QP: You should read a book or two

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While the prime minister was in town, he was not in Question Period today, but his deputy was, so all was not lost. Candice Bergen led off, script in front of her, and she went off on inflation, accusing the finance minster of printing money so that she never runs out of bucks to pass. Chrystia Freeland read contradictory statements from different Conservative and wondered who was right. Bergen selectively quoted economists to assign blame for inflation. Freeland quoted former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz that government spending is not the problem. Bergen was apoplectic and demanded federal action on inflation, to which Freeland again quoted Poloz, and then suggested the Conservatives read a book or two. Alain Rayes took over, and asked about the labour shortage in Quebec. Marco Mendicino, even though it’s no longer his file, reminded him they have been working with Quebec and hit a record high of temporary foreign workers. Rayes went another round, and got the same.

Luc Therrien led off for the Bloc, and raised the Environment Commossioner’s report, and then demanded the government cap the production of fossil fuels. Stephen Guilbeault appeared by video, and reminded him that the Commissioner’s report didn’t capture several new programmes from the government. Therrien was not mollified, and in response, Guilbeault listed measures they have taken that no other government has taken.

Don Davies rose for the NDP, and demanded that the government support lifting patent restrictions on vaccines manufacturing to help the developing world avoid new variants. Harjit Sajjan read about the government’s vaccine donations. Niki Ashton repeated the question in French over video, and François-Philippe Champagne reminded her of Canada’s support for COVAX and other initiatives to deliver vaccines.

Round two, and Pierre Poilievre spun a tale of woe from a constituent who can’t afford a house, and lamented the rise in housing prices — completely ignoring the supply issue (Freeland: Here are a list of ways we are making life more affordable), he confused land and housing supply (Hussen, via video: We have a better record than you on housing; Freeland: The fight against COVID is not over and the single most important tool is vaccination so Conservatives should get on board), and Gérard Deltell took over in French to complain about higher prices (Gould: Our child care plan will help with the cost of living; Freeland: Inflation is a global problem and your party has contradictory talking points; Here are international inflation figures).

Rhéal Fortin complained about gun smuggling at the border (Mendicino: We have increased enforcement and have a joint task force with the Americans) and Kristina Michaud demanded a “joint squad” with different levels of government to combat gun smuggling (Mendicino: We are creating more programmes and taking more measures to find concrete solutions).

Kerry-Lynne Findlay worried about Afghan “partners” not making it to Canada (Mendicino: We stand in solidarity with them, we introduced a special programme, and we have a resettlement programme that I hope you will support), Jasrqj Hallan worried about the data breach that exposed the names of those awaiting resettlement (Mendicino: We are taking this commitment seriously and that’s why we got as many people out as we did).

Leah Gazan worried about child benefits being clawed back (Gould: We provided additional payments), and Jenny Kwan worried about urban Indigenous homelessness (Hussen: There is more work to be done, and we are committed to an Indigenous-led housing strategy).

Round three saw questions on softwood lumber tariffs (Ng: I have been pressing the Americans on this), retaliatory measures for those tariffs (Freeland: We can be relied upon to defend the national interest in trade disputes with the US, unlike the Conservatives, who keep urging capitulation), the Montreal airport authority attacking the French-language pilot training facility (Petitpas-Taylor: We are moving forward with changes to the Official Languages Act; Alghabra: We will protect French), rising emissions (Guilbeault: I would invite you to actually read the Commissioner’s report, as it focuses on the Harper government’s failures), labour shortages (Mendicino: If Quebec wants to deal with the root cause of the problem, they need to address their economic immigration targets), inflation (Freeland: Here are some Stephen Poloz quotes; Do they believe it was wrong to support businesses and families during lockdowns?), struggling public transit systems (LeBlanc: We have been working with provincial and municipal partners), and the Environment Commissioner’s report slamming an emission reductions fund with no verification (Wilkinson, by video: That programme was about pandemic supports, and with the worst behind us, we are reviewing the programme).

Overall, the return to hybrid sittings didn’t quite mean a return to the old system of only having Mark Gerretsen in the Chamber and no one else, thankfully, and they had about two-thirds of their seats filled, which is better than before, but still not quite good enough. This having been said, we are getting too many ministers — Freeland excepted — who are relying too much on talking points that border onto non sequiturs for the questions being asked. Karina Gould standing up to praise child care in the face of inflation questions is poor form and frankly is a little too cute by half, and as I wrote in my weekend column, risks giving space to the Conservatives to fill that space with disinformation. Freeland was doing better today about pushing back against the inflation talking points, but as Liberals like to recite, better is always possible — especially in the face of unspoken demands for federal wage and price controls. Meanwhile Ahmed Hussen and Ginette Petitpas-Taylor were also leaning on talking points when they shouldn’t have been.

Otherwise, there was a bit of petulance on the part of the Conservatives when a minister or MP did appear by video, and on several occasions drowned them out with boos (which the Speaker shouted down as well he should have). While I get the sentiment because the whole hybrid process is ridiculous and evades accountability, but creating that kind of racket does hurt the interpreters because they need to strain to hear the person on Zoom. Oppose hybrid sessions, but don’t be a dick about it.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Dan Albas for a dark blue suit with a light blueberry shirt and a blue and purple tie, and to Karina Gould for a tailored grey jacket with a windowpane pattern over a white collared shirt. Style citations go out to Lisa Hepfner for a mint green jacket with ruffled lapels with black slacks, and to Kevin Lamoureux for a black suit with a pale orange shirt and red tie.

One thought on “QP: You should read a book or two”

  1. I still can’t believe anyone can describe loud boos like at a hockey game, or tantrums over bicycles, as “holding the government accountable”. If it wasn’t that, the cons would be yelling about elbows or socks. The toxicity has nothing to do with hybrid format. QP is a complete waste of time and resources. It’s professional wrestling and hockey fights for political junkies who aren’t interested in sports. It’s Jerry Springer for poli-sci nerds.

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