On the first Wednesday of the new parliament, the prime minister was present and we were due to be treated to the first proto-“Prime Ministers Questions” of the 43rd Parliament. Andrew Scheer led off, and he demanded to know what new concessions the government agreed to with the New NAFTA, to which Justin Trudeau assured him that they got a good deal, particularly around aluminium and automotive rules of origin. Scheer rhymed off that “senior Democrats” said that the Canadians gave up everything asked of them, and Trudeau simply responded with some congratulations to the negotiators on getting a good deal. Scheer then demanded a new fiscal update this week which includes a path to balance, citing a fictional “high-tax, high-regulation” agenda, to which Trudeau recited his worn points about making the choice to invest in Canadians. Scheer then railed that Trudeau was creating a “made in Canada recession” — which was 100 percent pure and unadulterated bullshit — and Trudeau reiterated their choices to invest. Scheer then demanded the government pull out of the Asian Infrastructure Bank as a way to send a message to China, to which Trudeau warned that he hoped the new special committee on China wouldn’t be a vehicle for the opposition to play politics and endanger Canadians. Yves-François Blanchet decried the lack of aluminium protections in the New NAFTA, to which Trudeau started frankly that Blanchet was wrong, and they got guarantees around the use of aluminium in the automotive industry. Blanchet disputed this, and Trudeau repeated his assurances. Jagmeet Singh then took his turn to lament the New NAFTA, to which Trudeau picked up a list to read off improvements. Singh then demanded an immediate universal pharmacare programme, to which Trudeau insisted that they did more than any government in a generation to lower drug prices, and the next step was to sit down with the provinces.

Round two, and Erin O’Toole returned to concerns that the government conceded too much and was going to send the automotive industry to Mexico (Trudeau: What you’re saying is simply mistaken), Richard Martel worried about China dumping aluminium into Mexico (Trudeau: You are trying to create fear and anxiety but we protected aluminium workers), Randy Hoback added softwood lumber to his concerns (Trudeau: We continue to work with the Americans to come to an agreement on softwood lumber), Leona Alleslev worried that the opposition wasn’t consulted on the New NAFTA (Trudeau: We won the confidence vote yesterday). Blanchet was back up to carry on his concern about aluminium (Trudeau: You are mistaken on those details, and we did ensure protection for the industry). Alain Rayes repeated the very same concerns on aluminium (Trudeau: There was a zero percent guarantee for North American-made aluminium content until now), and Kenny Chiu and Dan Albas railed at the potential cancellation of an LNG project (Trudeau: We welcomed they largest foreign investment in the sector, and we recognise this is an important step to the net zero we’ll hit in 2015). Leah Gazan yelled about Sixties Scoop compensation (Trudeau: We know there are claims unresolved, and are working to resolve them), and Charlie Angus demanded the Human Rights Tribunal ruling on compensation be respected (Trudeau: We want to ensure that compensation is done in a fair and timely way).

Conservatives shouting that they don’t have a copy of the New NAFTA text know full well that they can’t table it until it’s been translated. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 11, 2019

Leona Alleslev has a very mistaken impression about how hung parliaments work. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 11, 2019

Apparently “we need a framework to avoid double-counting” is a disparaging comment. Cripes. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 11, 2019

Round three saw questions on unemployment figures (Trudeau: We are there to help families, and Canadians created a million jobs over the last four years, but we will continue to invest in economic growth), aluminium (Trudeau: We got content guarantees that didn’t exist before), the WTO challenge by Australia about Canadian wine (Trudeau: We will continue to work with the WTO and our partners to protect the Canadian industry), male unemployment in Alberta (Trudeau: I spoke with premier Kenney about initiatives), the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist exercise (Trudeau, with script: We condemn the escalating violence in Iraq), increasing cellphone carriers (Trudeau: We have warned the industry that if they don’t lower prices, we will bring in new players to the market), a Mad Cow remediation deadline being missed (Trudeau: We will stand up for the sector), new jury selection rules (Trudeau: We are continually looking at ways to improve the administration of justice), the Trans Mountain allegedly losing money (Trudeau: All profits from the expansion will go toward nature-based solutions and green energy).

That “$200 from insolvency” canard is the new Conservative talking point.
Reminder that @JenniferRobson8 debunked this figure. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 11, 2019

Overall, it was a pretty repetitive day, with the aluminium question being asked over, and over, and over, and over again, until our eyes glazed over. The fact that these questions were based entirely on rumours and supposition is bad enough (and before you say anything, the demands that the government release the text of the agreement can’t happen until it’s been translated — and you can bet that there would be a major Issue if it weren’t), but the accusations that were levelled about supposed capitulation were ridiculous in the extreme. But hey, anything to deflect from the fact that the advice the Conservative were given from Stephen Harper was to agree to anything offered, so take it for what it’s worth. As for Trudeau’s first PMQs of the new Parliament, he managed to answer the vast majority of them extemporaneously — though the fact that it was largely the same question being asked over and over didn’t hurt — but on two questions in particular, being the Mad Cow and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard questions, the weakness of this whole setup comes to the fore, where he simply answers something bland or a non-sequitur as a way of just filling the airtime rather than saying “Let me get back to you on that one,” which is unfortunate because it’s what he should be doing. Otherwise, it just perpetuates the problem of QP being about the recitation of bland talking points that may or may not be related to the question that was asked rather than being an exercise of any substance.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Patty Hajdu for a navy suit with a white v-necked top, and to Peter Fragiskatos for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and medium blue tie. Style citations go out to John Williamson got a navy suit with a pink shirt and bright green tie, and to Diane Lebouthillier for a dusky rose smock top.