QP: More complaints about hotel quarantine

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While the prime minister normally makes an appearance on Tuesdays, he did not today in advance of his virtual meeting with Joe Biden. There were three Liberals in the Chamber, including a minister — Mona Fortier — for what it’s worth. Candice Bergen led off by video, demanding that the government impose sanctions on those responsible for the genocide against the Uyghurs. Rob Oliphant assured her that the government was working with its international allies on this issue. Bergen then pivoted to vaccines, and complained that other countries were planning their re-openings, to which Anita Anand reminded her of how many doses are arriving this week. Bergen carried on, insinuating that there was no plan for vaccinations, which Anand disputed and stated the procurement plan once again. Gérard Deltell took over in French to complain about the hotel quarantine phone hotline, to which Patty Hajdu recited the litany of border measures including hotel quarantine. Deltell then turned to the fact that there still wasn’t a legislative fix for the loophole around people who could claim sickness benefits during quarantine from voluntary travel, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that they have tried to move it by unanimous consent and the Conservatives refused.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he also complained about the hotel quarantine hotline, for which Rodriguez said that people were calling for information, which is now available from other sources. Therrien was outraged by the government’s slow action, and Rodriguez chided him for his theatrical outrage.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, he demanded a Canadian exemption for Buy American policies during Trudeau’s call with Joe Biden, for which Mary Ng reminded him that they have been engaging on this since the start. Singh repeated the demand in English, and got much the same reply.

Round two, and Pierre Poilievre again gave a bunch of misleading statistics about unemployment between Canada and the US (Fraser: Most of the pandemic losses have been recovered, and those that can’t get back to work are because of pandemic restrictions), Michelle Rempel Garner complained that there were no contracts for any vaccine boosters (Anand: You have a bunch of wrong facts there, and we are in touch with companies with regard to boosters, and we will be prioritised if those happen), and Pierre Paul-Hus returns to complaints about the hotel quarantine hotline (Rodriguez: The situation is being corrected because we have added more staff).

Kristina Michaud complained there was insufficient monitoring to ensure people go directly to their quarantine hotel (Blair: Failure to do so could result in fines or criminal prosecution; Rodriguez: We have one of the strictest systems in the world).

Alain Rayes listed official language promises his party had committed to and demanded same from the government (Joly: I’m not going to be lectured by you, and did you read our proposals?), and Greg McLean complained that Enbridge Line 5 was not on the agenda of Trudeau’s call with Biden (O’Regan: We will raise this at every opportunity).

Alexandre Boulerice about a Revera subsidy using a tax haven (Lebouthillier: We have given additional resources so the CRA to combat tax evasion), and Charlie Angus demanded the government drop litigation against First Nations children (Miller: We are continuing with mediation).

Round three saw questions on the allegations against retired General Jonathan Vance (Sajjan: I take any allegations seriously when they are brought to me), Buy American (Ng: We always stand up for our businesses and workers), taxing compensation for Phoenix pay system victims (Lebouthillier: The compensation comes under the Income Tax Act and the Pensions Act, as with any other workers in the country, and in keeping with their agreements), offsetting losses for vegetable farmers (Bibeau: We are open to supporting farmers in need, and I have made a proposal to my provincial counterparts), dairy agreements (Bibeau: We have advanced the payment schedule for compensation and the majority have already received their payments), not rebuking Chinese ambassadors’ statements (Oliphant: Canada has a complex and multi-dimensional relationship with China, which includes strategic engagement), processing delays facing immigrants (Mendicino: We are working on clearing the backlog), demanding a date for economy re-opening (Hajdu: We use science and evidence, and work with provinces to help them), Volkswagen collecting the wage subsidy following their diesel scandal (Schiefke: These are separate processes), and help for the aerospace sector (Champagne: We will continue to invest in the sector).

Overall, the day was once again fairly lacklustre, with some of the usual lines being repeated over and over again, though I remain astounded at just how many intellectually dishonest unemployment statistics Pierre Poilievre is able to come up with on a daily basis – and they’re the kinds of statistics that if a person isn’t aware of what the actual situation is, they will easily be duped by them, which is precisely why Poilievre keeps trotting them out. It’s the kind of lying that he thinks is easy to get away with, especially because this government is absolutely terrible at refuting any of it, preferring instead to try to pivot to good news talking points instead (and thankfully Sean Fraser, Chrystia Freeland’s Parliamentary Secretary, is much more adept at pushing back at Poilievre than most others on the government benches).

Meanwhile, I find myself boggling at Jagmeet Singh’s choice in framing his question on Buy American policies by bringing up $15 minimum wages, and how Trudeau “broke his promise” on it. For context, the Liberals did pledge in the election to restore the federal minimum wage and raise it to $15 – but this would apply only to federally-regulated sectors (like banking, telecom and transport), and there are very few minimum wages jobs therein, and currently, the policy is to match the provincial minimum wage where the job is located. And again, this is in six percent of workplaces – the rest are all provincial jurisdictions, and many of those provinces are hovering around $14/hour minimum wage. But, because the NDP are concerned with American Democrat policies, the “fight for fifteen” continue to dominate their discourse, no matter that it makes no sense in the Canadian context. Which brings me back to his decision to use this to frame his question on Trudeau’s meeting with Biden – it seems to me to be signalling to the AOC/Bernie Sanders fans in his voter base, which is a strange tactic for someone who leads a political party in Canada.

Sartorial snaps and citations remain on hiatus for lack of a sufficient sample.

One thought on “QP: More complaints about hotel quarantine”

  1. “…because the NDP are concerned with American Democrat policies, the “fight for fifteen” continue [sic] to dominate their discourse….”

    I know that fact-checking can seem like a bore but let’s stipulate that the Liberals did pledge during the 2019 election to a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour in 2020 but didn’t come through. The federal NDP also committed to a $15 per hour wage in its 2019 platform and are pressing the Trudeau government to follow through. In 2020, Joe Biden proposed a $15 minimum wage. So, both Trudeau and Singh were ahead of Biden. The fact that Joe and Jagmeet favour a $15 federal minimum wage and Justin has abandoned his pledge is hardly the NDP’s problem.

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