Even though the prime minister was in town, he was away from the Chamber and QP, as were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre was present, and he led off in French worrying about the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s criticism that the “government” decided it’s not worth going after $15 billion in overpayments received by wage subsidy recipients, none of which is true. The CRA Commissioner, who is arm’s-length from the government, said that the $15 billion figure is over-inflated, and that it’s not worth it go after every case—he didn’t say it wasn’t worth it go after any of it. Peter Fragiskatos responded by saying that the Commissioner said verification work for COVID programmes is ongoing. Poilievre turned to English to repeat the question, calling the CRA Commissioner the “prime minister’s chief tax collector,” and repeated the same complete bad faith framing, insisting that it was about letting friendly corporations keep ill-gotten gains. Fragiskatos hit back by saying that Poilievre was talking about cuts and austerity when Canadians needed help during the pandemic, and that the Conservatives previously voted to stop the CRA’s verification work. Poilievre insisted that he told the government not to pay wage subsidies to wealthy corporations, and insisted that 37 corporations who received the subsidy paid shareholder dividends, to which Fragiskatos insisted that the subsidy was about keeping small businesses afloat, and the Conservatives cut the CRA’s budget to do the work of combatting tax avoidance, while the current government restored it and audits are up. Poilievre insisted that the Conservatives were able to collect taxes from corporations more efficiently using fewer CRA employees—seriously?—while the current government lets the CRA complain they don’t have the resources to go after these corporations who took the wage subsidy, and insisting that the government goes after the “little guy” instead of the corporations (which is not what people at the Public Accounts committee are saying). Karina Gould got up and insisted that she talked to small businesses who thanked the government for the help they gave in the pandemic. Poilievre insisted this wasn’t about small businesses, which he supported, but this was about “fraud” and corporations who illegally received these subsidies (which, again, is not really true). Randy Boissonnault took a turn and listed measures that the government undertook, such as the return on investment in the CRA, and that there were regulations in place so that companies who took the subsidy and put that money to profits would have those funds clawed back, as well as implementing their windfall tax on banks and insurance companies.

Have yachts/have nots talking point! #QP pic.twitter.com/ZTrN8t6vql

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 9, 2023

Alain Therrien led for the NDP, and he railed about the statements that certain Montreal Liberal MPs made about Quebec’s language laws, calling it misinformation and that the prime minister approved of it if he doesn’t announce it. Ginette Petitpas Taylor stood up to give a trite defence of the official languages bill. Therrien thundered about all of the ways in which Trudeau supposedly “divides” Canadians, especially around this bill, and Petitpas Taylor reminded him that she is an Acadian from 

Rachel Blaney rose for the NDP, and complained that the contract to a Loblaws-owned company to support veterans was not working out. Darrel Samson read a statement about getting veterans the help they need. Gord Johns accused the government of not delivering on their promised mental health transfer, and Bennett said that was part of the proposed bilateral agreements with provinces so that they could be ensured of transparency and accountability for those dollars.

Round two, and Dominique Vien read some denunciations about inflation and blamed it on Trudeau (Boissonnault: We have a plan for the future, and the Conservatives don’t; Here are some stats about how well we’re doing comparatively), Tracy Grey read some utter nonsense about carbon prices (Duguid: The rebates make most families better off; Hutchings: You should take responsibility for your climate change denial while my riding has been battered by Hurricane Fiona), and Mark Strahl mouthed the succession of talking points on carbon prices (Hussen: You voted against supports for people who need it).

Mark Stahl managed to fit about five separate talking points into the same 35-second question with a tone of indignation. It’s like a doll with recoded messages on a pull-string. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 9, 2023

Luc Thériault thundered that the health care transfers were insufficient, and pretended that the provinces don’t have the ability to raises their own revenues or to increase their own funding (van Koeverden: We are working with the provinces; Bennett: We will continue to support healthcare workers with our plan), and Mario Simard tried to needle the Conservatives for saying they would maintain the same funding promises (van Koeverden: It’s $198 billion!)

Blake Richards, and Clifford Small read more talking points about carbon prices (Fraser: Why do you want to take money out of people’s pockets; Duguid: You want to take away a programme to fight pollution and put more money in people’s pockets; Dabrusin: Newfoundland is not currently under the federal programme). 

Niki Ashton appeared by video to complain about companies getting wage subsidies while engaging in tax avoidance (Fragiskatos: The fundamental fact of the wage subsidy was to help small businesses and we have invested into pursing tax avoidance), and Daniel Blaikie asked the same again with added indignant sanctimony (Fragiskatos: Same answer).

Round three saw questions on the wage subsidy (Holland: The process of collection is ongoing and you opposed measures to help people who needed it; Fragiskatos: We are carrying on audits from those identified in the Panama Papers; Boissonnault: The CRA continues audits and we introduced regulations to ensure they did not abuse these funds), Biden’s promise about Buy American policies (Ng: We are going to work to ensure the Americans respect agreements; St-Onge: We believe in the importance of electrification and softwood lumber), McKinsey not meeting criteria to be banned as a government contractor (Fortier: We continue to do businesses who follow the rules), more McKinsey conspiracy theories (Gould: You talk about pandemic spending that was about keeping Canadians afloat; Holland: Contracts engaged by the public service are being done at arm’s length, and are you saying you would politically interfere in contracts if you are in power?), bail reform (Lametti: The laws on bail are clear, and people who pose a threat should not be out on bail; Boissonnault: You keep trying to cause panic while we give people hope for the future), protecting a fishing area (Kelloway: Remember when you muzzled scientists?), supports for Türkiye and Syria (Sajjan: Our needs assessment is currently ongoing, and that could include direct funding to the Humanitarian Coalition), and suspicions of foreign interference in the election (O’Connell: We have been engaged on this issue, while the Conservatives heard warnings and did nothing when they were in power).

Clifford Small is tripping over his talking points while being performatively angry. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 9, 2023

Overall, the days get increasingly tedious as the Conservatives have so many talking points that they now force themselves to cram into their 30-second questions that most of the time, it’s just talking point Mad Libs. Whether it’s the “after eight years” frame (it’s been seven years, not eight), “triple, triple, triple,” “keeping the heat on and the tax off,” “take personal responsibility,” “get out of the way so Conservatives can fix it,” etcetera, etcetera. Add in the various accusations of things the government has allegedly done (like controlling world oil prices or droughts in food producing regions), and it’s just mix-and-match word salad, with the odd sob story of “constituents” of dubious provenance thrown in. And of course, this all gets met by the same collection of happy-clappy, good-news pabulum that this government likes to spout instead of calling out outright lies from the opposition, which just makes this whole exercise all the more brain-numbing.

I will say that Pierre Poilievre trying to play the role of anti-corporate do-gooder is really quite hilarious to behold, as though he were trying to out-NDP the NDP (which is a change from their usual schtick of trying to out-Bloc the Bloc). The fact that his rhetoric is all done in bad faith is telling, however, and anyone who believes that he would do anything different or better if he were to ever form a government is fooling themselves.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Dominique Vien for a long. Grey jacket with a black grid pattern over. While collared shirt and black leather slacks, and to Greg Fergus for a tailored navy suit over a light blue shirt and a navy bow tie. Style citations go out to Ziad Aboulatif for a blue and taupe checkered jacket over a light blue shirt and a brown tie, and to Brenda Shanahan for a grey smock top with a swirling black and burnt orange pattern. Dishonourable mention goes out to Sonia Sidhu for a black jacket over a mustard yellow top and grey and black checkered slacks. Special citation goes out to Heather McPherson for a high-necked, long-sleeved pleated dress that was comprised of a bizarre patchwork of patterned panels that cannot be explained or excused.