QP: Taking personal responsibility

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In the aftermath of the prime minister’s meeting with the premiers, and after a moment of silence for the bus crash in the daycare in Laval, things got underway. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he raised the daycare collision, and offered support and prayers for the families, and asked for an update from the federal government. Justin Trudeau echoed the sentiments, pledging support, and offering thanks to first responders. Poilievre then got back to his usual attacks, blaming the prime minister for people needing to have $1.7 million in savings to retire, and demanded the prime minister take “personal responsibility” for inflation. Trudeau noted that while some seniors face difficult situations, the government increased their benefits and listed a number of programmes. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the same question, and Trudeau said it was “ironic” that Poilievre talks about fixing things when they needed to reverse Conservative cuts when they took power, and listed more programmes for seniors. Poilievre blamed the prime minister for rent increases and for heating bills (what global oil prices) and mortgage prices, and demanded the prime minister admit he broke things so that they can fix them. Trudeau listed support programmes for low-income people and seniors, and reminded him that the Conservatives nickel-and-dimed seniors and veterans, and said he was surprised that Conservatives voted against affordability measures. Poilievre then accused the PM of banning anyone from saying that the country is broken, and yet “his own” parliamentary budget officer said that things were broken, and he wondered if the prime minister would call him to try carpet to explain himself. Trudeau said that there is always more work to do, and cited his new funding for healthcare as proof.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and first needled the prime minister on the divisions in his caucus over the official languages bill before complaining that the health care deal was woefully insufficient. Trudeau recited his points about the funds and what they hope to achieve. Blanchet accused the government of indexing underfunding, and Trudeau again recited what Canadians need around doctors and mental health service, which is why they were improving the situation in partnership with provinces.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and accused the government of not putting his foot down on more privatisation and that Doug Ford said that it didn’t come up. Trudeau said that Singh was misinformed and that the first thing he raised was the public system and the Canada Health Act. Singh repeated the question again in French, and Trudeau repeated his answer in French.

Round two, and Melissa Lantsman read some talking points about housing prices and the “triple, triple, triple” ear worm (Trudeau: You keep voting against the measures we take to help people, while you preach austerity; It’s interesting to see the lengths Conservatives go to pretend the pandemic didn’t happen), Jasraj Hallan complained that Trudeau was “woke” and hurting seniors (Trudeau: You are just trying to frighten seniors), and Gérard Deltell accused the prime minster of being disconnected from Canadians and insisted the country is “broken” (Trudeau: We are facing a difficult moment but Canadians are there for each other, and they appreciate the initiatives we’ve taken that you voted against).

Blanchet was back up to accuse the prime minster of withholding money from Quebec (Trudeau: Our system needs investments but more money is not the only solution), and accused him of trying to run provincial systems (Trudeau: We are there to help, but we work hand-in-hand in the provinces).

Raquel Dancho railed about the supposedly broken bail system—which is not broken (Trudeau: We will make sure people are safe but your concern is betrayed by your opposition to stronger gun control measures; Our changes put in a reverse onus but the law on bail is clear), Ron Moore outright lied about the bail system (Trudeau: This is misinformation), and Pierre Paul-Hus spouted some outright bullshit on the end of certain mandatory minimum sentences (Trudeau: Serious crime gets serious time and individual cases can be appealed in the courts).

Jagmeet Singh accused the federal government of abandoning seniors in long-term care (Trudeau: We have commissioned standards and provided $4 billion), and then he misquoted Tiff Macklem about inflation and housing (Trudeau: We have made historic investments in housing).

Round three saw questions on carbon prices (Trudeau: Farmers are concerned about long-term sustainability which is why they are focused on climate change; There is a rebate on the federal price that gives most families more back than they pay), the split among Liberals around the official language bill (Trudeau: We defend French in Quebec and around the country; The Bloc couldn’t care about francophones around the rest of the country), the state of healthcare (Trudeau: We announced $198 billion yesterday), trying to involve Infrastructure Bank in the McKinsey conspiracy theory (Trudeau: We ensured we could create jobs and opportunities, and that’s what we’re doing), replacement workers legislation (Trudeau: We have completed consultations that will determine the legislation that will be tabled by the end of this year), and housing measures (Trudeau: The Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights is on the way).

Overall, it was just another day of talking points being recited at one another, with nothing new or novel being shown. Of note was the fact that Conservatives including Pierre Poilievre keep insisting that the parliamentary budget officer is the “prime minister’s own” and that he is some kind of partisan actor, which is both false and a corrosive lie at that. There are a lot of problems with the current PBO, but being a partisan actor is not one of them. I have also noticed that the other thing Conservatives demand in every question is that the prime minister “take responsibility “ or “take personal responsibility” for everything, but most of the things they are demanding he take “personal responsibility” for are either squarely within the jurisdiction of the provinces, or it’s a global issue such as world oil prices or droughts in food-producing regions reducing harvests and driving up prices. Demanding Trudeau take “personal responsibility” for those things is both laughable and childish.

The only other thing that caught my attention were the responses to demands for “anti-scab” legislation. Yesterday the minister said that it would come before the end of next year, and today Trudeau said that it would come before the end of this year. I’m guessing some wires were crossed along the way (and end of this year sounds more reasonable if indeed consultations have concluded), but yes, I did notice this change in response, for what that’s worth.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit with a lavender shirt, dark purple tie, and a white pocket square, and to Julie Dzerowicz for a light purple jacket over a grey top and black slacks. Style citations go out to Anna Roberts for a navy smock top with white stipew along the half-sleeve cuffs, the bottom and the back panel, and to Ron Liepert for a dark grey suit with a maroon shirt and a red and yellow striped tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Marie-Hélène Gaudreau for a yellow and black polka-dotted top under a black leather jacket.

One thought on “QP: Taking personal responsibility”

  1. Poilievre avers that Canada is broke! Watch his planned solution…wait for it…CUT,CUT,CUT! The premiers should take their health money and run because the Conservative leader albeit more than likely a minority PM wil be coming.

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