QP: A scattershot of unfocused sound and fury

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While both Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland were in town and had press events earlier in the morning, neither were present for QP, but neither were any other leader. Candice Bergen led off, script on her mini-lectern, and she demanded a personal apology from Harjit Sajjan for not dealing with sexual misconduct in the Canadian Forces, and Anita Anand, fresh from giving the official apology, stated that said apology was one example of the steps they were taking to work toward a place where there was a safe workplace in the Forces. Bergen then pivoted to the planned CPP premium increase, declaring that it would kill small businesses. Randy Boissonnault shrugged that the Conservatives don’t like the CPP, and he praised it. Bergen accused the government of hating small businesses, and Boissonnault praised the strong economic recovery. Gérard Deltell took over in French to also worry about the CPP increases, and Boisonnault repeated praise for the CPP in French. Deltell specifically raised tourism and hospitality sectors, and demanded the government split Bill C-2 to immediately pass those supports, and Boissonault didn’t bite, and wanted support for the whole bill.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and declared that Bill 21 was democratically passed, and declared that it doesn’t target anyone, to which David Lametti said that nobody should lose their job for wearing a hijab. Therrien demanded that the government declare it would not support court challenges, and Lametti said that there are currently court cases being fought in the province.

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, demanded an immediate solution to the clawbacks of GIS payments. Kamal Khera declared that they were working on it. Rachel Blaney took over in English to declare that seniors were homeless because of these clawbacks, and Khera read some good news talking points about supports for seniors before repeating that they were working on the clawback issue.

Round two, and Alain Rayes demanded a break on CPP and EI increases (Ng: We have supported small businesses; Boissonnault: We have great news in New Brunswick today around a childcare programme but yesterday the member from Carleton said women should stay home), and Pierre Poilievre unleashed a slough of false and misleading talking points before accusing Freeland of not taking briefings per the Globe and Mail (Gould: Your demands are all over the map, and called a childcare agreement a “slush fund”; Boissonnault: Hooray childcare, which you denigrated).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe and Réne Villemure railed that the federal government was renewing its lease on the facility near Roxham Road, and accused them of ethical breaches around a sole-source contract (Miller: We respect our international legal obligations; Fraser: We have made good on our domestic and legal obligations to ensure that we treat asylum seekers under our obligations).

Ed Fast demanded that other charities receive matching funds instead of just the Red Cross (Blair: We welcome the generosity in so many British Columbians in helping their neighbours), the cross-border river floods in BC (Blair: We are working with the Americans), funding dike repairs in the Fraser valley (Blair: The agriculture minister was just in the area, and we will have to provide significant supports to those who lost livestock and crops, and a joint meeting will be convened leader today).

Lindsay Mathyssen said that the government ignored the Deschamps report (Anand: We take these issues serious, and that’s why I moved to immediately accept Justice Arbour’s interim recommendations, and why we offered the apology today), and Alexandre Boulerice insisted that the government should overturn the Safe Third Country Agreement and shut down Roxham Road, repeating the allegations that the facility there was rented from a Liberal donor (Tassi: This was tendered at fair market value under the appropriate process).

Round three saw questions on the same lease at Roxham Road (Miller: It’s a contract granted a fair market value, and the same donor gave to the Conservatives for eight years), the mental health crisis facing youth (Bennett: There are excellent programmes around the country and we are working to make sure they can get it), the three-digit suicide prevention hotline (Bennett: It is being reviewed by the CRTC, and we need to make sure that this line is connected to appropriate services and not a “wellness check” with disastrous results), food inflation versus GIS clawbacks (Rodriguez: We have been here for seniors), seniors under 75 not getting an OAS increase (Khera: We have always been there for seniors), marine protected area targets (Murray: Marine protected areas are about conservation), packaging changes for certain prawn catches (Murray: I will review this potential decision, but we are thinking about the conservation of all of our fish stocks), COVID fish harvester benefits (Murray: We put benefits quickly into place, and this benefit was specifically for self-employed fish harvesters), FEDNOR not meeting its service standards (Holland: We will get back to you on this), a cross-border ferry that can’t run (Alghabra: Health and safety is paramount, and we are working with statekholders), the ArriveCan app not working (Miller: This is not a hostage situation, and we are keeping Canadians safe), the MSM blood deferral period (Duclos: We are awaiting for the submission and will work quickly when we get it), and tourism relief funds (Boissonnault: Here are some programmes we have, and the opposition can vote for Bill C-2 if they want to help the sector).

Overall, it took less than three weeks for Question Period to start devolving to its worst possible instincts, so congratulations MPs for that. I do note that Speaker Rota was a lot less patient with the noise today and did stand to call order for a longer period than usual at one point rather than just gently chiding MPs—not that he called anyone out, or took more forceful action to enforce decorum. The day was also chaotic both in terms of the scattershot questions, but also in who was answering them. Ministers who were not normally on the file were answering, sometimes to solely provide a French answer when the proper minister was present to answer in English, but it looked and felt all over the place. I’m not sure what exactly the issue was there, but it was distracting. Also, I wish the Liberals would stop answering questions on unconnected matters by proclaiming their childcare agreements. Yes, they’re important, but answer the question being asked.

The other grating issue was Pierre Poilievre’s particular line of questioning around Chrystia Freeland, reading a somewhat dubious Globe piece in a manner that torqued the things being said, and then pretending like she wasn’t standing up to defend herself when she’s not in the Chamber. Yes, this is a deliberate tactic so that it gets used in video clips on shitposts to rile up the base, and while there are rules against pointing to the presence or absence of a person in the Chamber, it would seem we need to modify them around pretending that a minister is present and refusing to answer, because it’s both dishonest, and diminishes the tenor of debate along the way. But this has become a favoured tactic of Conservatives over the past couple of years as their reliance on shitposting has increased, and it should be disallowed.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Mona Fortier for a dark grey jacket over a black scoop-necked top and slacks, and to Joël Lightbound for a finely cut navy suit with a light blue shirt and a skinny red tie. Style citations go out to Mark Holland for a plum suit with a light lavender shirt and a purple and white striped tie, and to Lisa Hepfner for a camel-colours coat over a black top with gold patterns. Dishonourable mentions go out to Brenda Shanahan for a black and gold sweater with large circular patterns and black slacks, and Gerald Soroka for a black suit with a pale yellow shirt and a grey tie.

One thought on “QP: A scattershot of unfocused sound and fury”

  1. > A scattershot of unfocused sound and fury

    If you’re referring to Skippy’s discourse, it could also be called, “a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.”

    Told ya, it wasn’t just Virtual Parliament that made the HoC toxic and QP a pointless waste of time. It’s who the cons are. It’s in their DNA.

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