QP: The documents have been sent to NSICOP

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It was one of those days in the Chamber where the benches seemed particularly thin, and once again, only Mark Gerretsen was present for the Liberals. Erin O’Toole led off, script on his mini-lectern, and wanted a new commitment to the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Report around the graves around former residential schools, and Mark Miller assured him they are working with communities so that they can come up with their own processes and that the federal government was there to support them and with funds when they were ready. O’Toole repeated in French, and Miller gave him the same answer. O’Toole then switched back to English and the issue of the National Microbiology Lab, raising redacted documents that have been released to date, tying it to the lab in Wuhan, for which Patty Hajdu assured him that they were cooperating with any investigation and that the correct place for Parliament to deal with the matter was NSICOP, which has been provided with documents. O’Toole insisted that they weren’t being given enough to hold government to account for a security breach, but Hajdu repeated her assurances with a warning not to play games with national security. O’Toole repeated the calls in French, and Hajdu repeated herself.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded that Quebec’s Bill 101 be extended to federally-regulated workplaces, and Mélanie Joly gave her assurances that they would ensure that French would be a language of work and service. Therrien wanted government support for their bill to make the extension formal, but Joly deflected with talking points about the government’s forthcoming Official Languages Act reforms.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, demanded support for their Supply Day motion on ending litigation around Indigenous children — litigation that is about a bad precedent by the Tribunal and not the compensation order. Miller assured him they were working toward proper compensation. Singh repeated the question in English, and gave a more clear response on the substance of the action around the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, and that discussions around compensation are ongoing.

Round two, and Richard Martel worried about Chinese scientists working in the National Microbiology Lab (Hajdu: The Lab is a crown jewel, and it’s important that we collaborate internationally; You are trying to sow fear, and everyone at the lab adheres to strict security protocols), Ed Fast wondered about the Asian Infrastructure Bank and using it as leverage for the two Michaels (Fraser: It’s disappointing that you would accuse anyone of appeasement of a foreign power when two Canadians are in captivity), and Jamie Schmale demanded faster action on the TRC’s calls to action (Miller: These calls are for all of Canada, and we have moved on several quite quickly, and will continue to move on), and criticised the release of the MMIW action plan (Miller: This was a key contribution to the pathway in this Action Plan).

Christine Normandin complained that there are delays for Quebec getting temporary foreign workers (Qualtrough: We are working tirelessly to ensure they can arrive safely in Canada, and all federal departments have worked to streamline the process), and Yves Perron repeated the question, saying that if the federal government can’t handle it then they should transfer it to Quebec (Qualtrough: Same answer).

James Cumming cited misleading stats about which households got pandemic supports (Qualtrough: We have reviewed them as they went along and course-corrected as we went along; Fraser: Your understanding is flawed), and Luc Berthold both repeated the same misleading stats and that $9 billion dead people got payments (Qualtrough: We created a one-time payment without need for application and some information was not updated).

Alexandre Boulerice complained that the aid for Laurentian University wasn’t enough before demanding a new Official Languages Act (Joly: What happened at Laurentian is unacceptable and the $5 million is for feasibility studies), and Rachel Blaney complained that Veterans Affairs would not fund therapy for sexual trauma survivors (MacAulay: We agree with the recommendations, and we will continue to work to ensure survivors receive the support they need).

Round three saw questions on scrapping the hotel quarantine programme (Hajdu: We are leading the G7 in vaccinations, and we will make sure that our next border measures are done with science and work with provinces), home ownership woes (Hussen: We have helped over 200,000 families get the homes they need, and you didn’t do anything about affordability in your nine years in power), the moral panic over judicial appointments (Lametti: The process is independent), temporary foreign workers arriving in the fall (Bibeau: We are committed to supporting farmers, and we implemented a host of measures to help them), seasonal industries not getting temporary foreign workers (Mendicino: We have surpassed our targets for 2021 and I will continue to work with those who need help), airport funding versus Air Canada executive compensation (Alghabra: You are comparing apples and oranges, and our aid for Air Canada has strict limits on executive compensation), funding for Canadians with disabilities (Qualtrough: We created a strategy for alternative format materials, and poured lots of money into accessible publishing), support for a private member’s bill on charities promoting accessibility (Qualtrough: We are working on a disability inclusion action plan, and have the most advancements to disability rights with the Charter was implemented), COVID assistance cheques going to deceased Canadians (Qualtrough: This was a one-time automatic payment, and there was a time lapse between the establishment of the list and the release of the payments and not all information was up to date), and documents not being turned over to the Health Committee (Hajdu: We have been providing information to the committee), and leadership on the TRC calls to action (Miller: Thanks for the work you did to move things along, but we need to recognise progress).

Overall, the day was a bit more sedate than yesterday, but largely similar in tone and substance. The conspiracy theory-mongering around the National Microbiology Lab continues unabated, and the minister’s responses aren’t necessarily helpful in dispelling any of this, which just fuels it for yet more rounds of the same. We have seen numerous questions on the Calls to Action for the Truth and Reconciliation Report, and while Mark Miller is one of the better ministers when it comes to answering these questions, I’m not sure that he’s necessarily being forthright enough in explaining that some of the slow pace of progress is because of the co-development process that can’t be rushed or done unilaterally by the federal government. Similarly, he could have been more direct in trying to dispel Jagmeet Singh’s questions on the litigation around the Human Rights Tribunal order around Indigenous children, and simply saying it’s about the jurisdiction of the Tribunal may not be adequate, given that we know that Singh is allergic to the term “jurisdiction” and refuses to hear it or understand it.

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

2 thoughts on “QP: The documents have been sent to NSICOP”

  1. Singh is a sorry excuse as leader of the NDP. Looking forward to the day the party gets rid of him. As for the matter raised by the BLOC on Bilingualism, it seems that the White English Media in Canada have forgotten that provinces like Ontario, N.B., B.C., Alberta had laws on the books refusing to recognize French language rights. It’s never mentioned, Quebec bashing which is a form of bigoted racism, look at Don Martin, Rex Murphy and others, is acceptable. So in Quebec the population supports stronger protection for the French language and this is wrong according to the likes of the Anglo CBC and Anglo media in Canada. We have a problem. You are well informed Dale, am sure you know what I mean. I could write a book about what I endured in the Federal bureaucracy for 35 years from my anglo colleagues.

  2. NDP are allergic to the term “jurisdiction” because they’re tankies who want central planning. Cons want iron-fisted rule in their own way, but at the same time are “state’s rights” devolutionists on par with the U.S. Republicans who’ve never given up on pushing for a Mulligan on the Civil War. And yet Trudeau is supposedly the one who wants a “basic dictatorship”? Rule number one of bad-faith populism: Always accuse your opponent of that which you are guilty of yourself…

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