and nudging to those groups in the hopes of getting a few votes based on their anger – something that got mere tepid applause from the Conservatives (once Andrew Scheer signalled that it was okay to clap). Scheer’s own speech was lukewarm, and spoke only about civic values over ethnic nationalism, highlighting freedom of religion, but offered no denunciations of groups to whom he has winked to and turned a blind eye around. Singh’s speech had some pointed language, also aimed at the Conservatives, but his delivery was a bit shakier and didn’t have a lot of rhetorical fire to it.

Overall, the day was pretty repetitive in terms of questions, but Bardish Chagger had her elbows up today, and she was taking some pretty sharp digs at the Conservatives while she insisted that they let the committee make its own decisions rather than having the government steer things like what happened in the Harper years. Jagmeet Singh’s debut performance was a bit shaky, which is a bit unfortunate given that he’s not a complete rookie, but did have experience in Queen’s Park, but maybe he’ll improve as time goes by. As for the speeches after QP, Trudeau’s was one of his best performances to date, and it was forceful and quite possibly be something that the party will try to rally around a channel-changer in the lead up to an election, whereas Scheer’s speech was insipid and timid. There was a contrast there that the Liberals would do well to contrast in the weeks ahead.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Raj Grewal for a tailored black three-piece suit with a white shirt and pocket square, and a navy turban and tie, and to Chrystia Freeland for a black short-sleeved dress. Style citations go out to Diane Finley for a black top and slacks with a boxy white jacket with half sleeves and a pattern that was part-floral, part pastel colour blocks, and to Larry Maguire for a black jacket with a grey-blue shirt, khaki slacks, and a light green tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Anne Quach for a mustard sweater with a grey top and black slacks.