QP: Magical solutions to housing shortages

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We had initially been promised the prime minister’s attendance today, but given events, he and the other party leaders all decided to jet off together to the vigil in London, Ontario, for the Muslim family that was killed in a hate crime on Sunday night. Candice Bergen led off by video, requesting an update on what the government was doing to support the Muslim community in the wake of the tragedy. Bill Blair listed off some supports, and made the point about Canada trying to “be the country we aspire to be,” which I thought was probably one of the better articulations out there, rather than the usual “this isn’t us” denialism. Bergen then demanded to know why unredacted documents related to the two fired scientists had not been turned over to the House of Commons as had been ordered, for which Patty Hajdu reminded her that she turned those documents over to NSICOP, which was the proper venue for it. Bergen accused the government of being in contempt of Parliament, and tied the lab to the investigation into the origins of COVID in Wuhan, thus fuelling more conspiracy theories, and Hajdu warned her about conflating issues. Gérard Deltell took over in French and tried to insist that NSICOP was the personal committee of the prime minister and that they couldn’t know what was turned over to it – which is a very dangerous move to politicise the committee like that – and Hajdu corrected him that the committee is multi-partisan and has the ability to review these kinds of documents. Deltell tried again, and got the same pushback from Hajdu.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and demanded action to solve the delays to temporary foreign workers in Quebec. Marco Mendicino insisted that he was hard at work with his Quebec counterpart and they were on target. Yves Perron took over and demanded immediate action on the arrival of those workers, and Mendicino reminded him that they have doubled the number of arrivals over the past decade.

Rachel Blaney demanded immediate action on the motion that passed yesterday on ending litigation against First Nations children and residential schools survivors, for which Carolyn Bennett praised the intent of the motion, but stated that they contain complex legal issues that should not be resolved unilaterally on the floor of the House of Commons. Charlie Angus repeated the question with added sanctimony, and Bennett read that the court ordered an independent review of the compensation which could include greater amounts for some survivors, which the government was funding.

Round two, and Richard Martel raised the party’s Supply Day motion on housing, demanding the federal government do more — never mind that they have very few levers to do so (Hussen: We have a long-term plan and Budget 2021 has more funds for affordable housing, plus our tax on non-residential owners; Your party has no room to speak given how little you spent on housing), and Brad Vis accused the government of trying to drive prices out of reach of people (Hussen: Compare our record to yours), and then panned the Indigenous housing strategy (Hussen: Almost 40 percent of housing created under the rapid housing initiative is going to Indigenous people).

Kristina Michaud complained that the government didn’t include their 2030 targets in Bill C-12 (Wilkinson: We proposed an amendment at committee to include the targets, and she voted with the Conservatives to try and reject that amendment, so you are saying one thing and doing another), and Monique Pauzé repeated the complaint (Wilkinson: Same answer).

Pierre Paul-Hus raised that some of the quarantine hotels fired workers (Hajdu: We are using science and evidence to guide our border restrictions), and when border restrictions will relax for the fully vaccinated (Hajdu: W experts thank the panel for their roadmap forward to ensure we re-open safely), and Michelle Rempel Garner repeated the same question on the hotel firings (Tassi: We are aware of the labour dispute and have faith in the collective bargaining progress, but this is under provincial jurisdiction).

Alexandre Boulerice insisted the government hasn’t done enough about tax havens (Lebouthillier: We have made historic investments to give CRA the tools they need), and Heather McPherson complained that the Alberta government was planning new coal mines in the Rockies (Wilkinson: We have heard their concerns, and this is why we have the Impact Assessment Act).

Round three saw questions on a “comprehensive plan” for residential school sites (Bennett: We are working with the community and partners to give them the supports they require), and the status of the Calls to Action (Bennett: In objective reviews, 80 percent of the 76 calls that call under federal jurisdiction are completed or well underway), NAVCanada executives getting bonuses with federal funds (Fraser: We had safeguards), quarantine hotels (Hajdu: We are using science to guide us as our border management evolves), American softwood lumber tariffs (Bendayan: The tariffs are unjustified and we raised it with the president, and we will defend our forestry sector at all costs), complaints that Quebec’s forestry sector was not getting enough subsidies (O’Regan: Something about biofuels), the housing market in Vancouver and Toronto (Hussen: We have invested in programmes to help more first-time homebuyers; Your party has no credibility on this file), when just transition legislation is coming (O’Regan: We are looking at all option to support workers, and we will ensure no workers get left behind, and there is $2 billion in the budget for retraining), and the CRTC decision on wholesale internet prices (Ehsassi: We have been “relentless” in promoting competition).

Overall, it was a mixed bag today – we got conspiracy theories on the Winnipeg Lab, but no hysteria about Bill C-10. The Conservatives spend most of their questions today advancing the narrative of their Supply Day, which was about the federal government not doing enough to increase the supply of housing in this country – apparently using the miracle of tax credits, because there’s nothing that a tax credit can’t solve if you listen to them – never mind that the biggest bottlenecks to infill and density are actually at the municipal level, and that only the provinces have the power to break through those logjams. But hey, there are narratives that they need to keep pushing, even when they don’t make sense, don’t fit with how this country runs, and if they’re just more examples of Green Lantern Theory, where federalism can be ignored if the prime minister just exerts more willpower. Yeah, it doesn’t really work like that. I will repeat again that it’s very, very problematic the way that the Conservatives are trying to politicise NSICOP, when they have their own members on the committee who have not resigned in protest over anything that they have seen or been part of. Trying to insist that it’s some kind of prime ministerial plaything is a very bad move, and it just erodes the ability of the committee to do its work in the longer term.

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

2 thoughts on “QP: Magical solutions to housing shortages”

  1. I’m sure the dialogue confronting racism in Canada is going to go smoothly this time and not at all devolve into a mire of whataboutism and other idiocies, said no one ever.

    Liberals: Let’s take action against hate amid the residential schools atrocity, the escalation of hate crimes against Asian people, and the targeted vehicular homicide of a Muslim family — and let’s do it properly, through the correct channels, to ensure all bases are covered.

    Conservatives: ARGLE BARGLE CHINESE KUNG FLU! Also, no unanimous consent on calling on the pope to apologize for residential schools, blah blah religious freedom TRUDEAU BAD. Conversion therapy is funny lol. HEY JUSTIN STOP BULLYING SIR JOHN YOUR DAD WAS THE REAL BIGOT EXCEPT YOUR DAD WAS ALSO CASTRO.

    NDP: Why would the Liberals do this? Jurisdiction is racist!

    Rex Murphy: WHITE LIVES MATTER!

    Media: Very fine people on all sides (except Quebec, they’re a million times worse)

    Rational people: [facepalm]

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