The prime minister was around, but absent from the Chamber for QP, leaving his deputy in his place. Erin O’Toole led off, script and mini-lectern in front of him accusing the government of being absent on the issue of tensions around the Mi’kmaq fishery issue, to which Chrystia Freeland condemned the violence that took place, and said that federal and provincial governments were working together to recognise the Mi’kmaq rights under the Marshall Decision. O’Toole went again on the same question in French, got the same answer, then n French worried about threats that China was making, particularly around Canadians in Hong Kong. Freeland responded that the foreign minister had issued a clear statement, and that only Canada would make its own decisions on immigration. O’Toole asked again in English, and got much the same response, with slightly more specificity on the individual issues in China. O’Toole blustered more about Trudeau’s apparent “admiration for the basic dictatorship of China,” the Chinese ambassador’s comments and wondered when his credentials would be pulled. Freeland reminded him that she was well aware of what a totalitarian communist country is like, as she lived in one and reported from it, before repeating that they were standing up for human rights and the Canadian citizens in Hong Kong. Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, worrying that the government would rather go to an election than talk about the WE Imbroglio, to which Freeland said that the Government House Leader had made a sensible suggestion around a special committee on pandemic costing, which she hoped they would support. Therrien said that was well and good but still wanted a committee dedicated to the WE Imbroglio, to which Freeland reminded him of what has been released to date. Jagmeet Singh appeared by video to accuse the prime minister in French of standing by and not protecting the Mi’kmaq (never mind that policing is a provincial responsibility), to which Freeland said that they approved a request to give more resources to the RCMP on the ground. Singh switched to English to repeat the question, and got much the same response.

Round two, and Shannon Stubbs seemed confused that policing is provincial jurisdiction and that the federal government can’t act unilaterally (Blair: We did respond to a request for assistance from the province and expect perpetrators to be held to account; Policing is a provincial responsibility), she brought up the inquiry on the Nova Scotia shooting (Blair: Praising the RCMP’s actions; After the tragedy, I reached out to the Nova Scotia government, and we have now set up public inquiry and established a secretariat), and she brought up more instances of American CEOs getting into the country without quarantine (Blair: I addressed this with the president of CBSA, and changes were made immediately), and Steven Blaney repeated the question in French (Blair: Let me take the opportunity to say that we have extended the border closures for another month). Luc Thériault demanded increased healthcare transfers to Quebec (Hajdu: We already sent money to the provinces to bolster support for long-term care, and sent direct support with the military and the Canadian Red Cross), and Andréanne Larouche and Stéphane Bergeron worried about seniors and demanded higher transfers (Rodriguez: We’re not telling Quebec what to do, we’re work with them to prevent a future tragedy). Pierre Poilievre worried about the country’s finances and the state of the Finance Committee, and praised their proposed “anti-corruption committee” (Rodriguez: We have proposed our own committee which will get work done, as opposed to their ultra-partisan motion), and Michael Barrett demanded an end to the “cover-ups” (Rodriguez: Our committee is an option for you). Niki Ashton demanded solutions for the airline sector including public equity (Garneau: We are working on this issue), and Lindsay Mathyssen worried about supports for students (Chagger: Here is a list of benefits we have instituted).

Shannon Stubbs seems confused that policing is provincial jurisdiction and the federal government can’t act unilaterally. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 19, 2020

Round three saw questions on the pandemic early warning system and rapid testing (Hajdu: I’m still offering you a briefing on Health Canada’s response to the pandemic), activists in Hong Kong being arrested as they tried to leave their country (Mendicino: We will defend those who are seeking safe haven in Canada), refunds for airline tickets (Garneau: Our priority is to ensure that Canadians have safe and affordable air service), slow testing on remote First Nations (Hajdu: We have been working with Indigenous Services to get them the supports they need), modernising the Official Languages Act (Joly: We protected the first French university in Ontario and came up with an action plan, plus modified the census to get data on rights-holders), the small business loan programme (Ng: We are working to get responses on the hotline in under 48 hours), international bridge authorities requesting governments assistance (McKenna: Hooray infrastructure), rural cellphone service (Monsef: We’ve been able to connect more households than the Conservatives were able to in ten years), Alberta’s healthcare woes (Hajdu: I share your concern, we will fight to ensure that all Canadians have access to healthcare), protecting Mi’kmaq fishers in Nova Scotia (Chagger: We will uphold the Marshall Decision), and the single-use plastics ban (Wilkinson: You should actually read the plan, and this is about enhancing recycling). 

Overall, the day was fairly mediocre, where we once again have the opposition haranguing the government over issue that are largely provincial in nature – only it was policing today instead of healthcare and testing. Bill Blair’s responses varied from decent (“there is the matter of policing being provincial jurisdiction,”) to his waffling about what a great job the RMCP was doing on the ground, which they haven’t been. I will say that I do appreciate the fact that Chrystia Freeland will brook absolutely no bullshit from O’Toole or others, particularly when they start up with the whole “Trudeau loves communist dictatorships” line, given that she reported from Moscow earlier in her career, which gives her greater authority to speak to dealing with these regimes than anything any Conservative has had to say on the matter to date. It’s a nice change of pace from her predecessor simply standing up and spouting pabulum in the face of some of the talking points being recited to him.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to David Lametti for a navy suit with a light purple shirt and a dark purple tie, and to Candice Bergen for a belted blue dress with half-sleeves. Style citations go out to Andréanne Larouche for a black dress with an old-lady lace collar, and to Martin Shields for a tan jacket with a black shirt and slacks with a red and yellow leaf-patterned tie. Dishonourable mentions go out to Iqra Khalid for a yellow jacket with a black top and slacks, to Ginette Petitpas Taylor for a light yellow turtleneck with black slacks, and to Deb Schulte for a black suit and slacks with a lemon yellow top.