While Justin Trudeau was in town today, he was nevertheless absent from QP, for whatever the reason. Andrew Scheer led off, and he read a question about whether the government would support their Supply Day motion on committee study of the incident of the murder of a sex worker by a prisoner on parole. Bill Blair reminded him that they have ordered an investigation, and they should wait for answers before jumping to erroneous conclusions. Scheer then read a demand for parole board officers to get sexual assault training as the government plans for judges. Blair reminded him that the judges bill is important, but there was an investigation ongoing. Scheer demanded to know if the parole board officers who made that decision were still hearing cases, and Blair circuitously stated that they weren’t while laying out additional facts. Pierre Paul-Hus demanded the training for parole board officers again in French, got the same response from Blair, and Paul-Hus then demanded that the prime minister fire the parole board members, and Blair responded that the motion contains erroneous facts, but that the government would support it anyway. Yves-François Blanchet was up for the Bloc and, thinking he was clever, stated that if the government points to François Legault’s support for the New NAFTA, would they also support his demand for a single tax return form for Quebec, to which Diane Lebouthillier told him no, that was not going to happen. Blanchet then demanded the government respect the Quebec “secularism” bill, and David Lametti reminded him that groups were challenging it in the courts. Jagmeet Singh was up next for the NDP, and demanded the government stop court challenges of compensation for First Nations children, to which Marc Miller started that they would have a compensation model to propose by February 21st. Singh then raised the strikes in Regina before demanding National pharmacare and dental care, for which Patty Hajdu reminded him they were working on it, and that she welcomed his suggestions.
Trying to wedge parole board officers in the judicial training bill is a ludicrous overreach. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 4, 2020
Round two, and Todd Doherty worried about droplet transmission of coronavirus and what happened to the plane that carried the previous infected people to Canada (Hajdu: I’m not quite sure what you’re asking), Alain Rayes tried again in French (Hajdu: The other passengers were contacted and plane was cleaned per protocols), Matt Jeneroux demanded to know what happened to the plane (Hajdu: This sounds like misinformation and you shouldn’t sensationalise and spread fear), Jag Sahota demanded the old Bill C-69 be scrapped (Wilkinson: The Act was done to ensure that good projects move ahead, and we were pleased to see today that TMX is going ahead), Gérard Deltell wondered about the revenues from the pipeline that the Heritage minister would spend (O’Regan: We remain steadfast in our commitment to TMX), and Shannon Stubbs demanded a plan to deal with threats against the pipeline (O’Regan: Work on the pipeline is underway). Christine Normandin demanded more provincial control over immigration (Rodriguez: I can see what you’re doing here), and Luc Thériault demanded an increase in health transfers (Freeland: You are trying to highlight that we are not the government of Legault, that we have disagreements, and it underlines the fact that if he supports the agreement, it must be good for Quebec). Luc Berthold demanded support for the Auditor General in examining the infrastructure programme (McKenna: We welcome their examination, but which programmes would you cut?; Duclos: We invested in science, accountability and transparency to ensure that our infrastructure investments would be well understood), and comments from an author of the Yale Report (Guilbeault: The panel specifically excluded news media from licensing requirements, and we will not regulate news content). Laurel Collins worried demanded an end to all fossil fuel subsidies (Wilkinson: We developed the country’s first real climate plan, we pledged to go beyond the 2030 targets, and we are work to develop the pathways to getting there), and Alexandre Boulerice worried about the death of the sex worker by the person on parole (Blair: We share the concerns about this tragedy, and we are investigating plus working on a national strategy on violence against women).
Round three saw questions on the economic impact studies for the New NAFTA (Freeland: We protected Supply Management; As soon as the analysis is complete, we will share it), carbon prices affecting farmers (Bibeau: There are exemptions and rebates available; Wilkinson: We have taken numerous steps to help farmers are are looking at all options), demanding Quebec be given sole authority over environmental assessments (Rodriguez: We don’t agree on all things, but this one we do), for French to be the language of work in Federal workplaces in Quebec (Rodriguez: Same answer), the BDS movement on university campuses (Champagne: We stand up for Canadian values), listing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be listed as a terrorist organisation (Blair: We will hold Iran to account for its support for terrorism; We rely on officials to made determinations), the UN Security Council bid costs (Champagne: Canada must show leadership in the face of global challenges), “partisan” social media spending (LeBlanc: We are committed to an open and transparent demographic system), international mining companies and the corporate social responsibility ombudsman (Bendayan: Yay corporate social responsibility), and the international carbon credit regime (Wilkinson: Climate change is an existential crisis, and a trading regime is part of the solution but it needs to be credible).
Overall, it was a fairly usual day, but I have to say that Andrew Scheer’s delivery has become worse as time goes on, and his scripted recitations today were just half-assing it. The suggestion that the government expand the bill on judicial training in sexual assault law to include the Parole Board was ham-fisted and frankly moronic because you’re not going to get the Canadian Judicial Council to give training to Parole Board officers, so stop thinking this was some kind of brilliant “gotcha” for the government. It’s not. The Bloc thought they were being clever when they took the line of attack that if you think it’s a defence to say that François Legault supports the New NAFTA, here are all of his other positions that you should therefore support as well. It was neither clever, nor was it illuminating. Also, the Conservatives’ questions related to novel coronavirus transmission were starting to cross the line and were becoming irresponsible for fear-mongering, sensationalism, and misinformation, so good on the minister for calling that out.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Christine Normandin for a black dress with white piping, and to Sean Fraser for a navy suit with a pink shirt and purple tie. Style citations go out to David Sweet for a blue suit with a windowpane pattern with a grey shirt and a blue and orange floral tie, and to Pam Damoff for a black suit with a brown collared top with a gold leaf pattern. Dishonourable mention goes out to Tamara Jansen for a yellow jacket with a black dress.
Not surprising the Cons fear mongering re. the corona virus. fear is the meanness that comes out of that party on a regular basis. Conservative attitudes steeped in religious fervour should have no place in politics but it is almost impossible to fight the infallibility of the pious and societally entitled.
Don’t forget Beyak, Cooper, and now Viersen. Spuds MacKay is no moderate in the least, but even if he was, there is absolutely no one, no miracle worker or magician, who could ever make the Cons’ “brand” palatable to anyone with a modicum of human decency. Trumpublicans of the North.
Arnold Viersen, another proud boy from Wexitania, barely stopping short of calling NDP MP Laurel Collins a whore. Then the whole party shouts down Rona’s bill out of Scheer spite. In a week that saw Patriarchy Pete MacKay (who was responsible for Robin Camp’s appointment in the first place, the judge whose vile comments prompted this bill to come about) sissifying Trudeau with the soyboy BS about yoga and spa massages, it’s clear that Harper’s wretched hive of scum and villainy is a bona fide hate group masquerading as a political party, and should be permanently disbanded. Incels, Stepford handmaids, Internet trolls, bog-standard bigots. The whole lot of them have no place in public life let alone civilized society, but they certainly do have a place in the CPC. Kick them out and deprive their messaging outlets of oxygen already. “Muh frozen peeches” be damned.
Now Michael “Christchurch for the lulz” Cooper is throwing some kind of Trumpian Twitter tantrum about Morneau who, I might add, was once excoriated for describing the Cons as neanderthals. Then again, perhaps neanderthals are the ones who ought to be offended by being lumped in with the indefinable species that is the Chauvinistic Party of Canada.