QP: An inept attempt at prosecution

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All leaders were present today once again, which is always nice to see, particularly on proto-PMQ day. Candice Bergen led off, script in front of her, and she torqued the responses made by minister at the special committee last night and accused the government of covering up misdeeds behind Cabinet confidence, and that they would do the same at the inquiry. Justin Trudeau stood up and read a script that stated that existing provincial and territorial laws were insufficient, and on the advice of law enforcement, they invoked the Emergencies Act narrowly and in a limited manner. Bergen accused the government of using the inquiry to call the “innocent” occupiers “racists and misogynists,” but Trudeau largely repeated his same points. Bergen then pivoted to demand that Trudeau meet with the RCMP over the Aga Khan vacation, and Trudeau retorted that this was an issue three Conservative leaders ago. Bergen insisted this was serious because of possible criminal charges, and demanded to know if he met with private criminal council about this matter, for which Trudeau listed things that were more relevant than this settled matter. Bergen sermonised about whether the prime minister considers himself above the law, and Trudeau listed more things the Conservatives don’t want to talk about.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he thundered about the lack of French in federal institutions, and demanded basic knowledge of French at businesses headquarters in Quebec. Trudeau read a script about how unacceptable it as that CN Rail appointed a unilingual English board, and they were working on rectifying it. Blanchet was indignant and raised that the Governor General and the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick could not speak French, and Trudeau noted that Mary Simon is Indigenous, and she is taking intensive French classes.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he decried that delayed action on the environment was the same as denial. Singh quoted the Environment Commissioner to say that the government’s plan was not viable, and Trudeau read a script noting how far they have come in the past seven years.

Round two, and James Bezan declared that he wrote to the RCMP to ask them to re-open the investigation on the Aga Khan vacation—as though they take cues from opposition politicians (Trudeau: This is pure political theatre), Larry Brock quoted the Criminal Code (Trudeau: You want to focus on me while we focus on Canadians), and Bezan got up to demand the prime minister turn himself into the RCMP (Trudeau: This was dealt with three Conservative leaders ago, and you are desperate to distract Canadians from your farcical leadership race and your support for the occupation).

Blanchet got back up to demand that he let Quebec apply their French language charter to all businesses in the province (Trudeau: Our responsibility is to ensure official languages are protected throughout the country, not just Quebec), and insisted he wasn’t attacking Mary Simon or Brenda Murphy, but the prime minister for appointing them (Trudeau: It was important to appoint an Indigenous GG).

Lianne Rood asked if Trudeau claimed the vacation with the Aga Khan as a taxable benefit (Trudeau: Here is the list of things you don’t want to talk about as you distract from your party’s failures), Gérard Deltell wondered if the prime minister felt he was above the law (Trudeau: Same answer), and Bezan got back up to demand cooperation with the RCMP (Trudeau: This was dealt with years ago).

Singh got back up and decried that a particular Russian oligarch managed to move money out of Canada because of the “slow rollout” or sanctions (Trudeau: It was extremely important to work with a coordinated fashion without allies on sanctions, and we listed 203 more individuals today), and then worried about the fact that an Holocaust denier is a speaker at the planned extremist rally this weekend (Trudeau, with script: Here is what we are doing to combat antisemitism).

Round three saw yet more questions on the Aga Khan vacation (Trudeau: Your party is running out of material), the Environment Commissioner’s report on the green transition (Trudeau: We have a full action plan which includes legislative measures and we are working with unions and First Nations to find the best way forward), what was the national security threat needed to invoke the Emergencies Act (Trudeau: Police were clear they needed more tools, and we acted on their advice), demanding documents around the invocation of the Emergencies Act (Trudeau: We have been fully transparent and there are processes in place), accusations of political interference in directing the inquiry (Trudeau: The Commissioner has latitude to do his work; You seem uncomfortable that the inquiry might talk about your party’s support for the occupation), funding for implementing MMIW calls to action (Trudeau, with script: Addressing this ongoing violence requires support, and there is a national pathway with provinces and territories), and the latest IPCC report on the climate (Trudeau: We are stepping up our climate ambition).

Overall, it was a very, very repetitive day, and all based on a very selective reading of a torqued news story about a memo which stated that in 2018, the RCMP were being hounded by a Conservative MP to lay charges, and when they did their due diligence, there was a prima facie appearance to make a change but later stated there was no evidence to do so. And because the Conservatives were selective in their reading, they omitted that the whole part about not having any evidence. But hey, they think they can milk this, get as many outraged clips for social media as possible, and know that the media writ large will just both-sides the exchanges rather than call bullshit on the very premise of the questions—that the memo said there was no evidence for a charge—so the Conservatives know they can come out ahead on this one regardless, and that’s pretty depressing as to the state of the discourse in this country. With this having been said, Justin Trudeau didn’t exactly acquit himself rhetorically either, with having about three or four prepared scripts in front of him that he simply read off with regards to these repetitive questions, and the same three answers on repeat just made the whole exercise that much more mind-numbing the longer it went on.

Additionally, the Conservatives continuing to go to bat for the far-right extremists, grifters, and conspiracy theorists who led the occupation, is quite a choice, particularly given the charges faced by the organisers they are offering succour to. By insisting that the inquiry is the subject of political interference because it’s being tasked with looking at the gods damned context of the event is just ridiculous, and I think that Trudeau was right when he said that this line of questioning is indicative that the Conservatives are uncomfortable about how they’re going to come out of this, given their overt support for this occupation and its aims of overthrowing democracy.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Raquel Dancho for a tailored dark maroon over a black v-necked top, and go Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt and a purple tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Ron Liepert for a navy suit with a creamsicle-coloured shirt and no tie, and to Candice Bergen for a navy short-sleeved dress with dusky rose florals across it. Dishonourable mention goes out to Maninder Sidhu for a black suit with a white shirt and a bright yellow tie.

One thought on “QP: An inept attempt at prosecution”

  1. Cons are desperate to torpedo the Canadian equivalent of the January 6th investigation. Bob Fife has completely sh!t the bed in terms of “journalistic credibility,” along with his billionaire’s rag of a gossip paper. He either needs to retire or start declaring his hit pieces as in-kind donations to the CPC.

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