QP: A special kind of incompetence to read the same script over and over

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy was present today, but neither were any of the other leaders, so that didn’t necessarily bode well from the start. Pierre Paul-His got things started in French, and he repeated Pierre Poilievre’s lead talking points from yesterday—that the prime minister has a “special kind of incompetence” for increasing the cost of the bureaucracy while still allowing them to go on strike, and demanded he fix what was broken. Mona Fortier praised the work of civil servants, and that they continue to bargain in good faith for a fair agreement. Paul-Hus demanded to know why the prime minister wasn’t answering, speculating that it was because he was too busy planning his next vacation, to which Mark Holland somewhat crankily responded that for the third day, yes the prime minister took a vacation with his family, and they stayed at the home of a family friend. Jasraj Hallan took over in English, and repeated the same “special kind of incompetence” talking points with an angrier tone, and Fortier repeated her same points about praise and good-faith negotiations. Hallan then insisted that the only people getting ahead are “crony insiders,” blamed the government for inflation, and turned this into a rant about the “scam” of the carbon price. Holland noted a lot of hypocrisy in the question, then listed the ways in which the leader of the opposition avails himself of government funding—house, car, office, staff—before he talks on the phone with American billionaires to try and destroy the CBC, and wondered if Poilievre should have a Twitter label that notes he’s 99 percent government-funded. Hallan got indignant, and said that nobody believes the government, before he completely mischaracterised the PBO’s report on carbon prices, and Holland needled back and wondered how the Conservatives are trading in conspiracy theories on Reddit and 4chan.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he tried to insist that appointing people who have connections to the Trudeau Foundation could mean that the prime minister has nothing to do with it. Holland got up and recited that Trudeau has not been associated with the Foundation for ten years. Therrien went on a tear about Beijing-backed donations and demanded a public inquiry. Holland insisted that foreign interference is concerning for everyone in the Chamber.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and ranted about contracts to consultants rather than giving civil servants a good deal. Helena Jaczek stated that there is a need for flexibility but they are keeping an eye on contracts. Gord Johns repeated the same accusation in English, and Jaczek stated that the budget had plans to reduce that kind of consultant spending.

Round two, and Stephanie Kusie dramatically read a script with the “special kind of incompetence” lines (Gould: We are working to get a fair deal and negotiating in good faith), Leslyn Lewis read a variation of the same script (Gould: We have been delivering services in line with population growth; Holland: I’m not sure what you’re saying, because you’re playing games by twisting things for partisan advantage), and John Barlow gave yet more variations of the same talking point (St-Onge: When you were in power, you cut mercilessly and attacked unions; Fraser: The prime minister is standing up for people in my community who are getting more than they did under the Conservatives).

René Villemure returned to trying to connect the prime minister to the Trudeau Foundation (Holland: We have been protecting our democracy), and Marie-Hélène Gaudreau listed the people who want a public inquiry (Damoff: Hooray David Johnston).

Tracy Grey read more variations of the “special kind of incompetence” talking points around the civil service strike (Boissonnault: We respect collective bargaining but here are some budget investments; Champagne: Let’s talk about the competence on our side as we listen to Canadians’ needs), and Dominique Vien demanded the government repay the costs of his vacation accommodation (Rodriguez: You’re a former Radio-Canada journalist, so do you agree with your leader’s attacks on public broadcasting?)

Rachel Blaney worried that the veterans affairs minister hasn’t met with the union in two years (MacAulay: I have met with the union and employees and we have increased the department spending), and Matthew Green railed about the prime minister’s vacation vis-à-vis his vacation (Holland: These we’re family friends).

Round three saw questions on the interim ethics commissioner (Holland: The previous interim commissioner has been in the office since the Harper years; Champagne: Canadians care that we are investing in the future; Duclos: Unlike opposition MPs, we care about things like the contracts for the Davie Shipyard), Boeing getting a sole-source military contract (Champagne: We will always be there for Bombardier, and we recently announced an aerospace investment), mortgage interest (Hussen: Your colleagues who said that we should pull back from federal investments in housing who are out of touch), defence spending and NATO (May: Your government cut back precipitously while we reinvested), demanding an alert programme for missing Indigenous women (Damoff: I have made a commitment to work with her on this, and we have mention in the budget), and Correctional Services withholding documents from an inquest (Damoff: We too are dismayed by the delay of the inquest).

Overall, it was a pathetic day, with the Conservatives just repeating yesterday’s none-too-clever lead from Poilievre for the sake of clip-harvesting, the Bloc continuing to try and build a conspiracy theory around the Trudeau Foundation, and the NDP trying to sound like they’re the only real friends of the striking civil servants, albeit not quite as cartoonishly as they were yesterday. The government’s responses in patting themselves on the back to these repeated questions wasn’t all that clever either, for what that was worth. Even Mark Holland’s “Poilievre is 99 percent government funded” line was something of a non-sequitur considering that it was in response to a misleading question about carbon pricing, so I’m not sure it was really the slam dunk that Liberals hoped it would be.

Otherwise, this continues to be a sad spectacle that gets worse with each passing day. The redeeming value of this exercise continues to be diminished by a group of MPs and political leaders who refuse to take this seriously, and it’s poisoning our Parliamentary democracy.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Fergus for a blue-grey suit with a white shirt and pocket square and a navy bow tie, and to Tracy Grey for an off-white jacket over a black dress. Style citations go out to Marie-Hélène Gaudreau for a lilac suit over a pale blue floral pleated blouse with a pussy bow, and to Alexandre Boulerice for a brown jacket with a white shirt and green tie over blue jeans. Dishonourable mention goes out to Darrell Samson for a black suit and bow tie with a pale yellow shirt.

One thought on “QP: A special kind of incompetence to read the same script over and over”

  1. Do only silly people run for election? Or is it a disease that you catch once you sit in the House of Commons?

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