QP: Triple, triple, triple the bluster and the bromides

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The prime minister was present for the first time in a week, and it was nearly a full Chamber for a change. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he worried about stories of students accessing food banks, and blamed food price inflation on carbon prices, which is largely false, and demanded the “triple, triple, triple” carbon price be cancelled. Justin Trudeau responded with a warning about how serious climate change is, as we have seen up close. Poilievre switched to English to cite a farm family who was allegedly being crushed by carbon prices, and recited his “triple, triple, triple” line. Trudeau stated that clever slogans won’t help people, but his government had a plan to, and demanded support for the rental and dental supports. Poilievre reiterated his question, and Trudeau reminded him that he just returned from Atlantic Canada, and that these kinds of storms are going to become more frequent, before reciting the lines about not being free to pollute, and that most families get more back in rebates than they spend. Poilievre tried to turn this onto the prime minister using his “private jet” (it’s not a private jet) and that he was a “high-carbon hypocrite,” to which Trudeau lambasted Poilievre’s lack of a climate plan. Poilievre spun a ridiculous tale about the government driving food production out of the country, and Trudeau hit back that if Poilievre put as much energy into flighting climate change as he did spinning conspiracy theories, we would all be better off.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded that all immigration powers be turned over to Quebec because French is under threat. Trudeau reminded him that Quebec has all the immigration tools they need, and if they want to increase Francophone immigration, they were welcome to. Blanchet repeated his demand, reminding Trudeau of the size of François Legault’s majority, and Trudeau repeated his answer.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, he accused the government of protecting oil and gas profits, and Trudeau recited some pabulum about asking the rich to pay more to reduce taxes for the Middle Class™, which is why it was the very first thing they did. Singh repeated the question in English, and Trudeau stated that oil companies have been warned that they need to start paying for the green transition.

Round two, and Rachael Thomas accused the government of turning a blind eye to Hockey Canada when allegations were made (Trudeau: We have always taken allegations seriously, and we will continue to do so, and what is coming out of Hockey Canada is unacceptable; We have removed their funding and it is up to Hockey Canada’s members to pressure the organisation), John Barlow accused the government of trying to bankrupt farmers with his “triple, triple, triple” carbon price—even though on-farm fuels are exempt (Trudeau: Climate change is real and we are working with the agricultural sector; Support affordability measures), and Pierre Paul-Hus worried about people not being able to afford food because of carbon prices (Trudeau: If you want to help people, support our measures).

Blanchet was back to decry Roxham Road and said that the more humanitarian option would le be to welcome refuges at regular border crossings by suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement (Trudeau: We support asylum seekers and are working with the Americans to modernise the agreement), and then raised Alain Rayes before accusing the government of giving contracts at Roxham Road to Liberal friends (Trudeau: We have one of the best immigration systems in the world).

Poilievre was back up to decry the rising cost of gasoline in Vancouver and accused the Liberals of NDP of “tripling” the carbon price—never mind that the price movement is because of refinery shutdowns (Trudeau: We ensured families get more back than they spend in provinces under the federal price), Poilievre disputed this with a misquote of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (Trudeau: We need to step up in the fight against climate change, and our model returns more money to families to need it), Poilievre said the government hasn’t met a single climate target—never mind the sabotage to those targets that the Harper government engaged in (Trudeau: If we want a better future for our kids, we need to transition to a green economy), and then repeated his conspiracy theory about driving food production out of the country (Trudeau: Why do you want to make pollution free again?)

Singh got back up, and he denied the existence of wage-price spirals and wanted to know if the prime minister agreed with the Governor of the Bank of Canada (Trudeau: We are ensuring we support people without driving up inflation; The Bank of Canada is independent of government).

Round three saw Poilievre get back up to ask if the IRGC is a terrorist entity (Trudeau: We have declared Iran a state sponsor of terror and have sanctioned their top leaders; We are holding them to account on the world stage for the downing of PS752), and kept demanding a simple yes or no answer (Trudeau: Same lengthy responses). They were other questions on Hockey Canada (Trudeau: We have cut off their funding, and the only people who think there is a future for Hockey Canada are its board members), and demanded an independent public inquiry into the organisation (Trudeau: Hockey Canada no longer has any credibility), an inability to understand how disaster relief funds work (Trudeau: I reassure the premier of how federal disaster disaster relief works, and the federal government will backstop it up to 90 percent, and the $300 million was for areas who don’t fall under the federal backstop), a swipe at the fisheries minister (Trudeau: All Canadians stand behind Atlantic Canadians, and we are flowing money to the provinces now), rebuilding small craft harbours (Trudeau: I talked to people on the ground and committed that we will be there), accusing the government of being soft on terrorism (Trudeau: We have some of the strongest sanctions against Iran), action on MMIW (Trudeau, with script: Addressing this violence needs a whole-of-government approach, and we have made $2 billion in investments, plus another $2 billion in housing), and one last question on Hockey Canada and asking the prime minister to call for its board’s resignation (Trudeau: Maybe when its partners abandon them they will realise the jig is up).

Overall, it was the most exciting day in weeks, but that wasn’t saying much. Performance-wise, both Poilievre and Trudeau operated largely extemporaneously, which is a nice change from all of the usual scripts, however the quality of what either said left a lot to be desired. Poilievre, as he so often does, spoke in bluster and bullshit, to which Trudeau mostly responded with trite pabulum and bromides. There were so many opportunities for Trudeau to call out the disinformation, whether on carbon prices or monetary policy, but he did not, and, well, that was a choice. The political discourse is going completely to shit, but each has to hew to their awful media strategies, and here we are.

Meanwhile, the decision by the Conservatives to spend the entire third round trying to get a yes or no answer on the question of whether or not the government considers the IRGC a terrorist entity, and the prime minister offering a nuanced response kept going over and over and over again, to little avail. Sure, the demands for the yes or no got increasingly sanctimonious with each iteration, and I’m sure the Conservatives will have all kinds of fun putting it together for the sake of a social media shitpost over the weekend, but in the end, this just contributes to the coarsening and dumbing down of politics. Yes, there is nuance in the world, and this government’s real problem is the under-resourcing of the offices that track and administer sanctions and terrorist designations, but you wouldn’t know it from these exchanges, and once again, we are all worse off for how this plays out.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Sameer Zuberi for a fitted navy suit with a light blue shirt and a maroon tie, and Laila Goodridge for a long-sleeved black dress. Style citations go out to Joyce Murray for a black dress with white florals under a white jacket with subtle pinstripes, and to Alain Therrien for a navy jacket with a white shirt, striped tie and blue jeans.

2 thoughts on “QP: Triple, triple, triple the bluster and the bromides”

  1. Gas prices are likely to rise because of OPEC being OPEC. Obviously the best way to make gas prices a moot point is to transition to renewables. But since the chances of Skippy supporting that are about as likely as my chances of scooping up Tom Brady on the rebound, why doesn’t Skippy go heckle his mentor Baird about lobbying for the headquarters of “dictator oil”?

  2. A member of parliament can’t call a member opposite a liar. What a shame! There are so many words and ways to call out the blatant LIES told by the Con leader and his sycophantic supporters. Liberal will not bear any criticism for combatting this with strong language but the Liberals are being hammered because of their lack of chops. Folks today understand straight street talk not the faux 18th century gentlemanly language spouted by the majority party and its uber correct Pierre Trudeau clone leader. Come on Justin, fight like you did in the ring!

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