QP: A personal tale of witnessing injustice

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The prime minister was off to Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas, we had two other leaders present, plus the deputy prime minister, so that was something. Candice Bergen led off, script on her mini-lectern, decrying Canadians skipping meals, saying that they don’t want a “top-up cheque” but want prices to stop rising. (If only the Canadian federal government had the power to control the world price of oil and to stop droughts in food-producing regions). Chrystia Freeland praised her government’s job-centred recovery and the record-low levels of unemployment. Bergen insisted that the government’s fiscal policy was a mess, and raised Bill Morneau’s revisionist concerns, to which Freeland listed the inflation-indexed benefits that families and seniors were getting. Bergen pivoted to rising gun crimes and accused the government of being soft on crime, and Freeland offered a personal story about her mother doing legal aid work for Indigenous clients in Northern Alberta, and she could see first-hand how the justice system treats them, which was why this government was making changes. Luc Berthold took over in French to decry the abolition of mandatory minimums, and Freeland repeated the same story in French. Berthold then pivoted to the cost of living concerns, complaining that their gimmick-laden Supply Day motion was defeated. Freeland wondered why the Conservatives didn’t support their own “concrete” assistance to low-income households.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he insisted that a third of Quebec seniors were losing purchasing power because of rising inflation. Freeland said that she had good news—that OAS was going up by ten percent this summer. Blanchet did not deviate from his question and insisted the same again, and Freeland reminded him that these benefits are already indexed to inflation.

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, demanded the GST credit and Canada Child Benefit be doubled. Freeland stated that there were targeted measures already going out. Rachel Blaney repeated the question in English with added sanctimony, and Freeland insisted that they looked ahead and set five particular programmes in motion before this summer hits.

Round two, and Rob Moore demanded tougher mandatory minimums for gun crimes instead of having them lifted (Lametti: Serious crime always carries serious punishment, and the situations targeted in our bill are for issues where public safety is not an issue), Dane Lloyd was confused between “advice” and “asked for” around invoking the Emergencies Act (Mendicino: We had an unprecedented public order emergency, and we asked what law enforcement what tools they required, and here is the RCMP Commissioner praising those tools), and Raquel Dancho demanded to turn over Cabinet documents to the inquiry (Mendicino: We have stated all along that we will be cooperate with the inquiry).

Mario Beaulieu raised the record number of complaints that the Language Commissioner around the appointment of the GG (Petitpas Taylor: Let’s pass our official languages bill passed quickly).

Dan Albas demanded action on gasoline prices (Wilkinson: We are working with partners to stabilise global supply), and Stephanie Kusie recited a one-act play about those prices (Wilkinson: We are doing what we need to in order to stabilise the market while fighting climate change).

Daniel Blaikie decried that the EI system is “broken” (Qualtrough: We are trying to modernise the system as it has not kept up with the way Canadians work), and Alexandre Boulerice repeated the question in French (Qualtrough: Same answer).

Round three saw questions on unvaccinated air travellers (van Koeverden: Wishing COVID away won’t make it happen and 1700 people died of it in May; Your party has been promoting conspiracy theories about vaccination), the ArriveCan app (Mendicino: We have been working through the issues with CBSA), gun violence in Montreal and the guns not being covered in the new bill (Mendicino: We have to stop delaying the bill), demanding a registry of criminal organisations (Mendicino: The bill takes steps to target organised crime), removing mandatory minimums (Lametti: This does not touch serious offences), someone deported to Venezuela because he was not properly vaccinated (van Koeverden: If you want to discuss this particular case, give me a call), housing supply (Hussen: Your party has opposed our actions at every turn), the disability benefits legislation (Qualtrough: Details will be determined in consultation with the community), and global warming affecting oceans (Duguid: We have out ambitious emissions reduction plan).

Overall, it was a much rowdier day today than it has been for a while, and it was loudest during questions on the tough-on-crime issues where the Conservatives did not like the government’s responses, particularly given that their own questions were being asked in a bad faith manner. It was more shitpost gathering, and they don’t like to hear about systemic racism. I was surprised that Freeland took the opening questions on the mandatory minimums bill and offer the tale about accompanying her mother to court and First Nations reserves in Northern Alberta to see the problems up close (and then repeating it in French), but this aside, the government is really going to have to do more if they are going to push back against the kind of bad faith misinformation about the bill.

I will also note that it was unusual that Scott Aitchison got a question today given that he’s a leadership candidate and they tend not to want to give them this kind of platform and possible unfair advantage, particularly to candidates who don’t have a seat (though Leslyn Lewis was afforded the opportunity to spout some conspiracy theories about the World Health Organization a few weeks ago). It was also interesting that the question, which was about housing, got Ahmed Hussen riled up, more than he tends to in answering questions typically. It made for a more dramatic exchange, and one where they could get good clips out of it (which may help Aitchison in his campaign).

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a shire shirt and a purple tie and pocket square, and to Candice Bergen for a short-sleeved taupe-green dress. Style citations go out to Brenda Shanahan for a black jacket with florals over a black top and slacks, and to David Lametti for a blue-grey suit over a salmon pink shirt and a grey striped tie.