QP: Competing scripted inflation talking points

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It was akin to Friday attendance in Chamber for everyone but the Conservatives, who were largely present, but the PM was in attendance, which is what counts on a Wednesday. Erin O’Toole led off, script before him, and he decried the cost of living crisis and accused the prime minister of fixing his budget by fuelling inflation. Justin Trudeau read a prepared script of good news talking points from the fiscal update. O’Toole tried and failed to land an attack about pipelines and supply chains, and this time, Trudeau extemporaneously recited the promise to have peoples’ backs. O’Toole raised the report on food inflation, and quipped about the prime minister not thinking about monetary policy, and Trudeau reiterated his usual points about the fact that they were helping Canadians and why investing up-front in ensuring people made it through the crisis was the smart economic thing to do. O’Toole switched to French to decry food inflation, and demanded the government fix it—not specifying how. (Wage and price controls, anyone?) Trudeau noted the health crisis and keeping people safe, which was how to help the economy recover. O’Toole worried the dream of home ownership has vanished, blaming Trudeau for it, and Trudeau praised programmes they have rolled out to help fight the housing crisis.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he complained about Bob Rae’s comments about Bill 21 and demanded Rae be recalled. Trudeau said that he profoundly disagree with Bill 21, and they would be on the side of Quebeckers who were upset that the teacher lost her job for wearing a hijab. Blanchet railed that Trudeau was condoning “Quebec bashing,” and Trudeau said that Quebeckers like him stand up for individual rights including freedom conscience.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he demanded the federal government give more booster shots, rapid tests, and hiring more nurses—never mind that is all provincial jurisdiction. Trudeau recited concerns about omicron and warned Canadians should reconsider non-essential travel and getting boosters as quickly as possible. Singh repeated the demand in French, and Trudeau said they were already doing that having procured enough shots for all Canadians.

Round two, and Candice Bergen accused the government of raising taxes on suffering Canadians (Trudeau: The very first thing our government do was raise taxes on the one percent and lowered them for everyone else, which you opposed), Dominique Vien worried about young people shut out of the housing market (Trudeau: We set up a programme to facilitate home ownership), and Raquel Dancho complained that rising prices weren’t addressed in the fiscal update (Trudeau: The best thing we can do is stop this pandemic; We raised taxes one percent and lowered them for everyone else and your party voted against it).

Blanchet was back up, to blame the teacher who lost her job, saying that she considers it a political symbol, before making more complaints about “Quebec bashing” (Trudeau: You are trying to make this a federal-provincial fight rather than listening to Quebeckers concerned about freedom of conscience and religion), and Blanchet tried to insinuate that Trudeau was afraid to challenge the bill in Quebec (Trudeau: Canada and Quebec are already secular societies, and we don’t prevent people from holding jobs for their private religion).

Michelle Rempel Garner returned to yesterday’s question about Americans importing oil, and accused the government of failure (Trudeau: You didn’t get anything built, while we are investing in the oil workers to transform the energy mix).

Singh accused the government of refusing to deal with the housing crisis (Trudeau: We will help municipalities build better and more housing without programmes; We are moving forward on our commitments).

Round three saw questions on the year-over-year housing prices (Trudeau: You focus personal attacks on me but we are focused on Canadians), Bill 21 (Trudeau: You are only picking a fight to avoid the tougher questions), inflation (Trudeau: The best way to grow the economy is to put an end to the pandemic), the cap on fertiliser use (Trudeau: The inflation is a global issue because of the pandemic, and people need to get vaccinated; Farmers told me they were frustrated by Conservatives shutting down the PFRA), the prime minister’s trust fund (Trudeau: These Conservatives find new ways to stoop low to personal attacks), GIS clawbacks (Trudeau: We are making a one-time payment for seniors whose benefits have been affected), and the Canada Disability Benefit (Trudeau: We have committed to moving forward to it, and are working in partnership with stakeholders).

Overall, it was another loud and rowdy day, with no patience for any of the responses (though in some cases I could not blame them). It was also a bit of repetition, not just from the same themes coming over and over, but also in particular themes—Yves-François Blanchet was trying to pick a fight over Bill 21, given that it saved their electoral prospects just a few months ago, while Jagmeet Singh traded in lazy cynicism of accusing the federal government of doing nothing on several files, when there are limits to what they’re able to do given jurisdictional issues, and that plans they are having take time. Housing, for example, will take years to sort out. There is very little the federal government can do, and nothing can be done overnight. Likewise, as Pierre Poilievre put forward a number of specious factoids about housing, all of which were either complete non-sequiturs or were completely misleading in how they were applied. And how did Trudeau respond? With some more feel-good bromides. There are answer and facts that can shut him down, but he refuses to deploy them. (Speaking of facts, I debunked Poilievre’s talking points with Mike Moffatt here).

It looks like tomorrow will be the last day, barring any particular bouts of procedural shenanigans. Anthony Housefather gave the annual Christmas poem just before QP started (a tradition he took over from Rodger Cuzner), and Trudeau gave his Christmas wishes to MPs at the end of QP, as he won’t be back the rest of the week. The only thing missing was the thanks to the pages and House of Commons staff, which I suspect will come tomorrow.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to James Bezan for a medium grey suit with a white shirt, and a blue tie and pocket square, and to Christine Normandin for a fairly simple white blouse over a black skirt. Style citations go out to Diane Lebouthillier for a blue and red windowpane patted jacket over a white top, and to John Williamson for a black suit with a pink and blue gingham shirt and navy tie.

One thought on “QP: Competing scripted inflation talking points”

  1. Forgive me but every time I see one of the designated Tory critics of everything get up and utter nonsense in QP in my minds eye I see each one with two mouths and split tongues but I think you covered this nicely in your blog today Thankyou Dale.

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