QP: A rare ejection from the Chamber

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The prime minster was present for the first time in over a week, and unusually, none of the other leaders were present. Jasraj Hallan led off, and accused the government’s deficit spending of “forcing” the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates, which is obvious nonsense to anyone who pays a modicum of attention. Hallan accused that spending of hiring Canadians, complained about the carbon price, and demanded it be scrapped. Justin Trudeau said that the Conservatives were consistent in opposing the government being there for Canadians, listing measures they voted against, while the government would continue to be there for people while being fiscally responsible. Hallan accused Trudeau of sitting in an ivory tower, spending money, and driving inflation, and insisted he was the “architect” of sending children to food banks. (Honestly, who is writing this material?) Hallan concluded by wondering when the prime minister would understand that Canadians can’t afford any more of his “failures.” Trudeau pointed out that Conservatives complain the government doesn’t help people and then oppose their measures to help people, whether it’s dental care, rental supports, or child care. Tracy Gray took over to complain that people can’t afford to heat their homes, blaming the prime minister on “tripling down” on carbon prices. Trudeau said that he has heard that people are facing difficult times, which is why they are there with supports in spite of Conservative opposition. Richard Martel took over in French to decry the interest rate increase, and he too blamed the government for inflation and carbon prices. Trudeau recite that while they are concerned about the rising cost of living, they are doing something about it unlike the Conservatives. Martel said it was “ironic” that the government says they understand concerns while they gave benefit cheques to dead people, before he demanded the cancellation of carbon prices. Trudeau said it was incredible to see Conservatives attack and make fun of benefits that helped Canadians during the height of the pandemic.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised the RCMP contract for the company with Chinese ties, wondering how the prime minister could explain the lack of checks on this bid. Trudeau noted that they were concerned by the contract and that they would ensure that national security interests were not jeopardised. Therrien wondered why they didn’t consult with the CSE on this procurement, and Trudeau reiterated that they are looking into the contract.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he shouted that they prime minister was absent on the file with the crisis in children’s hospitals. Trudeau took a script to read the measures that have taken around procuring medications and transfers. Don Davies read the same condemnation in English, demanding the prime minster sit down with premiers to solve the crisis. Trudeau insisted that they were increasing transfers and that they would be there to ensure there were significant improvements. 

Round two, and Michael Barrett listed a bunch of non-sequiturs about government spending to blame it on inflation (Qualtrough: I don’t think the 13 million Canadians who got COVID benefits would agree this is wasteful spending and the Auditor General agreed we avoided serious economic and social consequences; Gould: We are creating a Canada where the government is there for people when they need it, and we start from a place of compassion and trust), Michelle Ferreri read her own list of the same (Fraser: It is no surprise that the Conservatives think helping people with wasteful spending; Lebouthillier: The Auditor General agreed our programmes saved lives and saved jobs), and Mark Strahl misleadingly blamed government spending for food price inflation (Bendayan: 2 million Canadians are out of poverty thanks to our government; Gould: If Canadians took your advice, they would have been wiped out after investing in crypto).

Jean-Denis Garon complained that Canada’s big banks are backers of fossil fuels (Dabrusin: We are ending subsidies, and we are doing the work to protect water and land; Duguid: We have the most ambitious plan in Canadian history), and Monique Pauzé wondered about the utility of protecting lands if they can still be exploited (Dabrusin: We made a great announcement yesterday that is also good for reconciliation).

Dane Lloyd raised that the AFN voted to oppose the current gun control legislation as a threat to hunting rights (Badawey: We have agreed to more meetings at committee to get this right; Damoff: We have been clear we are not targeting hunting rifles), and Scot Davidson insisted the prime minster was mean to racists before he went into a gun control rant (St-Onge: We are not targeting hunters, we are targeting guns used in mass shootings).

Alistair MacGregor also complained about the amendments to the gun control bill (Damoff: We will not be banning guns commonly used by hunters, and we spent two hours at committee trying to get technical answers to get this right), and Taylor Bachrach gave the same again (Holland: The committees are doing their jobs, and there is the opportunity to work together).

Round three saw questions on the RCMP contract (Jaczek: We share these concerns and the contract is suspended, and my department will look into the procedures that led to this outcome; Champagne: We have always taken measures to safeguard national security, like my order to block three Chinese firms from having interests in critical minerals), funding for diverse research chairs (Champagne: Research chairs are independent from government but we have increased their funding), government spending (Qualtrough: This entire House voted on quick payments and post-payment verification), the Bank of Canada (Bendayan: If you want help small businesses, support our measures to cut their taxes), inflation (Bendayan: Same answer), carbon prices (Fraser: We have a nation programme to help home owners install heat pumps to lower their costs; Duguid: Vote for Bill C-32 which helps affordability, just like our climate rebates do), expanding the housing benefit (Hussen: You are not stating all of the facts, and the top-up is on top of the average payment), foreign interference (Damoff: There is nothing more important than safeguarding our democracy, and we use all tools at our disposal).

Overall, we had that drama with Raquel Dancho’s ejection, which was an absolute rarity for the current Speaker actually putting his foot down, but it’s something that winds up being utterly frustrating because there are legitimate issues with this gun control bill that need to be aired, and which need to be discussed in a rational manner. But that’s not what tends to happen, as the Conservatives ratchet up the rhetoric, insist the this was some kind of plan all along to target hunters and farmers, and there are nefarious actions at work, which makes the actual dialogue nearly impossible to have. From my outside perspective, it looks like the Liberals were trying to solve one problem when then brought forward this amendment (that there was inconsistency in their “assault-style” rifle ban), but that the solution wound up being overly broad, and now they’re having to backtrack and find a way out. But screaming that they’re targeting hunters and farmers is what gets the Conservatives donations, so that’s what they’re going to do, and you wind up with the kinds of theatrics we had today. Also, for Dancho to refuse to apologise and then go out to the Foyer to say that she won’t apologise for telling the truth, when her party routinely lies in the House on a daily basis is just too rich.

Otherwise, the rest of the day was pretty standard, with the utterly mendacious talking points around the causes of inflation, the conflation about the effects of the carbon price, and the demands that the federal government do something about the healthcare crisis that the provinces created—that’s all what we’ve come to expect in this place, unfortunately. Nevertheless, everyone is cranky (me especially), and it’s time MPs go home and cool off for a while.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Mélanie Joly for a collared white shirt with rolled sleeves over black slacks, and to Emmanuel Dubourg for a tailored grey suit with a subtle windowpane pattern with a crisp white shirt and a navy tie. Style citations go out to Luc Desilets for a dark green jacket with a black shirt and a blue tie, and to Pam Damoff for a blue-grey long-sleeved dress with a triangular grid pattern across it.

3 thoughts on “QP: A rare ejection from the Chamber”

  2. “Trudeau noted that they were concerned by the contract and that they would ensure that national security interests were jeopardised.”

    Perhaps the sentence above was not what you intended to say. It’s instructive, though, that no-one found it shocking enough to comment on, until now.

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