Wednesday, caucus day, and MPs were riled up in the aftermath. Andrew Scheer led off, and he recited some concern about the state of the Trans Mountain pipeline, to which Justin Trudeau expressed his satisfaction with the Federal Court of Appeal and that the previous government couldn’t get it done without boosterism. Scheer then tried to hand-wave about fictional “emergency legislation” around court challenges and worried about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a “new threshold” to prevent development, to which Trudeau called out the whole question as a reflection of how the Conservatives don’t understand how things work. Scheer tried again, and Trudeau called out the misinformation. Scheer switched to French to worry about the supposed “plan” to license media, to which Trudeau picked up a script to read that they would not impose licensing on news. Scheer changed to English and lied about what was in the report, as well as the media “bailout” fund, and Trudeau slowly enunciated that they would not impose licenses on news organisations or regulate news content. Yves-François Blanchet was up next for the Bloc, and he rambled about they English School Board of Montreal getting money to challenge the “secularism” bill, to which Trudeau started that the Court Challenges Programme awards aid to groups in an arm’s length way from government. Blanchet tried to make this an issue of provincial jurisdiction, to which Trudeau repeated that programme was independent of government. Jagmeet Singh was then up for the NDP, and complained about the backlogs for women regaining First Nations status after the law changed to broaden the criteria. Trudeau started that they have spent record amounts to Indigenous communities, and it takes longer because the delivery needs to be done in partnership with those communities. Singh then moved onto the Coast Gas Link pipeline dispute, demanding that the prime minister meet with the hereditary chiefs, to which Trudeau stated that the issue was entirely under provincial jurisdiction, which they respect.

https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/1225141168683606017

Round two, and Leona Alleslev concern trolled as to whether political staff were helping to prepare the Canadian Ambassador to China in advance of his committee appearance (Trudeau: We have full confidence in Ambassador Barton), and wondered if the two Michaels would be on the flight from Wuhan (Trudeau: Your clever little games are unworthy of this House), Alain Rayes worried that the Wuhan flight was being delayed (Trudeau: It’s just weather-related, unless you want to overrule plane safety), and the belt-and-road initiative (Trudeau, with script: We use the Asian Infrastructure Bank to leverage investment, and you are misleading the House if you think that helping with landslides in Indonesia is a bad thing), and Garnett Genuis railed about extradition discussions with China (Trudeau: Our values and expectations are clear, and China would not qualify now or anytime in the future), and Trudeau’s confidence in Ambassador Barton’s ability to stand up for human rights if his company held a retreat only a few kilometres from a Uigher concentration camp (Trudeau: Barton is an excellent public servant). Blanchet returned to the Court Challenges Programme, but threw an aluminium jab in there (Trudeau: Once again, the New NAFTA is good for the aluminium industry), and Marie-Hélène Gaudreau also concern trolled about Court Challenges Programme funding (Trudeau: I will repeat that it is independent of government). Nelly Shin and Pierre Paul-Hus demanded that the judicial training bill include Parole Board officers (Trudeau: This is a serious issue and we have ordered an investigation), Doug Shipley and Luc Berthold demanded more resources for the Auditor General to study the infrastructure programme (Trudeau: We ensured that he’s funded, where the Conservatives cut his budget). Taylor Bachrach repeated the demand to meet with the BC chiefs protesting the Coastal Gas Link pipeline (Trudeau: This is a solely provincial issue), and Jenny Kwan demanded immediate action on homelessness (Trudeau: We put into place a National Housing Strategy including an Indigenous component, and have lifted a million people out of poverty).

.@LeonaAlleslev asks the PM if detained Canadians Spavor & Kovrig will be returning to Canada on the flight from Wuhan.

“I hope the member opposite withdraws that question and the silliness involved,” said @JustinTrudeau #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/ygaRu0xAkX

— Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) February 5, 2020

Trudeau just told Alleslev that her “clever little games” were unworthy of this House when she cutely asked if the two Michaels would be on the flight from Wuhan. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 5, 2020

Did the Conservatives even bother to read C-5? You can’t just slot in Parole Board officers into an amendment to the Judges Act. FFS. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 5, 2020

Round three saw questions on mandating “duty of loyalty” training for some public servants (Trudeau: We put in place a merit-based appointments process to better reflect the diversity of the public service), counselling for jurors who deal with traumatic materials (Trudeau: More investments need to be made into mental health supports for Canadians, and we made a commitment of billions more dollars for provinces), gun control legislation (Trudeau, with script: We strengthened controls and background checks, and will ban assault weapons), the “red flag” proposal (Trudeau: There are individuals who own firearms who present a threat to themselves and families, and this also suspends the licence so they can’t acquire new firearms if theirs are confiscated), social housing funding for Quebec with no strings attached (Trudeau: We are hoping Quebec will soon sign a funding agreement with us), the Ontario Line subway (Trudeau: I look forward to moving forward with concrete plans when they submit them), the mortgage stress test (Trudeau: Our first-time home buyer’s programme helps out), local opposition to a project (Trudeau: We will pay close attention to the concerns of the people on the ground), federal computer system upgrades (Trudeau: We have been able to invest in new ways to help Canadians, and we will ensure the systems that allow us to administer them remains updated), farmers impacted by carbon prices (Trudeau: The PBO clearly stated that most people get more back from carbon prices than they pay into it), a First Nation declaring a crisis (Trudeau: We need to walk in partnership with local Indigenous communities), coastal protection (Trudeau: We are working to protect our coastlines).

Overall, it was indeed a rowdier day today, and the discourse definitely did not improve any. Andrew Scheer was once again making up things out of whole cloth such as the supposed possibility of “emergency legislation” following the original Federal Court decision on Trans Mountain, or his sinister interpretation of UNDRIP, which dripped of the usual conspiracy theory tones whenever right-wing or far-right online culture talks about the UN. Likewise, his talk about the fictional plan to “license” media was backed up with false assertions, because why would he start begin truthful about anything now? The attempts by Leona Alleslev and Alain Rayes on the evacuation flights from Wuhan, and especially the jabs about the two Michaels in custody were frankly gross, and Trudeau was much sharper on calling them out than he has been of late. The Bloc, for their part, spent the day railing about the Court Challenges Programme and treated it like a government grant agency, which it’s not, while the NDP once again had an inability to differentiate between areas of federal and provincial jurisdiction. These are supposed be adults passing legislation and doing the work of accountability, and these particular things are either misunderstood or deliberately misconstrued, which should give pause as to the confidence we can have in them doing their jobs. Cripes.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Gagan Sikand for a medium grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and black tie, and to Rachel Bendayan for medium grey pinstriped jacket with a white shirt collared and a loose black tie. Style citations go out to Stephanie Kusie for a burgundy dress with large frills in place of sleeves and a bedazzled crystal collar, and to Doug Shipley for a frumpy dark grey suit with a brown shirt and navy tie.