QP: Virtual PMQs in an empty chamber

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It was not only a very late start to QP, but there was once again only a single Liberal in the Chamber, and it wasn’t the prime minister, despite it being the designated day he answers all questions. Erin O’Toole led off, and he thundered about the CanSino deal falling apart a week after it was struck. Justin Trudeau, appearing by video, reminded him that they cast a wide net with several possible candidates in case one didn’t pan out, like CanSino. O’Toole wondered about Providence Therapeutics’ made-in-Canada candidate, to which Trudeau assured him they follow the advice of the immunity task force, and that they have given Providence new funds to complete trials. O’Toole then railed about the fact that we are not producing any in Canada, and again, Trudeau reminded him that their “strong and aggressive plan” got us vaccines as soon as possible. O’Toole switched to French to worry about the vaccine protectionist noises coming out of the European Union, to which Trudeau assured him he just spoke to the president of the European Commission, who said that these transparency measures would not affect Canada. O’Toole then accused the government of not telling the truth about vaccine deliveries, and Trudeau took exception to that, insisting that he has been transparent with all of their dates. Yves-François Blanchet was up next for the Bloc, and demanded that health transfers would be increased in the budget, to which Trudeau reminded him that they have sent billions to the provinces already (and several provinces continue to sit on those funds). Blanchet repeated the demand, and Trudeau asked him in return why Blanchet was resisting pan-Canadian standards on long-term care. Jagmeet Singh took over for the NDP, and in French, he blamed the lack of vaccines on deaths, before demanding laid sick leave (which is 94 percent provincial jurisdiction), and Trudeau reminded him of the sickness benefit they put into place, but he hoped the provinces would agree to implement them, especially as the federal government has spent eight or nine out of every ten dollars in this pandemic. Singh tried again in English and got much the same response.

Round two, and Richard Martel demanded more vaccine doses (Trudeau: We knew there would be some difficulties with manufacturing, and this delay is temporary), Michelle Rempel Garner wondered if we would sue Pfizer for lack of deliveries (Trudeau: The contract is for four million doses by the end of March), and Gérard Deltell grumbled about the government not tabling a bill to close loopholes (Trudeau: We tabled a unanimous consent motion to fix this loophole, and you wouldn’t grant consent). Alain Therrien demanded we get Pfizer doses from the US (Trudeau: I talked to Joe Biden about vaccines and how we can work together to keep our people safe). Greg McLean and Erin O’Toole worried about Enbridge Line 5 (Trudeau: I defended Keystone XL for the past seven years, and I have emphasised our interconnectedness), and Tracy Gray worried about Buy America (Trudeau: We are working with the new administration in much more positive ways, and the president committed we would work together), and O’Toole returned to offered a wounded performance that they were “just asking questions” about vaccines and demanded an apology (Trudeau: You are only focused on scoring cheap political points). Laurel Collins asked about the letters CRA sent to people who may have gotten CERB by mistake (Trudeau: We will work with Canadians on a case-by-case basis), and Lindsay Mathyssen demanded another pause on student loan repayments (Trudeau: We moved forward with unprecedented measures including direct supports).

Round three saw questions on Julie Payette’s pension (Trudeau: As soon as we heard the allegations last summer, we began an independent review process), restoring the vice-regal appointments process (Trudeau: We will look at the processes in place and improve them if need be), suspending aid to the United National Relief and Works Agency (Trudeau: Our presence ensures that funds and materials funnelled to the Palestinians are done in the right way), closing borders even more (Trudeau: We already have some of the strongest measures in the world, and we will be doing more), fixing the emergency and recovery benefits programme (Trudeau: We have helped our public servants to get help to people in record time), the bill to fix the loophole in sickness benefits (Trudeau: We did rush to support Canadians, and nobody gets everything perfect), the treatment of Uyghurs in China (Trudeau: We take allegations of genocide extremely seriously and are working with allies for transparency and accountability), companies like Air Canada abusing the wage subsidy (Trudeau: The wage subsidy has helped millions of workers, and any company that doesn’t follow the guidelines will have to deal with the consequences).

Overall, I find myself increasingly outraged at the state of things, especially because the Chamber fell below quorum today, and they carried on without batting an eye, which is unacceptable, whether there’s a pandemic or not. That the prime minister could not show up in order to answer all of the questions put to him is an insult to the dignity of Parliament. This is not just about smugly “setting a good example” of working from home, and being self-satisfied in being performative about doing his press briefings from his front doorstep rather than on the Hill – it’s about sending the message that Parliament matters, and yes, it’s essential. As essential as any other front-line worker, I would argue. For the Liberals to only put up a single person in the Chamber is unacceptable, but you know that they’re patting themselves on the back for this bit of performative “work from home,” and it’s not cute. Also not cute was the level of disingenuous bullshit being lobbed under the rubric of “just asking questions” about the vaccine distribution, which is setting up for disinformation and causing panic among the population at a time when there should be reassurance and combatting low morale. The fact that there even is a vaccine less than a year into a pandemic is miraculous enough, and the fact that there is this ugly sense of entitlement around why Canadians “deserve” to get it first is disquieting. This shouldn’t be used for scoring cheap points, and yet here we are.

Sartorially snaps and citations are on hold because otherwise I’m just repeating the same few MPs over and over, which I don’t like to do in a single week. The fact that there are a mere twenty MPs (or fewer) in the Chamber makes this really difficult.

2 thoughts on “QP: Virtual PMQs in an empty chamber”

  1. “Also not cute was the level of disingenuous bullshit being lobbed under the rubric of ‘just asking questions’ about the vaccine distribution, which is setting up for disinformation and causing panic among the population at a time when there should be reassurance and combatting low morale. The fact that there even is a vaccine less than a year into a pandemic is miraculous enough, and the fact that there is this ugly sense of entitlement around why Canadians ‘deserve’ to get it first is disquieting. This shouldn’t be used for scoring cheap points, and yet here we are.”

    They’ll pivot to some other outrage source once the vaccines start coming in at greater numbers and the Con premiers aren’t ready to give them out. They should be taking this “pause” to gear up for a proper distribution program, but instead they’re wasting time getting all shouty at the feds, at doctors, at Joe Biden, and at anyone else who calls them out on their BS. Pity that there’s no cure for Trudeau Derangement Syndrome, and that an inoculation for the disorder of pathological lying doesn’t exist.

  2. Another day of posturing and casting blame upon the PM for the unfortunate effects of the Virus across Canada. We have O’Toole with his nauseating mistruths about vaccine availability and how Trudeau has failed in his efforts to provide enough vaccines and excoriating him for not subsidizing a small drug company that effectively was trying to duplicate the efforts of Moderna or Pfizer. The fact is clear, this vaccine even if finally proven effective will not be available for months yet. I accept Trudeau’s word that at the time companies whose work showed the most promise, the aforementioned Moderna and Pfizer were contracted to provide vaccines. The fact is, that those vaccines are coming into Canada now. As for Singh, someone has to take him aside and impress upon him how jurisdiction works in this country. These “politicians are doing a great disservice to the people of Canada by continuing to blame the Federal government for the shortcomings of many provinces whose sole responsibility is to administer health care to their citizens. As for your decision to eschew fashion snaps, I suggest you propose a couple of new costumes for the opposition leaders, that being dunce caps and fools clothing. But then again why waste ink, we all see them for what they are!

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