QP: Counting down to the budget release

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The benches were fairly empty today, as many MPs were preparing for their budget reactions, leaving a reduced presence in the Chamber. After a moment of silence for both Portapique and the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, Luc Berthold led off, worrying about a “secret trial” that took place in Quebec. David Lametti noted that the was concerned about the reports but prosecutions remain independent of government, and he couldn’t speak more about the issue due to proceedings underway. Berthold then switched to the budget, and was worried about reports that Jagmeet Singh received a briefing on its contents, and wondered if he was sworn to secrecy about it. Mark Holland assured him that no secret information was released. Berthold insisted that there must have been a briefing based on media comments, and worried that leaked details could affect the stock market, and Holland repeated that no secret briefings were had. Kyle Seeback took over in English to worry that carbon prices would mean higher food prices, and that both the environmental and economic policies were a failure. Steven Guilbeault read off investments the government has made and corrected him that emissions have gone down by 30 million tonnes. Seeback chuckled at his own lame joke about how government spending only drove housing prices up—missing a few of the steps to that logic—and Randy Boissonnault denounced the Conservatives delaying the vote on Bill C-8 and the supports therein.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and was outraged that the prime minister was chosen by the UN to promote sustainable development and an hour later approved Bay du Nord, insisting that this made Canada a rogue state. Guilbeault said he was confused by the Bloc being outraged over a provincial decision, a wondered if they wanted federal interference in the Third Link project in Quebec City. Therrien insisted that there was no place for new oil projects, for which Guilbeault reminded him of Yves-François Blanchet’s decision to approve drilling provincially when he as a minster in Quebec.

Alexandre Boulerice appeared for the NDP by video, and he too railed about the Bay du Nord approval. Guilbeault assured him that he read the IPCC report, and that the project was as low-carbon as possible. Laurel Collins repeated the condemnation in English, and Guilbeault repeated his response, and assurances that they would reduce Canada’s emissions by the level required in the report, and that the report did admit that fossil fuels would still be used.

Round two, and Greg McLean praised enhanced oil recovery and wanted tax credits for its use with carbon capture (Wilkinson: Carbon capture and sequestration is one tool among many, and there will be a tax credit with the details to come), Clifford Small worried about other projects rejected, possibly in favour of Bay du Nord (Wilkinson: The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has been a great partner as we reform the offshore energy regulator), and Jacques Gourde called the budget “inflationary” (Boissonnault: The budget will come soon, but you guys need to help pass Bill C-8).

Monique Pauzé returned to the denunciations of Bay du Nord (Guilbeault: Mass transit uses fossil fuels, and this project is as low-carbon as possible and has a condition of being net-zero by 2050), called out the “festival of magical thinking” on the emissions reduction plan (Guilbeault: Our forecasts for oil production may increase by we can achieve our targets by 2030), and Kristina Michaud wondered if the UN Secretary General what throwing shade at Canada in his remarks (Guilbeault: He wasn’t talking about us because we have a price on carbon and emissions guidelines).

John Barlow demanded exemptions on tariffs on fertilisers coming from Russia (Bibeau: We are doing what we can to support farmers), Richard Martel wondered about government investments in electric vehicle batteries that use phosphate (Wilkinson: We are working on a critical minerals strategy and will resource it), and Shannon Stubbs was doomsaying about plans to cap fertiliser use (Bibeau: Here are measures we have taken to support farmers).

Charlie Angus denounced the government’s emissions plans instead of developing a clean economy (Guilbeault: We de-politicised the assessment process and it must fit under the emissions cap for the sector), and Heather McPherson demanded investments in Alberta workers and families (Wilkinson: Investment to ensure that we are on a growth trajectory in a clean economy is a priority, and we are working toward economic diversity in the province).

Round three saw questions on Russia’s war crimes and giving Harpoon-missiles to Ukraine (Anand: We are leaving no stone unturned in our assistance to Ukraine), reports of a massacre in Mali and this government’s loss of interest in the region (Oliphant: We have been meeting with allies on this issue, and why we have raised the issue of Wagner mercenaries), a government contract with companies complicit in forced labour (Tassi: We maintain the highest ethical standards in our supply chains, and we terminated contracts with this supplier as soon as we heard the allegations), allegations of sexual violence with the WHO in a development country (Sajjan: We have raised this with our UN counterparts), quotas on diversity in Quebec universities not recognising their demographic realities (Fillmore: A script on supporting the scientific community), whether the NDP got a budget briefing and whether they changed their declarations to the Ethics Commissioner (Boissonnault: All budget secrecy has been respected), Canadian intellectual property that gets commercialised broad (Fillmore: We introduced a strategy in 2018 and have funded research assistance), government spending not helping people (Boissonnault: We have invested in the tourism sectors and you are being obstructionist in getting C-8 with more supports passed), the fact that the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime has not been filled (Lametti: This process is ongoing), replacement for Greyhound in much of the country (Alghabra: This is a provincial responsibility and we are working with provinces to find solutions), and the Bay du Nord project (Guilbeault: We are meeting our obligations).

Overall, I was a little surprised that there weren’t quite as many demands for reassurances about the budget as happen in some other years, and instead we got a lot of suspicion about what kinds of briefings the NDP got ahead of time (which the government says had no secret materials), and yet there were at least half-a-dozen very pointed questions about it. There were also a surprising number of very specific foreign policy issues, which the government did a better job on answering than I may have otherwise given them credit for, even though there was an element of bland reassurance with those responses. Much like with the fisheries questions the other day, there seems to be an interesting tactic to try and look like the government is inept on some of these policy files, but they have largely acquitted themselves (more or less).

Otherwise, the childishness around the constant “NDP-Liberal government” stuff played out even more today, as Charlie Angus in particular started being his usual clown self, standing up to answer some questions (obviously not being recognised, but trying to play into the notion that it’s an actual coalition), or when someone accused the “NDP elites” of getting briefings, Angus stood up to declare “Nobody asked me!” Things like that. The “NDP-Liberal” thing was tiresome by the end of day one, and by the end of week two it’s now just trying my gods damned patience.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Melissa Lantsman for a bright pink jacket over a white top and black slacks, and to David Lametti for a charcoal suit with a white shirt and black bow-tie. Style citations go out to Steven Guilbeault for a milk chocolate-coloured suit with a white shirt and pale yellow tie, and to Dominique Vien for a black dress with pink florals.