QP: A rose-coloured paean to the Harper era

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There were a few more absences in the benches, but the leaders were all present, so that was something. Erin O’Toole led off, script on mini-lectern, and he loudly worried about the real housing crisis, and somehow blamed it on government spending. Justin Trudeau assured him that housing was a priority for the government, and that they would work with partners to get more housing built, while listing some of their proposed measures. O’Toole was unconvinced, and continued the specious correlation between government spending and housing prices, and Trudeau reminded him that the Conservatives plan would have raised prices further. O’Toole gave a rose-coloured revisionist paean to the halcyon days of Stephen Harper, and Trudeau batted it away. O’Toole switched to French to lament that the government wasn’t helping Canadians, and Trudeau repeated his assurances that they are there for Canadians and the way to get out of the economic situation is to end the pandemic. O’Toole then raised the labour shortage, accusing the government of doing nothing, and Trudeau listed measures the government is taking such as higher immigration targets and more money for training.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and raised the situation of French-speaking students from Africa being unable to get student visas to Quebec, and Trudeau assured him it was a problem and they were conducting a systemic review of the situation. Blanchet insisted that was meaningless, and wondered if the government was admitting it was racist, and Trudeau said that unlike the Bloc, they recognised that systemic racism exists and once identified they are working to eliminate it.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and demanded Canadian support to ensure that other countries can make vaccines in their own country, and Trudeau listed Canada’s leadership actions, including COVAX and working at the WTO to address the various restrictions, beyond just patents. Singh switched to French to repeat the question, and Trudeau chided Singh for using “literally” when he meant metaphorically, before repeated his answer in French.

Round two, and Matt Jeneroux lamented rising housing prices (Trudeau: From 2015 onward, we invested in housing when previous governments let that lapse), Pierre Poilievre continued the specious comparison between government spending and housing prices (Trudeau: We have invested and have put forward initiatives while you preach austerity), Dominique Vien returned to Quebec’s labour shortage (Trudeau: We are working with the government of Quebec to fill those positions, but the pandemic slowed things down).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe worried that the Roxham Road irregular crossing was back open (Trudeau: We are working with our American partners to help manage the situation and we have set up procedures to ensure that asylum seekers will face strict public health measures), and he demanded the Safe Third Country agreement be suspended (Trudeau: We are monitoring the situation to ensure it remains under control).

John Barlow accused the government of not doing anything about the shipping container crisis (Trudeau: COVID and the recent floods in BC have disrupted supply chains and we provided $4 million to the Port of Vancouver to help ease their backlog), and the PEI potato export ban (Trudeau: We are fighting for Islanders), and Melissa Lantaman worried about the electric vehicle tax issue (Trudeau: We made it clear to all American leaders that this would have a negative effect on both sides of the border).

Singh was back up to demand an end to fossil fuel subsidies (Trudeau: That is exactly what we are doing), and repeated it in French (Trudeau: Same answer).

Round three saw questions on support for energy workers (Trudeau: We don’t reach net zero by 2050 unless the workers of Alberta’s energy sector are part of it), rare earth minerals (Trudeau: We are working to show that there are alternatives to these minerals than China, and are moving forward on this), GIS being clawed back for those who claimed CERB (Trudeau: We enhanced benefits for seniors and ministers are working to find the right solution for these clawbacks), irregular border crossings versus Afghan refugees (Trudeau: The Taliban is hindering access to airports and the borders, but we are working with partners to help them), Afghan translators not getting immigration approvals (Trudeau: The department has mobilised its entire global network to process visas where they can), and a World AIDS Day question about the lack of plan to eradicate HIV in Canada (Trudeau: We signed onto the global pact, and are working internationally to do that and are stepping up at home, and we have come a long way since this started 40 years ago).

Overall, a pattern has been emerging over the course of the past week where the Conservatives will ask questions about inflation in English and labour shortages in French, particularly during the leaders’ round, but only rarely will they ask about the same in the other official language. It speaks entirely to the messages they are trying to send to Quebec versus the rest of Canada, and it’s a very real example of saying one thing in one language and another in the other. As well, as this was proto-Prime Ministers Questions day, I will note once again that Jagmeet Singh took all of the questions for the NPD, while Yves-François Blanchet did not, and that does send a few signals.

Otherwise, I will note that Trudeau did have a few more substantive answers today for a few issues that he might otherwise have fallen back on platitudes for, so that was good to see. Nevertheless, I still would like to see a more substantial calling out of some of the falsehoods and specious logic that has been employed over several files, like housing or inflation, and a better explanation of what the root causes are so that the disinformation can’t be used to fill the space that talking points leave.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Han Dong for a tailors navy suit with a pink shirt and lighter blue tie, and to Jennifer O’Connell for a navy suit with a pink collared shirt. Style citations go out to Candice Bergen for a black dress with wizard sleeves, and was patterned with a while, blue and red quasi-floral pattern, and to Gerald Soroka for a dark brown suit with a bright shirt and light brown and gold patterned tie. Dishonourable mentions go out to Monique Pauzé for a mustard yellow jacket over a black top and slacks, and Rachel Bendayan for a bright yellow jacket over a black v-necked top.

2 thoughts on “QP: A rose-coloured paean to the Harper era”

  1. What a slimy and disingenuous PR move from the Cons on conversion therapy today. This changes nothing about the rot in their party. It just gives the media a shiny object to look at and praise them for clearing the lowest of bars, so they can pretend to be “moderate” by papering over the bigots with procedural cowardice. I am happy that conversion therapy is on its way to being prohibited, but at the same time I am furious that they’re allowed to get away with this dishonest BS while the 43rd Parl gets shoved down the memory hole. Lipstick on a true blue pig. Those sixty-plus MPs are still there. So what, they decided not to continue committing political suicide on this hill. They’ll have plenty more opportunities to show their true colors of what this party is really all about.

  2. Could it be that Trudeau and his Liberals are just a little sharper in the way they are answering the drivel that spews from the Cons this session? Perhaps the Liberals finally realize that the blue gas bag that is the CPC is ripe for puncture.

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