QP: One last kick at the can for 2022

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It was the final Question Period of 2022, and not a moment too soon. After we got the traditional recitation of the Xmas Poem as read by Anthony Housefather (some of whose rhymes were a bit more tortured than in years previous), things got underway.

Pierre Poilievre led off in French, raising a statistic about the rising cost of Christmas dinners, and wedged in a lurid tale of people threatening to access MAiD rather than living in grinding poverty (which ignores that that is not a criteria). Justin Trudeau said that he would like to join in and wish people happy holidays, but knows that it can be difficult because of global inflation, which is why they have created support programmes for those who need it, including with dental care and childcare. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his same points, but trying to tie poverty to government waste. Trudeau noted that Canadians step up for each other, and listed his government’s actions again. Poilievre again tried to tie supposed government waste to inflation, and Trudeau deployed his well-worn talking points about the government making the decision to help Canadians when they needed it and it resulted in the economy roaring back faster than our comparator countries. Poilievre demanded to know when the “waste” identified by the Auditor General would be paid back, but Trudeau mentioned this week’s by-election in his paean about his government supporting Canadians. Poilievre could not end the year without deploying a “triple, triple, triple” ear worm in worrying about heating bills, and Trudeau noted that the federal carbon price doesn’t kick in over in Atlantic Canada until the spring, so Poilievre was trafficking in misinformation. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and tried to intimate that the premiers wanted to meet with him “like a family dinner,” and Trudeau noted that he has met with premiers more than any of his predecessors, noted that he was meeting with François Legault in a few days, but he was there to work with provinces to solve the healthcare crisis. Blanchet torture the family dinner even more, and Trudeau noted that the system as it exists isn’t working, which is why he was there to invest more, but it would take more than just throwing money. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and asked a very selective reading of the health-related promises from the election, and wondered where the action was. Trudeau noted that they were working toward rewards and outcomes with provinces. Singh declared that when he as prime minster, he would keep his promises (to much laughter), and demanded to know what happened to the promised $25/hour wage for long-term care workers, and Trudeau repeated that the federal government is there to step up, and that they would work with provinces to raise those wages.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to demand a promise there were no hunting rifles on the ban list (Trudeau: We are moving forward with an amendment to ensure assault-style rifles are banned into the figure but we will working with hunters and farmers; Indigenous leaders are content with the intent of our legislation and we are meeting with leaders, unlike the leader of the Opposition; We have been investing to secure the border when the previous government cut it), Poilievre worried about the rise in violent crime (Trudeau: The last government slashed nearly $1 billion from police and borders, and we have restored that), then moved onto the reports of Veterans Affairs officers advocating for MAiD (Trudeau: This was unacceptable and we ensuring it doesn’t happen again, but we reinvested in veterans when the previous government nickel-and-dimed them).

Denis Trudel railed about the Liberal MPs who objected to the mention in the official languages bill of Quebec’s legislation (Trudeau: We are supporting the protection of French).

Poilievre got up to worry about the state of paediatric hospitals, and blamed the federal government of not accrediting immigrant doctors and nurses, which is provincial responsibility (Trudeau: We have told provinces that we will flow significantly more money to them if they show us they will get results, including with health Human Resources; If you want to convince your fellow conservatives in premiers offices, it would be a welcome change from the current obstructionism), and then the so-called Chinese “police stations” opened in Canada and whether any diplomats have been ordered expelled (Trudeau, with script: We will not tolerate any attempts at intimidation and the RCMP are currently investigating these claims).

Singh got back up in French to demand the federal government transfer more money to the provinces for doctors and nurses (Trudeau: We have money to give the provinces if they can show they will get results), and on the promised mental health transfer (Trudeau: We are very ready to name these investments, but we can’t just write a blank cheque).

Round three saw questions on MAiD legislation using the veterans’ reports (Trudeau: Our focus is on a framework with safeguards and remains compassionate), a particular parole case versus hunting rifles (Trudeau: The previous government cut $1 billion from police and the borders while we have reinvested and we are working with hunters and farmers to ensure the right guns are banned; Previous mandatory minimum legislation didn’t work, and we have measures that won’t be struck down in court), Quebec’s demand that the federal government pay for asylum seekers to learn French while they wait for work permits (Trudeau: We recognise this is a heavy burden for the government of Quebec, so we are there to support them including $700 million per year for immigrants to learn French), the Mary Ng ethics issue (Trudeau: The minster took full responsibility and apologised), StatsCan wiping out historical inflation data—which is not something the government has any control over (Trudeau: I will look into this, but your government kneecapped StatsCan), inflation (Trudeau: You are only after austerity while we are delivering for families), deploying federal resources to search the Winnipeg landfill (Trudeau: We will give what support when can), and the mental health transfer (Trudeau: We are waiting for provinces to agree to outcomes).

Overall, the fact that it was the last day gave it a bit of an ABBA Gold feel, running the greatest hits in terms of talking points on both sides, though I will note that Justin Trudeau’s rhetoric got even sharper when it comes to the demands to just give money to the provinces for healthcare with no strings attached. That’s also why both Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh monopolised their party’s questions slots for the first two rounds, because this is again about gathering clips that they plan to deploy over the next six weeks. Singh no doubt had big plans to use that clip of him standing in the House of Commons talking about when he’s prime minister, and the fact that he tried three times to get that line out with out the entire Chamber erupting into peals of laughter is going to make that difficult for him to use in his social media. 

Otherwise, the rest of the day was fairly standard in terms of the questions, the misinformation or disingenuous nature of invoking MAiD as a lurid threat, and that outrageously bad question from John Barlow about Statistics Canada that was utterly divorced from reality but sounded like a grand conspiracy or threat. Because that’s what these guys do—instead of there being a reasonable explanation for what happened, or it being quite easily chalked up to sheer incompetence, they have to instead keep insisting that this is some grand plot to punish people, or to act as though this is nefarious in some way or another. It’s frankly exhausting to keep pretending that this is the kind of thing that happens in the real world rather than in some kind of fetid, paranoid delusion that they fall back on time and again, because they think it’ll get enough people riled up enough that they can score points off of it. It’s ridiculous, and it debases political debate entirely.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anita Anand for a fuchsia jacket with no lapels over a black turtleneck and slacks, and to Peter Fragiskatos for a tailored dark grey three-piece suit with a lavender shirt and a purple tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Denis Trudel for a dark grey jacket over an orange shirt with a brown pattern reminiscent of 1970s linoleum and a black tie, and to Michelle Ferreri for a dark green shiny velvet jacket over a black top and black leather slacks. Special mention goes out to Laila Goodridge for a black skirt with a Santa pattern with a black long-sleeved top.