It was to be prime minister Justin Trudeau’s first Wednesday QP in weeks, and all of the leaders were present once again. Just before things got underway, reports started going out over Twitter that the Bay du Nord project was going to be approved after 4 PM, and that certainly factored into some of the questions that were asked. Candice Bergen led off, worrying about “David,” a young person who is worried he will never be able to own a home. Trudeau stated that they promised to have Canadians’ backs, which is why they have been there for them. Bergen insisted that the Liberals have no plan for the housing crisis, and Trudeau noted that there is no one solution, which is why they are working with a broad range of actors to help Canadians. Bergen worried that the budget would be “high tax, high spend,” and would make inflation worse (no, that’s not what is driving inflation), and insisted that Canadians were worse off than six years ago. Trudeau noted that the first two questions were about doing more, and this one was about doing less, which is why the Conservatives were incoherent. Luc Berthold took over in French to blame the government for inflation, and Trudeau insisted that they were being fiscally responsible while supporting Canadians. Berthold quoted a Liberal backbencher who was hoping for a “responsible budget,” to which Trudeau returned to the line that Conservatives want them to do less for Canadians while they were there to support them.

Yves-François Blanchet rose for the Bloc, and he gave some fairly confused statements about Bay du Nord, and demanded the government not approve it. Trudeau noted that they have shown that the economy and the environment go hand-in-hand and gave a few more bromides to accompany it. Blanchet insisted it was incoherent to support Bay du Nord and the emissions reduction plan, and Trudeau recited some rehearsed lines about the environment and the economy.

Jagmeet Singh led for the NDP, and he denounced the carbon capture tax credit in favour of green jobs. Trudeau took up a script to list projects they have undertaken to reduce emissions at home and abroad. Singh repeated the question in French, and got many of the same bromides.

Round two, and Ed Fast denounced the coming “NDP” budget (Trudeau: We are making investments in a fiscally-responsible framework), and worried an inflation (Trudeau: This was caused by the pandemic and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and we will have Canadians’ backs), Dominique Vien said that people were “suffocating” from inflation and wanted the budget to tackle it—erm, even though that is pretty much impossible as the government doesn’t deal in monetary policy (Trudeau: Same answer in French), Dan Albas accused the government of cutting and pasting from the Conservative housing plan and not delivering (Trudeau: Your marquee promise in the election was tax breaks for wealthy landlords), Vien was back up to rail about the rising cost of real estate (Trudeau, with script: Here is a list of our programmes, and we still have work to do), and Albas was back up to complain that Millennials were jaded about housing promises (Trudeau: We recognise their challenges, and we are investing in them and supporting them).

Blanchet was back up to once again insist that Bay du Nord would be a “global catastrophe” (Trudeau: We remain committed to following the science), and Monique Pauzé offered her own condemnation of the project (Trudeau: Our plan to reduce emissions is one of the most credible in the world).

Gérard Deltell accused the government of causing inflation by spending too much—which is not what is driving inflation (Trudeau: This is a global problem caused by the pandemic and Putin, and we have benefits to help people), he quoted the Liberal backbencher who wants a “responsible” budget (Trudeau: You want austerity, but we are acting responsibly to create economic growth), Raquel Dancho insisted that pharmacare and child care won’t give people hope for the future (Trudeau: To hear that child care is not part of the solution for families is proof that Conservatives just don’t get it), and Laila Goodridge insisted that the government was mortgaging her children’s future to fund NDP promises (Trudeau: We have been investing in families since 2015).

Laurel Collins denounced the lack of action on tackling the fossil fuel sector (Trudeau: We are phasing out subsidies ahead of schedule, and capping and cutting oil and gas emissions are part of the solution), and Charlie Angus offered his own theatrical denunciation of the government’s climate policies (Trudeau: We committee more than $100 million to climate action).

Round three saw questions on the supposed plight of rural Canadians (Trudeau: We have been investing in rural Canada), housing prices in the GTA (Trudeau: We had to pick up slack in 2015 after a decade of under-investment in housing), demands for higher health transfers with no conditions (Trudeau: We invested $63 billion more in healthcare during the pandemic, so we will continue to invest), war crimes in Ukraine, and whether the government turned down a request for harpoon missiles from Ukraine (Trudeau: The violence is egregious and appalling, and we believes these are war crimes, and we will continue to offer military aid to Ukraine), more calls for health transfers (Trudeau: Once again, Conservatives want us to spend more, while saying we are spending too much), carbon prices versus farmers (Trudeau: The price on pollution means more money in people’s pockets and less pollution in the air), concerns that the government is just “virtue signalling” about the environment (Trudeau: You want to ignore the impacts on climate change we are feeling today), paying for contract RCMP pay increases (Trudeau: Increased costs are shared between the contract jurisdiction is and the federal government), investing in the calls to action on MMIW (Trudeau: We take this seriously), and the IPCC report on carbon emissions (Trudeau: We put forward the most ambitious and concrete plan in our history).

Melissa Lantsman says the government’s “fiscal house is on fire.”
I am very curious about which metric she is using to make this claim. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 6, 2022

Trudeau’s response to Barlow pretty much proved the point I made in my @LooniePolitics column: #QP https://t.co/PQlxSbtvEG

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 6, 2022

The Liberals just tried to have a parliamentary secretary ask a backbench question, which is not allowed, so they lose the question.
Apparently it’s amateur hour in the House Leader’s office. Cripes. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 6, 2022

Overall, it wasn’t a shining day by any means, and the prime minister was largely again confined to bromides rather than explaining anything, which continues to be this government’s biggest problem. The leaked Bay du Nord decision certainly raised a lot of questions, but Trudeau mostly spoke in good-news talking points rather than making any particular case, though I do get that he couldn’t confirm the decision at this point. Regardless, there were better ways to make the case rather than trite bromides. As for the atmosphere in the Chamber, the noise really got started in the second round, after Trudeau was done and taking his leave, though the Speaker didn’t lose his patience today as he did yesterday.

Finally, I am utterly galled by the fact that the Liberals were so inept today as to balls up their own backbench suck-up question, and it’s not the first time they’ve done this in the current parliament. Parliamentary secretaries are not allowed to ask questions, and they know this. They were reminded of this a couple of months ago. And they tried it yet again. How? How are they so incapable of basic organization? Is it complete amateur hour in Mark Holland’s office? Because seriously, this kind of basic inability is practically disqualifying. Unbelievable.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Élisabeth Brière for a navy suit with a white v-necked top, and to Justin Trudeau for a fitted medium blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a red tie. Style citations go out to Adam van Koeverden for a navy jacket with black slacks and a floral print shirt with no tie, and to Pam Damoff for a black wrap dress with pink and red florals. Dishonourable mention goes out to Brenda Shanahan for a black sweater with a yellow front panel with black circular patterns.