QP: Blair on repeat, into the summer break

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It was the final QP of the sitting, and everyone remains exhausted and cranky. The prime minister was still in Rwanda, while his deputy was present in person. Luc Berthold led off, and he accused the government of incompetence before railing about the passport issue. Karina Gould recited that the government implemented a new strategy at the Quebec offices to ensure there is proper triage of cases. Berthold was incredulous about this, before he pivoted to the inflation number, and demanded the government reduce fuel taxes. Chrystia Freeland listed the measures the government was taking. Berthold switched topics again, and after listing ministerial failures, he accused the government of interfering in an RCMP investigation, and accused the government of not believing an RCMP officer (even if they deserve no benefit of the doubt). Bill Blair asserted that there as no interference, but he doesn’t question the word of any police officer. Stephen Ellis took over in English to make the same accusation, being credulous about the content of those officer’s notes, and Blair repeated his denial and stated there was an independent inquiry under the way. Ellis demanded an investigation into the matter, and Blair repeated his response.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded passport offices be opened seven days a week with extended hours until the situation could be cleared, and Karina Gould reiterated that the station in Montreal was unacceptable, which is why they have managers on the line, and that the offices would be open to midnight, and would be open Friday and Saturday (recognising that Friday is a holiday in Quebec). Therrien took a swipe, saying that they should call in the army, but Gould repeated her points.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he accused the government of waiting for inflation to go away, and Ahmed Hussen picked up on the points about housing to tout government programmes like the housing accelerator fund to “create systemic change” to build more supply. Singh repeated his accusations in French, and got the same response. 

Round two, and Rick Perkins repeated the allegations of interference (Blair: I have already state unequivocally that there was no interference or pressure), Gérard Deltell gave another couple of rounds in French, calling Blair’s comments “disgusting” (Blair: Same answer), and yet another round from Jake Stewart and Dane Lloyd (Blair: Same answer once again).

Louise Chabot accused the government of not hiring enough passport officers after previous layoffs (Gould: Passport offices are open on weekends in the busiest centres and we are hiring even more officers; It takes 15 weeks to train a new officer, and a new class starts on Monday).

James Bezan, and Chris Warkentin gathered their own clips on the alleged interference (Blair: Same answer, over and over again).

Alistair MacGregor repeated the same question once again for his own clips (Blair: Same answer), and Don Davies worried that the healthcare system is collapsing, as though provinces don’t play the primary role here (Duclos: Our healthcare workers are very burdened, and I am speaking to fellow health ministers this afternoon).

Round three saw questions on cutting fuel taxes (Wilkinson: We are working internationally to stabilise oil supply), inflation (Freeland: You guys need to pick a lane, accusing us of spending too much while proposing tax expenditures, while our jobs recovery programme worked; You guys proposed more spending than we did), Quebec municipal infrastructure funds (Mendicino, because O’Connell’s Zoom didn’t work: We are in contact with the government and are waiting on final details; O’Connell: We would love to see the dollars for out the door, but we are waiting for the proposals), casting blame (Gould: You owe hard-working public servants an apology), more clip-gathering about the allegations of interference (Blair: Same as before), the PBO’s report on Trans Mountain Expansion (Freeland: A de-investment process will begin when the project is sufficiently de-risked and we have consulted with Indigenous people), and one last hyperbolic clip about inflation (Freeland: Here are our measures).

Overall, it’s a good thing that MPs have gone home for the summer, because this limped to the finish line in some of the worst ways possible. Once again, we had the constant repetition of questions over and over again, each getting angrier, or constructing even more implausible scenarios, and levelling accusations around things that were never said, all for the sake of gathering clips, and had Bill Blair give the same answer over, and over, and over, and over again. It was also really something to see this one particular note from the RCMP superintendent being treated so credulously in spite of the fact that we’ve seen RCMP members lie repeatedly, and in this particular scenario, where they were lying to the media as the tragedy was unfolding (which caused friction with the Commissioner), and yet this particular note must be treated as gospel? Hmm. The other questions were around inflation, and lame references to the 1980s when levels were last this high, and trying to equate the previous prime minister Trudeau with the current one. It got tired very fast, but everything does at this time of year, and MPs haven’t done themselves any favours.

Speaking of those not doing themselves any favours, I am once again going to call out the Speaker for refusing to actually enforce the gods damned rules, or even go so far as to point out particular offenders even if he’s not going to kick them out. This constant gentle chiding does nothing, and just encourages them to be bolder in their rule-breaking. We’ve seen repeated instances in the past few weeks of them openly flouting rules, and the Speaker says nothing, other than a gentle reminder after the flouted rule has been allowed to remain in the open rather than stamped on immediately. What is the point? Perhaps if MPs are going to spend the summer contemplating their behaviour, the Speaker should be contemplating whether he still wants to do this job, because it certainly doesn’t look like it.

And that’s it for the summer. I can’t say I’ll miss this daily activity for the next few weeks, because really, this has been a sorry excuse for how parliamentary democracy is supposed to operate. The decline has been pronounced over the past couple of years, and it’s one of those situations where every time you think they’ve reached bottom, it gets worse. I’m practically missing the days when QP was about crafting clips for news media, but now that they’ve decided to bypass that entirely and craft their clips for social media shitposts, it’s devolved. The theatricality is pronounced, the torque on the rhetoric has largely rendered the scenarios distorted beyond recognition, and the Conservatives in particular have taken to simply outright lying on the floor of the House of Commons, or promulgating conspiracy theories, because they know that the government won’t call them out on it, preferring to simply recite (or outright read) happy-clappy pabulum talking points, and let me tell you just how tired I am of these talking points and how much they’ve eroded their credibility. The media won’t call them out, because they just both-sides everything. And things just get increasingly worse, and democracy is being continually eroded, because neither side is taking this seriously. It’s just so much point-scoring and Canadians all lose.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Blake Richards for a tailored navy suit with a pink shirt and purple tie, and to Christine Normandin for a simple white top with a scoop neckline and a shiny grey skirt. Style citations go out to Shelby Kramp-Neuman for a short-sleeved black dress with tiny florals, and to Mark Gerretsen for a brown jacket with a subtle check pattern over a blue shirt, grey and blue tartan tie, and khaki slacks. Dishonourable mention goes out to Rachael Thomas for a dark yellow top under a black jacket and skirt.

One thought on “QP: Blair on repeat, into the summer break”

  1. Thanks for giving us a good idea of how QP works. It’s probably too much to ask that MPs return with better behaviour. At the very least I can wish you a relaxing summer.

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