QP: Won’t somebody do the Ottawa Police’s job for them?

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As the occupation outside was quieter today the prime minister was absent, as were most other leaders, save Candice Bergen. Bergen led off, with her script in front of her, and she blamed the various demonstrations around the country on the “division” caused by the prime minster, and she demanded “leadership” in fixing a mess that she blamed on him. Mark Holland rose in reply, and he recited that the best way to end the pandemic was to get vaccinated. Bergen selectively quoted Dr. Theresa Tam musing about lifting restrictions, and Bergen demanded they all be lifted—never mind that most of those are provincial in nature. Holland reminded her of such, and even the trucker mandate existed on the other side of the border so it wouldn’t matter. Bergen accused Holland of mansplaining to her, and Holland insisted that they try not to inflame the situation. Luc Berthold took over in French and demanded that the restrictions on truckers be removed because science, to which Dominic LeBlanc reminded him that they already follow the science, and that they opposition should not put words in Dr. Tam’s mouth. Berthold then demanded more unconditional healthcare transfers to the provinces, and LeBlanc stated that they have been in constant discussion to find the best way to support the system.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he repeated the Bloc’s demand for a “crisis unit” to deal with the occupation outside, and Marco Mendicino reminded him that operational decisions are made by police independent of government. Therrien complained that they were unable to be proactive, and Mendicino repeated his answer.

Alexandre Boulerice appeared by video for the NDP, demanded “leadership” on clearing the occupation, and Mendicino repeated yet again that the RCMP provided additional resources, but they don’t direct police. Rachel Blaney took over in English to repeat the same question, and Mendicino repeated his response a fourth time.

Round two, and John Brassard demanded a concrete plan to deal with inflation (Freeland: Canada has still recovered 101 percent of jobs lost to COVID as opposed to 87percent in the US, and you voted against supports for omicron), Pierre Paul-Hus quoted the Fraser Institute’s risible “misery index” (Freeland: Thanks for opposing the occupation, but your party is putting forward a false economic narrative), Leslyn Lewis worried about unemployment (Freeland: We provided supports during omicron which you voted against).

Mario Simard repeated the premiers’ demand for more health transfers (LeBlanc: We invested $64 billion during the pandemic and we will support provinces), and demanded a healthcare summit (LeBlanc: The prime minister had over thirty-four meetings with premiers over the past two years).

Stephen Ellis quoted the discredited report on lockdowns before demanding more healthcare (Holland: Which federal mandates to you oppose?), and Rachel Thomas blamed the federal government on lack of healthcare capacity (Holland: The ICUs are filled with the unvaccinated).

Laurel Collins also complained about healthcare capacity (Holland: Our commitment is to work in lockstep with provinces), and Don Davies complained about healthcare workers being harassed (Holland: We did pass a bill to make it an offence to harass them).

Round three saw questions on housing costs for seniors (Khera: It was your party’s plan to increase the retirement age), housing prices (Hussen: You didn’t invest adequately during any of your time in office), help for seniors (Khera: We will deliver a one-time payment as soon as possible), the immigration processing backlog (Fraser: We just announced new funds to help improve processing times and to move more to digital), money laundering in real estate (Freeland: We take this seriously, and in the last budget, we took action on a beneficial ownership registry), Trudeau’s campaign of “hatred” (Holland: Which federal mandates do you oppose?), allegedly hidden data from an environmental assessment (Wilkinson: This process has been ongoing for years and is reaching a new phase), and helping performing artists in the pandemic (Rodriguez: Supporting artists is my biggest priority).

Overall, it was a rowdier day today, particularly early on around the early questions, with a number of Conservatives getting agitated about the questions on removing public health measures and giving into the demands of the grifter occupiers outside. Candice Bergen continued to play victim when the government pushed back, but doing it poorly—today it was accusing Mark Holland of “mansplaining” to her when he didn’t, much like she accused Chrystia Freeland of “gaslighting” last week when it was not gaslighting. It certainly sounds like Bergen has compiled a list of terms and insults that kids these days use and then misapplies them in trying to be a cool mom. As for the rowdiness, Speaker Rota gave one of his gentle chiding early on, saying he would take questions away at the end if they didn’t calm down, but his tone and his record shows he has no credibility to his threats and he never follows through on them, so it just shows how particularly useless he has become.

I would also notice that there are some MPs who never used to get questions suddenly getting to ask them again, now that Bergen and her leadership team are back in charge. Case in point is Leslyn Lewis, whom Erin O’Toole had sidelined both because of her social conservative utterances, as well as her questioning the vaccine mandates. I expect we’re going to see more of this, as Bergen has no interest in sidelining the social conservatives and is more likely to put them into critic portfolios the more that her front-benchers start staking out leadership positions.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Arif Virani for a black suit with a crisp white shirt and a grey tie and pocket square, and to Candice Bergen for a maroon and black striped dress. Style citations go out to Claude DeBellefeuille for a sleeveless black and urn-patterned smock dress over a tan long-sleeved top, and go Martin Champoux (I think) for a navy jacket, white shirt, khaki slacks and a lighter purple tie. Dishonourable mentions go out to Gerald Soroka for a black suit with a pale yellow shirt and a checkered tie.

One thought on “QP: Won’t somebody do the Ottawa Police’s job for them?”

  1. The old ploy….I really don’t know jurisdictions and why the PM won’t enforce the law in Ottawa but, Oh! Me! I’m so conveniently confused but no worry…its all Trudeau’s fault.

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