QP: Support for Ukraine, but what about “ethical oil”?

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While the prime minister was around, and would give a press conference after QP, and make a statement in the Chamber later in the evening, he was not present for QP itself, though his deputy was. Candice Bergen led off, saying that many of the country’s actions were too little too late and demanded the expulsion of the Russian ambassador and to recall ours from Moscow—because they believe diplomacy is a cookie for good behaviour. Chrystia Freeland rose to say that Canadians were united, and that this was about freedom versus tyranny, but didn’t address Bergen’s demand. Bergen said she agreed with the sentiments, and wanted visa-free travel for Ukrainians to Canada, and Freeland rose to address the previous question and noted that there were Russian officials who stood against the regime and she urged those officials in Canada not to be complicit, and said all options were on the table. Bergen demanded that the country end its “dependence” on Russian oil—of which, vanishingly little actually flows into this county—and to send Canadian oil to Europe. Freeland noted that the sanctions on Russia are having an effect, and hurting their oil exports was one way. Luc Berthold took over in French to demand the expulsion of the Russian ambassador, and Freeland took the opportunity to repeat her initial statement about unity in French. Berthold then repeated the demand for visa-free travel, and Freeland recounted news from her own family in Ukraine who decided to stay and fight, and that Canada would support them as well as those fleeing.

https://twitter.com/ChrisGNardi/status/1498407964440514562

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he gave a paean to the bravery of Ukrainian people, and pledged Bloc support to the government’s actions, and wondered what else they could do to help. Freeland recited her talking points about sanctions hurting “Fortress Russia.” Therrien asked if they can waive visas or take other actions, and Freeland noted that they have already started to welcome Ukrainians, including those currently in Canada and unable to return home.

Alexandre Boulerice led for the NDP by video, and after a false start, and demanded Canada do more to help Ukrainian refugees, to which Freeland assured him they were already doing so in a united fashion. Jenny Kwan took over in English to make the same demand, and Freeland spoke of her pride in the brave resistance of Ukrainians, and said that of course they were helping Ukrainian refugees with more details coming soon.

Round two, and Michael Chong worried about Russian Arctic activities, and demanded the purchase of F-35s, “fixing” ship procurement and modernising NORAD (Anand: We will remain firm and unwavering in the protection of the Arctic including in modernising NORAD), and demanded new pipelines to tidewater to displace Russian natural gas in Europe (Wilkinson: This underscores the issues of energy security, and we are having discussions with our allies to see what they need), Kerry-Lynne Finley demanded more aid for Ukraine (Anand: In this age of disinformation, it is important for us to point out that we did deliver lethal aid before the onset of hostilities, plus non-lethal and economic aid), and accused the government of sitting on its hands (Anand: I have had multiple conversations with their defence minister, and we have delivered what was asked of us), and Pierre Paul-Hus returned to the question of Arctic sovereignty but in French (Anand: We are working with our American partners to modernizing NORAD), and worried about a Russian cyber-attack in Quebec (Anand: CSE has the tools it needs, and I meet with their leadership regularly).

Stéphane Bergeron reiterated Bloc support for Ukraine, and demanded Russia be excluded from the G20 (Oliphant: Russia is the object of sanctions from Canada and our allies, and we will do more and all options remain on the table), and wanted more sanctions against Belarus (Anand: We will work with our partners to deliver more sanctions), and Christine Normandin wanted the $10 million cap on matched donations to the Red Cross be lifted (Sajjan: We will do more, and we are monitoring the situation closely).

Greg McLean demanded more pipelines to displace the minuscule amount of Russian oil being imported (Wilkinson: Your figures are incorrect and we haven’t imported any since 2019), Marilyn Gladu recycled some ethical oil talking points (Wilkinson: Same answer), Gérard Deltell repeated the Russian oil question in French (Wilkinson: Same answer).

Laurel Collins demanded more action on climate (Guilbeault: We have done more than any government in history), and Charlie Angus decried the planet being on fire (Guilbeault: We fought in the courts and won on carbon pricing).

Round three saw questions on the Emergencies Act (Mendicino: It was essential to law enforcement success in ending the blockades and occupation; Blair: The Act respects the Charter and for parliamentary oversight and review), why the emergency orders were revoked 36 hours after the vote (Mendicino: Same answer as before), a public inquiry on the use of the Act (Rodriguez: The Bloc complained we weren’t doing enough and then said we did too much so what is the just middle that will satisfy them?), the vaccine mandates for federal civil servants (Fortier: Vaccines are the best way to end the pandemic, and 99 percent of civil servants stepped up, and we will review the policy in six months; Duclos: Science has been clear that vaccines work, and vaccines are not punishment, they are protection), funds for the recovery of the town of Lytton, BC (Hussen: You know that we have a number of programmes in the National Housing Strategy to meet different needs, and I am willing who work with him on them), opioid deaths in Ontario First Nations (Hajdu: We are working closely with First Nations communities for Indigenous-led programmes), an offshore project (Wilkinson: We will work with Newfoundland and Labrador to advance their interests), inflation versus cellphone rates and pharmacare (Freeland: We have acted and continue to act, with indexed benefits and raising taxes on the one percent), and assistance to countries taking in Ukrainian refugees (Fraser: We started work a month ago and have created new pathways, and will have new measures to come shortly).

Overall, it was a bit of an odd day—Chrystia Freeland was more interested in giving speeches than in answering questions, Conservatives were trying to sound like they were united on the Ukraine issue while still trying to insist that more should be done, even though much of it is handwavey, while the Bloc were boldly proclaiming support for any government action to help Ukraine. There wasn’t nearly the same level of rowdiness in the Chamber until further along in the exercise, not really until round three, and around questions and non-answers about the Emergencies Act invocation, and later in response to questions calling for the post-occupation capitulation to their demands around ending federal vaccine mandates. Less odd was the adherence to talking points, and in particular, the Conservatives trotted out a bunch of old favourites about so-called “ethical oil” and displacing Russian oil imports…of which there haven’t been any for two years. And when this was pointed out to them, they still kept demanding. But that is pretty much what our Parliament seems to be about these days—standing up to make or demand an empty gesture.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Leslyn Lewis for a blue jacket over a matching dress, and to Maninder Sidhu for a tailored navy suit over a white shirt and a gold tie. Style citations go out to Alain Therrien for a light blue windowpane patterned jacket over a white shirt, blue tie and blue jeans, and to Lisa Hepfner for a black blouse with white and red florals. Dishonourable mentions go out to Rachel Bendayan for a bright yellow jacket over black slacks, and go Brenda Shanahan for a golden yellow and black sweater over black slacks.

5 thoughts on “QP: Support for Ukraine, but what about “ethical oil”?”

  2. “…the Conservatives trotted out a bunch of old favourites about so-called “ethical oil” and displacing Russian oil imports…of which there haven’t been any for two years. But that is pretty much what our Parliament seems to be about these days—standing up to make or demand an empty gesture.”

    Meanwhile, Reuters reports Trudeau as follows: “We are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly.” Draw your own conclusions.

    • If the Conservatives keep demanding that the PM solve a nonexistent problem, he might as well tell everyone it’s fixed.

  3. “Ethical oil” is the Canadian GOP branch plant’s version of Trump’s Orwellian euphemism, “clean coal.”

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