QP: Rota’s return to the big chair

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Not only was the prime minister president for QP, as were most other leaders, but Anthony Rota was also back in the Speaker’s chair, for the first time in months. Before things got underway, he took a moment to thank MPs for their support during his absence, and for the care team for his surgery.

After several rounds of applause, things launched with Candice Bergen at her mini-lectern, and she accused the prime minister of trying to end the energy sector by way of the carbon price, insisting that he wants high gas prices. (Erm, Candice, Europe would like a word about gas prices). Justin Trudeau somewhat haltingly listed programmes that are indexed to inflation, and reminded her of what families in Manitoba get in the carbon rebate. Bergen then pivoted to trying to find fault with both the gun control bill and the bill that will remove mandatory minimums on some gun crimes. Trudeau took up a script to praise his own gun control bill, and to recite that removing mandatory minimums is about keeping Black and Indigenous people for; being disproportionately affected by the justice system. Bergen read some scripted outrage about criminals getting house arrest, to which Trudeau read a script about systemic discrimination or people going to jail because they struggle with addiction. Raquel Dancho took over, accusing the government of being responsible for the rise in violent crime, denouncing the removal of mandatory minimums along the way. Trudeau, extemporaneously, listed the new measures in the gun control bill tabled yesterday. Dancho insisted the government wasn’t doing enough to stop gun violence, inadvertently listing things the government was already doing as her counter to “useless” gun bans. Trudeau dismissed this as parroting talking points from the gun lobby, and noted they did invest in the same tools Dancho mentioned.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he complained that the federal government was ready to go to the Supreme Court of Canada over Quebec’s Law 21 and 96, and he wondered if English was really threatened in Quebec. Trudeau took up a script to raise the woman denied a teaching job because she wears a hijab, and it was his job to defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Blanchet insisted this was a lie, and that secularism was being attacked, before repeating his question a to whether English was threatened in Quebec. Trudeau, extemporaneously, stated the incorrect truism that French is under threat, and insisted that this was about defending minorities throughout the country.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, he noted that the government agreed to decriminalise small amounts of hard drugs in BC, and wanted support for the private member’s bill on doing this nationally. Trudeau recited a script about the opioid crisis and today’s announcement out of BC. Gord Johns repeated the question in English, and Trudeau read the English version of the same script.

Round two, and Adam Chambers worried about inflation as GDP growth is slowing (Freeland, by video: I would urge some economic literacy, and the annualised GDP growth in the first quarter was 3.1 percent, the highest in the G7), Ed Fast decried the price of gasoline and misrepresented the share of that which is GST and the carbon price (Freeland: Your economic analysis is off, and the carbon price is the most effective way to fight climate change, the IMF recognised us as a model, and there are rebates), Rosemarie Falk repeated the same demand (Freeland: The carbon price goes directly back to families), John Nater worried about digital content creators under the broadcasting bill (Rodriguez: An organisation claiming to speak on behalf of content creators was astroturfing for YouTube and Google), and Pierre Paul-Hus made the same exemption demand in French (Rodriguez: We have been clear that platforms are in and users are out, and how can you not support Quebec culture?)

Kristina Michaud insisted that the gun control bill was not real progress (Mendicino: We will take concrete next steps immediately), that it isn’t tougher on handguns (Mendicino: There are increased sanctions for organised crime and gun smuggling), and Rhéal Fortin repeated that criminal gangs are not targeted by the bill (Mendicino: This bill will attack criminals).

Michelle Ferreri complained about passport delays (Gould: These volumes are unprecedented, but if a constituent has a challenge, contact their MP so that they can get the help they need), Matt Jeneroux, Garnet Genuis, and Bernard Généroux repeated the same (Gould: The bottleneck is in the mail system, we are experiencing challenges, and we ask MPs to reach out to my office if there is an urgent situation).

Lindsay Mathyssen quoted the Auditor General’s report on delays at veterans affairs (MacAulay: We accept the recommendations but we have reduced the backlog by 50 percent), and Daniel Blaikie raised the report on benefits not reaching everyone, and tried to turn this into support for NDP motion—which was a reach because it wouldn’t actually solve the problem identified (Gould: We have a programme that partners with third-party groups to help reach people to get their benefits).

Round three saw questions on housing for soldiers (Anand: We are investing $445 million to tackle this, put in a new relocation program and increased salaries; After significant cuts from the previous government, we are delivering for the men and women in uniform), Research Chair diversity qualifications (Champagne: Hooray for our investments in science!; We asked the research councils to ensure that researchers looks like Canada), immigration processing (Lalonde: Immigration is essential to fighting our labour shortage), a demand for work incentives (Qualtrough: We are ensuring that employers are ready to welcome temporary foreign workers safely), gas prices as an “attack” on rural and remote communities (Bendayan: We have measures to help these communities directly), human trafficking victims out of Ukraine (Joly: This is something that we have raised through the G7), reduced operating hours at border crossings (Mendicino: We have reopened the vast majority of ports of entry), housing for a 24/7 safe space for Indigenous women in Winnipeg (Miller: Last week’s announcement will create the structure to make this space a reality), and whether the gun control legislation will actually move forward (Mendicino: We will work tirelessly until we eradicate gun violence).

Overall, it was a bit of a weird day all around. While MPs were largely on good behaviour for Speaker Rota’s return, there were a few outbursts that elicited caution from him. One of the oddest parts of the day was that the Conservatives didn’t have any French questions until the end of the first block of round two—about question number eleven for them. That’s virtually unheard of, and seems to be very, very impolitic of them. Apparently they didn’t think they could get enough traction on their planned social media shitposts on these topics (which doesn’t seem likely given the focus on the rise in gun violence in Quebec).

Otherwise, we had other instances of blocks of questions designed solely for social media content, being passport delays and military housing issues. It is also worth noting that once again, we had an Auditor’s General report delivered this morning, and the only time it got any play was from the NDP at the end of round two. These were not reports that were flattering to the government or its record, and there were plenty of legitimate questions to be asked from them, and even there, Daniel Blakie couldn’t even get it right when he framed one report to make demands which wouldn’t do anything to address the report (and in fact, with that particular report, would be the opposite of helping). It’s an utterly sad spectacle that this is the kind of thing MPs should be raising hell about, but they couldn’t be bothered.

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Karina Gould for a black jacket over a black dress with white details on the neckline and slashes along the sides, and to Maxime Blanchet-Joncas for a medium-blue suit with a white shirt and a light blue tie. Style citations go out to Ryan Williams for a bright blue jacket over a white shirt, black waistcoat and khaki slacks with a blueberry tie, and to Mélanie Joly for a short-sleeved navy dress with pink and turquoise geometric patterns.