QP: Gathering outrage clips about gas prices

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The prime minister was away in meetings, but his deputy was present, so that was something, though no other leader was present either. Luc Berthold led off in French, and he proclaimed that masks came off in Quebec, but pivoted this toward a question on gas prices and inflation, demanding a break be given to people. Chrystia Freeland recited that they sympathised with the families, which was why they had measures in the budget like dental care. Berthold railed that the Liberals liked high prices, and invited Freeland to join him at a gas station. Freeland reminded him that Canadians are smart and know this is a global issue, caused by Putin’s war in Ukraine. Berthold then raised Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling and the invitation to bring forward new legislation around extreme intoxication. David Lametti got up to read that they are closely studying the ruling, and specified that Friday’s ruling does not apply to most cases where intoxication is a factor. Karen Vecchio took over in English and read a hugely torqued reading of the decision and demanded action, and Lametti read the English version of the same response. Vecchio carried on building a moral panic around the ruling, and Lametti reiterated that the ruling came out on Friday, so they wanted to examine their options.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he complained that a number of Liberal MPs attended a protest in Quebec against the province’s proposed (draconian) language laws, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that Liberal MPs were not handcuffed, and the government had their own official languages legislation. Therrien was outraged by this, and Rodriguez continued to needle him that Liberal MPs were no less Quebeckers than Bloc MPs. 

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, he railed that gas prices were increasing while the government subsidised the fossil fuel sector, hitting Canadians twice. Freeland replied that they were phasing out those subsidies, and carbon capture was part of the way forward. Rachel Blaney appeared by video to repeat the question in English, and Freeland reiterated her points, with some added emphasis on the efficacy of carbon prices.

Round two, and Dan Albas complained that the government refused to drop the GST on gasoline (Freeland: Everyone needs to be mindful that none of us should be doing Putin’s work for him), Greg McLean complained that “fuel taxes” were increasing (Freeland: Carbon princes are effective because the money goes back to Canadians), John Williamson complained that taxes made gasoline more expensive in Canada than the US (Wilkinson: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has driven up prices), Brad Redekopp demanded that the carbon price be rolled back on gasoline (Freeland: Here is how Putin’s war affects global prices), Larry Brock gave yet another caterwaul about gasoline prices (Freeland: Our price on pollution goes back to families), and Mark Strahl repeated the same demand (Wilkinson: You don’t seem to understand how global economics works, or care about climate change).

Denis Trudel returned to the complaint that Liberal MPs attended a protest on language laws (Rodriguez: Are you saying that Liberal members from Quebec are less Québécois than he is?), and Mario Beaulieu raised the appointment of a unilingual anglophone Lieutenant Governor in New Brunswick (Petitpas Taylor: The decision to appeal the court decision does not affect our commitment to linguistic duality and we commit to appointing bilingual LGs in New Brunswick going forward).

Dane Lloyd spun the RCMP Commissioner’s testimony at committee regarding the invocation of the Emergencies Act (Mendicino: She said the tools were necessary), and Gérard Deltell repeated the same torqued, selective quote in French (Mendicino: Same answer).

Alistair MacGregor blamed the federal government for police reform, citing a case of provincial jurisdiction (Mendicino: We need to accelerate our work to reconciliation to have more representation in the RCMP and their oversight), the recommendation to not expand the Baffin Island mine (Guilbeault: We launched the consultations on the national adaptation strategy, but we are at the beginning of that work).

Round three saw questions on CBSA not having reopens all small ports of entry (Mendicino: We have been making progress in reopening them), criminal guns in Quebec and a demand for a registry of criminal gangs (Mendicino: Statement on the shooting in Buffalo), suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement to close Roxham Road (Mendicino: We respect migrant rights and we worked with the provincial government to assist those refugees), lineups at airports (Alghabra: You have repackaged and misinformed Canadians about what I said; We are working with airports and CATSA to fix this), tourism small businesses (Boissonnault: Here are some facts), delays with Afghan refugees (Fraser: We are seeking to come up with policies to facilitate, but what he is looking for is impossible because we can’t control third country ports of entry), the murder of a Palestinian journalist (Oliphant: Canada calls for a thorough and credible investigation into her killing), and proportional representation (LeBlanc: I would urge him to pass Bill C-14 to ensure every province has the right representation).

Overall, the day was a bit of a mixed bag, and the theme for social media clips was largely gasoline prices and the demands to cut taxes on them, as though it would make an appreciable enough of a difference, and as though oil and gas companies would not simply absorb the difference rather than pass along the price cut. While the government’s answers weren’t great, they did make a couple of decent points about Canadians being smart enough to know that prices are set in a global environment (which may be generous), and that this has a lot to do with the war in Ukraine, but they could have been better. From gasoline prices went a number of questions on small ports of entry for boaters, and nary a question on passport offices was had today, despite it being the matter of pressing urgency last week that they had to gather as many clips as possible about it. Imagine that.

Something unusual did happen today in QP, which was that immigration minister Sean Fraser actually gave an explanation as to why a suggested passport document programme couldn’t work (because the issue for Afghan refugees is transiting to third countries, which Canada has no control over). You heard me—a Liberal minister actually offered an explanation in QP instead of happy-clappy feel-good talking points (because remember, they have taken the axiom that “if you’re explaining, you’re losing” to heart). I may die of shock. More of this, please. Don’t let this be a one-off.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Melissa Lantsman for a pink jacket over a white top and black slacks, and to Adam van Koeverden for a fitted navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a black tie with a poppy pattern (and it’s nice that he’s not wearing something terribly clashing for a change). Style citations go out to Denis Trudel for a medium blue auto with garish floral patterned shirt and and light blue tie, and to Marilyn Gladu for a black sleeveless dress with tiger-striped blocks across the front. Dishonourable mention goes out to Pascale St-Onge for a pale yellow top under a white jacket and black slacks.