QP: In the din of clinking glasses, talk of a political marriage

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It was to be the only day that the prime minister was going to be present this week, given that he’ll be off on a red-eye flight to Europe tonight for NATO and G7 meetings over the rest of the week, and all of the other leaders were present as well. With Speaker Rota recovering from scheduled heart surgery, his deputy, Chris d’Entremont, was again in the big chair. Candice Bergen led off, script in front of her, and she railed about the “secret backroom deal” between the so-called new NDP-Liberal government, to which Trudeau calmly noted this was about stability in order to deliver the things that Canadians asked for in the election, instead of the toxicity we had seen. Bergen falsely stated that inflation was because of government spending, and that the “new NDP-Liberal government” would spend even more. Trudeau returns to the line about working across party lines to avoiding the toxic atmosphere that has developed. Bergen worried that natural resource and fisheries jobs were in danger because of this deal, for which Trudeau worried about how toxic partisanship slowed down delivery of help for Canadians, while this job would get good jobs for Canadians while respecting Parliament. Bergen insisted that the deal disrespected Parliament and voters—which is blatantly absurd—before railing about gas prices and demanding taxes on it be cut. Trudeau cautioned her about spreading misinformation and that they had plenty of room for debate and disagreement under the agreement like Parliament works. Luc Berthold took over in French and acted confused about who was in charge and trolled that Jagmeet Singh should be named deputy prime minister, and Trudeau repeated that this deal would allow the House to operate more constructively.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and worried that the basis of the agreement, with pharmacare and dental care, would trample over provincial jurisdiction, to which Trudeau insisted that they believe in working collaboratively with provinces, but they would ensure all Canadians get high-quality healthcare. Blanchet worried that the NDP were hostile toward Quebec’s Law 21, to which Trudeau gave a paean about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he demanded support for their Supply Day motion on higher wealth taxes, to which Trudeau reminded him of their previous actions, and the investments they are making, but did not signal support. Singh repeated the question in French and got the same answer. 

Round two, and Ed Fast worried the costs of the NDP platform (Holland: The Conservatives had higher spending in their platform than we did, and your leader needs to reflect on statements like equating this deal with support for Putin), Gérard Deltell repeated the question in French (Boissonnault: Look at our record of economic accomplishment in recovering from the pandemic), and worried about what they would impose on Quebec (LeBlanc: You raised the PBO in the last question and he rated your platform as costing more than ours), Kerry-Lynne Findlay worried that the NDP would want to pull out of NATO (Anand: We are increasing defence spending and our commitments to NATO and NORAD), John Barlow complained that carbon prices had “devastated” Canadian farmers (Bibeau: Farmers are aware of the importance of tackling climate change, because they suffered droughts last summer), and Shannon Stubbs complained that there are still oil and gas imports in Canada rather than getting supply from Alberta (Dabrusin: We are investing in technologies that will get us to net zero).

Mario Simard complained that the confidence deal would intrude into provincial jurisdiction (Rodriguez: The Bloc just lives for these disputes and finds it hard when parties agree on things that are good; Jurisdictional disputes are good for the Bloc but bad for Quebeckers and Canadians), and Luc Thériault demanded higher health transfers with no conditions (LeBlanc: We have worked with provinces constructively including Quebec).

Jasraj Hallan worried about immigration backlogs before pivoting to gas prices (Boissonnault: There is no guarantee a tax cut would be passed onto consumers), Rosemarie Falk complained about carbon prices on rural communities—as though they did not get higher climate rebates (Guilbeault: Climate incentive payments increase as prices do), Ziad Aboultiaf gave a strange demand for people getting money back (Boissonnault: Here are some of our affordability measures), and Damien Kurek shouted misleading falsehoods about monetary policy as it relates to carbon prices (Boissonnault: The Governor’s analysis did not include the rebates).

Lindsay Mathyssen demanded more funding for women’s groups (Ien: We provided $100 million in shelter funding during the pandemic and are continuing to do so), and Leah Gazan wanted free menstrual products for all (Ien: We are working on this issue and are consulting with organisations on the ground).

Round three saw questions on the arrival of lethal aid to Ukraine (Joly: We are providing weapons and equipment; We cannot divulge details because it is a security issue), the comment on “convening” (Joly: Of course we support our men and women in uniform, but your criticism is rich as you reduced military spending to its lowest level), recommending we send certain military vehicles to Ukraine (Anand: Thanks for your suggestion), chartering flights to create an airlift for Ukrainian refugees (Fraser: We are prioritising these applications, and we are still discussing other options), when federal vaccine mandated will end (van Koeverden: COVID is not over and we are following the science), wages at a prison farm (Damoff: I am familiar with the programme), carbon pricing versus farmers drying grains (Guilbeault: Your own MP said that New Brunswick should return to the federal system as it comes with a rebate), the Bay du Nord project (Guilbeault: We extended the timeline because there is a considerable amount of information for the project), heat waves in the Arctic poles versus fossil fuel subsidies (Guilbeault: We are phasing them out), and tourism funding (Boissonnault: We have invested in tourism relief funds).

Overall, it was a loud and ultimately juvenile day, and I was ready to start throwing things by the time John Brassard started his specious bullshit point of order at the end. The Conservatives spent the entire time trying to put forward this wrong notion that this was an “NDP-Liberal government,” that it was a coalition, that the NDP should have Cabinet seats and that Jagmeet Singh should be named deputy prime minister, as though no other party in the history of Westminster parliamentary tradition had come to a supply and confidence agreement. Ridiculous. The Deputy Speaker’s patience was wearing mighty thin, and at the end stated that the clinking of glasses was unacceptable, though he should had put his foot down on that when it started up in the leaders’ round. The fact that neither the Conservatives nor the Bloc behaved like adults today was dispiriting, and just reinforces the notion that we don’t have a serious Parliament in this country.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Michael Barrett for a fitted navy suit and tie with a crisp white shirt, and to Candice Bergen for a white long-sleeved wrap dress with a black foliage pattern. Style citations go out to Rosemarie Falk for a black smock top with white florals, and to Alain Therrien for a light blue windowpane jacket over a white shirt, grey slacks and a light blue tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Arielle Kayabaga for a bright yellow jacket over a black top and slacks.