With the prime minister in town but not in the Chamber, his deputy was, which tends to be better in any case. Erin O’Toole led off, script on mini-lectern, and he decried that the government announced the appointment of a special representative for the fisheries dispute in Nova Scotia. Chrystia Freeland assured him that they want a peaceful, constructive solution, and that everyone wants to assure the rights of First Nations people as well as conservation, O’Toole then pivoted to boil water advisories on First Nations and Neskatanga in particular, to which Freeland noted that they are working hard to solve the advisories, but there was shared responsibility as the Conservatives didn’t solve the issues either – but she didn’t offer anything in the way of candour about the particularities of the situation. O’Toole then decided to thump his chest on China and their dubious numbers early in the pandemic, to which Freeland reminded him not to lecture her on authoritarian regimes because she lived in one and reported on them extensively, and she listed concerns Canada has with China’s actions and human rights abuses. O’Toole went again in French, got the same answer, and for his final question, he went on a paean about democracy and transparency versus Chinese dictatorship, and in a very slow and calm tone, Freeland cautioned O’Toole that they draw very careful lines about what is permissible in democracies, and that he is engaging in the most base partisanship. Alain Therrien got up for the Bloc to decry businesses suffering in “red zones” in Quebec, to which Freeland assured him a bill was coming in days. Therrien stated this was too little too late, to which Freeland listed measures they have provided to businesses so far. Jagmeet Singh was up next by video, and in French, decried the Neskatanga situation, and insisted that Trudeau had no intention of keeping his promise on boil-water advisories. Freeland disagreed, and stated they we working to address it and had made progress. Singh switched to English to repeat the question, and got much the same answer. 

Round two, and Gérard Deltell accused the health minister of picking fights with the provinces (Hajdu: We are trying to get testing, tracing and isolation in place; when delivering procurement supplies, we worked with provinces to develop a sharing agreement), Pierre Paul-Hus worried we would get vaccines three months later than anyone else (Anand: You are mistaken in your analysis), and the motion the health committee (Rodriguez: You keep trying to pass a motion that experts keep saying is dangerous), and Luc Berthold needled Hajdu about her statement on access to information (Hajdu: We taken openness and transparency seriously, and I am meeting with the Information Commissioner later), and documents with redactions (Rodriguez: Your own party pointed out that impartial public servants redact documents). Rhéal Fortin gave a false reading of the story on judicial appointments (Lametti: We have a transparent, merit-based system), a false version of the Baylis Medical contract (Anand: There was a process), and Stéphane Bergeron insinuated the WE contract was about cronyism (Chagger: Some platitudes about working together and listing actions for students). Michelle Rempel Garner insinuated that it was the federal government mandating restaurant closures (Hajdu: These are provincial decisions), and went on a scattered attack about rapid testing and their motion on producing documents (Hajdu: It’s important that members of Parliament know which jurisdictions are responsible for what, and what levers each level has). Taylor Bachrach worried about a rural internet service agreement (Hutchings: We are accelerating the connectivity timelines), and the government not getting PPE out in time (Hajdu: We have been fully transparent with Canadians).

Rempel Garner accused the federal government of mandating restaurant closures, and when Hajdu pointed out this is a provincial decision, MRG went on a scattershot attack about rapid tests and the committee motion. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 26, 2020

Hajdu: It’s important that members of Parliament understand which jurisdiction has responsibilities and why levers each levels has. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 26, 2020

Round three saw questions on the fiscal anchor (Freeland: We are doing what is necessary to protect Canadians, and it’s working; If you want to offer a policy of austerity, you are free to do so), suspended arms exports to Turkey (Oliphant: Upon learning of the allegations, an immediate investigation was launched and permits were suspended), the Canadian rapid-response force for the UN (Oliphant: A mistake was made in officials’ testimony to the committee and an apology has been given), airline ticket refunds (Garneau: We need to focus on measures to ensure a safe, reliable and affordable air industry), legal fees for a farmer who was falsely accused of illegally shipping across provincial borders (Bibeau: We are working to protect our food inspection system), violence against women (Hutchings: We have taken measures to support), addiction and recovery (Hajdu: We restored harm reduction, we are working with the provinces), Legions not being eligible for pandemic relief (Lebouthillier: Something about determining eligibility), plastics manufacturing in Alberta (O’Regan: We saved one in three energy jobs with the wage subsidy), a credible plan for the economic recovery (Ng: Here are programmes we have rolled out), confidence in the RCMP commissioner (Blair: I had a conversation with the National Chief about his concerns, and police reform must include addressing systemic racism), and the COVID Alert app (Hajdu: I encourage all Canadians to download it).

Hutchings’ script keeps covering her webcam. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 26, 2020

Overall, we got yet another demonstration of Chrystia Freeland taking absolutely none of O’Toole’s nonsense about Trudeau supposedly admiring the “basic dictatorship of China,” and she will abide no talk that her government behaves as though it is a dictatorship of any kind – as well she shouldn’t. Nevertheless, she didn’t provide much in the way of candour over the issue of the Neskatanga First Nation’s water issues (and the fact that the new water treatment plant is nearly completed), and just repeated platitudes, so that remains frustrating. As for the exchange between Michelle Rempel Garner and Patty Hajdu, wherein Rempel Garner deliberately muddled the issue of jurisdiction to launch another attack based on rapid testing and her motion before health committee, I saw a lot of commentary on social media about how she must not be bright, or some such. Rest assured, she’s very smart and knows what she’s doing, and she is deliberately obfuscating the issue because she knows that average voters don’t know the difference, so when she turns those clips into shitposts later on, she can accuse Hajdu of buck-passing and being incoherent – and this is working, in part because we don’t have enough people in the media calling out jurisdictional issues. It was great that Hajdu actually flat-out said this was provincial jurisdiction, rather than mouthing a platitude about working together, but this is a very deliberate strategy from Rempel Garner, and not enough people are actually calling it out. That’s a problem for everyone involved.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to William Amos for a tailored black three-piece suit with a pink shirt and tie, and to Mélanie Joly for a moss greed tailored jacket with a white top. Style citations go out to Marie-Claude Bibeau for an eyesore of a grey jacket that had poppies across most of it, but also had blue and white polka-dotted lower sleeves and a high collar, and to Alain Therrien for a navy jacket and tie with a white shirt and grey slacks.