QP: Legitimate points lost in the partisan noise

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While the PM was off at a photo op in London, Ontario, to praise the rollout of the kludge they are calling dental care, only two other leaders were present in the Chamber. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he raised the increase in violent crime statistics, and wondered why the government wasn’t investing in police or CBSA and were banning hunting rifles instead with an estimate that the buyback could cost an additional billion dollars. Marco Mendicino offered the bland reassurance that their legislation doesn’t target farmers and hunters, but targets assault weapons like have been used at mass shootings. Poilievre switched to English to list some of the rifles in the list to be banned, insisting they were about ducks and vermin on farms, while Mendicino insisted that the goal was to target assault-style rifles. Poilievre cited a statistic that 82 percent of guns used in crimes in Toronto were smuggled across the border, and accused the government of targeting hunters. Mendicino accused Poilievre of spreading disinformation (though there is some grey area here because there are concerns about some of the guns listed), and accused the Conservatives of not voting in favour of supports for CBSA. Poilievre switched topics, worried about particular survey results about housing affordability, and wondered how people can’t afford housing in the country with the second-largest landmass on the planet (which is a really, really stupid talking point because we’re not building residential subdivisions on Baffin Island or in the middle of the Canadian Shield and he knows full well that’s the case). Ahmed Hussen pointed to their funding for municipalities to help accelerate their processing and permitting, along with other measures like their rent-to-own programme. Poilievre switched to French to decry this same shortage of housing, along with some disinformation about inflation, but somehow managed to blame the federal government for preventing housing from being built, which is utter nonsense. Hussen repeated his points, with the added jab that the Conservatives don’t have their own housing plan.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and worried about Chinese interference, along with his particularly odd accusation about Chinese money flowing into the prime minister’s riding. Marco Mendicino got up to recite the lines about creating the two independent panels and their conclusion that there was no interference. Blanchet demanded an inquiry into his allegation about the money going to the prime minister’s riding, and Mendicino shrugged it off with some more talking points about the two panels.

Alexandre Boulerice appeared by video to lead for the NDP to worry about the state of hospitals, demanding the government act, somehow. Adam van Koeverden read a script about the federal government working with provinces. Charlie Angus demanded that the government end the underfunding of Indigenous children in care, and to end the court challenge, to which Patty Hajdu reminded him that they have put forward a record sum of money in partnership with First Nations leaders.

Round two, and Jasraj Hallan worried about the dream of immigrants being shattered because of inflation, blaming the government for it (Bendayan: We have shown that we are there for vulnerable Canadians, like our dental care which goes into effect today), Tracey Gray cited inflation for a drop in charitable giving and blamed the carbon price (Saks: We have put forward significant benefits to help people; Bendayan: The global economic instability makes inflation higher in other countries while we support vulnerable Canadians), and Dominique Vien demanded the government not increase the carbon price (Bendayan: The carbon price doesn’t apply in Quebec while we are helping people; Duguid: There is good news for those who are getting higher climate rebates).

Mario Beaulieu demanded the government make Quebec’s language laws apply to federally-regulated businesses (Petitpas Taylor: I am meeting with my provincial counterpart later), and cited a statistic designed to sound alarming about the supposed decline of French (Petitpas Taylor: We are moving forward with our bill to help more people work in French).

Melissa Lantsman worried about a Holocaust denier who attended an event on the Hill  (Alghabra: This individual should not have been invited by this event; I did not meet with him and as MPs we attend all kinds of events and there is always the risk of there being unsavoury characters being there), and Pierre Paul-Hus went to bat for hunters (Mendicino: I agree but this bill does not target them, it targets assault weapons).

Laurel Collins demanded the government tax the excess profits of the oil and gas industry (Duguid: We are investing in emissions reductions, and these companies have to come to the table), and Blake Desjarlais cited the Auditor General’s report on helping First Nations with climate adaptation (Hajdu: The climate emergency is real and Indigenous Services works with these communities).

Round three saw questions on the alleged candidates funded by China (Mendicino: We created two independent panels; O’Connell: We closed foreign funding loopholes that your government was fine with), the state of paediatric hospitals (van Koeverden: We have increased transfers to provinces and we need to work together to improve the system), inflation and carbon prices (Bendayan: We have a responsible plan that helps vulnerable Canadians; Duguid: That is misinformation, as our emissions are going and we are giving people more money back; Vandenbeld: A price on pollution is an efficient market-based solution; Saks: Your party seems to have no understanding about ways we are helping people like our childcare agreements), toxic drug overdoses in northern areas (Brière: We have been investing in the crisis and will continue to do so), and worrying about federal housing funds being delayed (Hussen: We have prioritised investments to eliminate homelessness, and we know those investments are working).

Overall, the day was fairly dull, with Poilievre going hard on gun control legislation because those clips will make good for fundraising draws for the party, because it’s an old standby for the Conservatives, and year-end is coming. But if those who know gun policy better than I do are to be believed (and I have no reason not to), then there are legitimate concerns about some of the weapons that the Liberals are including in their list, which is something that could be better challenged instead of insisting that the government are “targeting hunters,” or “grandpa Joe’s gun.” But that’s not what we’re getting, which makes it hard to take questions on legitimate issues seriously when it’s done in a performative way for the purpose of gathering clips.

Otherwise, it was the same usual mendacious points about inflation and carbon pricing, a few about housing that try to lay the blame at entirely the wrong place (seriously, the federal government has absolutely nothing to do with municipal zoning concerns). Both the Bloc and the NDP seem to think the federal government is in charge of hospitals (they’re not) and that the provincial governments are blameless when it comes to engineering the current crisis (they are absolutely not), and these particular questions are a bit baffling. I also question why the government can’t more explicitly point out that provinces have been turning the higher health transfers into tax cuts, and spell it out just who needs to be held to account. Yes, yes, they don’t want to pick fresh fights with the provinces, but seriously, the premiers have been engaged in a national ad campaign based entirely on lies around these transfers, so the federal government needs to actually push back against their false narrative so that people get a better sense of what the issues are, because the media certainly won’t explain.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Christine Normandin for her cowl-necked light grey sweater dress, and to Eric Melillo for a tailored dark blue suit with a light blue shirt and black tie. Style citations go out to Mark Holland for a maroon jacket with a white shirt and bright blue bow-tie, and to Annie Koutrakis for a formless black dress with light rose florals across it. Dishonourable mention goes out to Filomena Tassi for a bright yellow jacket over a black dress, and to Marie-Hélène Gaudreau for a dark yellow jacket with black panels over a black drop and slacks.