QP: One aborted sing-along later…

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The PM and all of the other leaders were present, which can sometimes set the stage for a good show, and it actually delivered—more or less—today. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, starting off with a recap of the allegations about the donations to the Trudeau Foundation from Chinese sources, and demanded that the prime minister allow his brother to appear at committee to answer about the donation. Trudeau stated that he hasn’t had any contact with the Foundation for a decade, and committees decide who they will call before them. Poilievre said that Trudeau was taking people for fools if he thinks people don’t believe he has nothing to do with the Foundation, and repeated his demand for the committee motion. Trudeau responded that he hasn’t had any contact with the Foundation, and the Conservatives were focusing on him while he delivers for Canadians. Poilievre pivoted to the strike and the increasing cost of bureaucracy while Canadians are getting less service, and wondered if taxpayers need to go on strike. Trudeau replied that they respect unions and that they are at the bargaining table. Poilievre repeated the question in English, and this time, Trudeau struck back harder with the Conservatives’ cuts to services and attacks on unions, while they respect unions. Poilievre then tried to start a singalong for “New York, New York,” in reference to Trudeau heading there after QP, before the Speaker stopped him, and when he was allowed to resume, wondered if Trudeau would pay for his own hotel room on the trip. Trudeau tried to pivot this into an answer about how his government was attracting investment from companies like Volkswagen. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, started with a plea for the Speaker to allow any singing, before he tried to once again conflate PMO and PCO with that meeting between five deputy ministers and the Foundation. Trudeau restated that he and his staff did not participate in that meeting, then got in a dig that maybe it was different under the Conservatives when they tried to politicise the civil service. Blanchet tried to spin this as the prime minster is deliberately being ignorant, but Trudeau said this was part of baseless attacks on people like David Johnston, which are unworthy of this place.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, said the government was showing an ugly face in not capitulating to the civil service union. Trudeau chided the NDP for not understanding how bargaining works, and said a new offer was on the table. Singh switched to English to demand the prime minister not jet off to New York and settle the strike first, but Trudeau repeated his jibe at the NDP not understanding bargaining.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to take a few other swipes before demanding the government scrap the carbon price (Trudeau: Here is how much families in your riding get back), he misquoted the PBO report on carbon rebates (Trudeau: If he actually read the report, he would see most families get more back), falsehoods about the efficacy of carbon prices (Trudeau: You have a significant task ahead of you trying to convince people there is no cost to climate change), claiming he would have to clean up this prime minister’s mess (Trudeau: Your party only believed in cuts and it didn’t deliver growth, while we delivered it with investments), and the cancellation of a tidal power project because of slow approvals (Trudeau: We have worked with provinces to ensure we have created the opportunities for clean growth).

Blanchet got back up to try and spin more Trudeau Foundation conspiracy theories (Trudeau: It might surprise everyone that the Bloc doesn’t like David Johnston).

Poilievre got back up for another round, and accused the government of attacking Indigenous inters by planning to ban assault-style rifles (Trudeau: You are in the pocket of American gun lobbyists), how dare you call these people Americans (Trudeau: You will go to any lengths to prove you’re not beholden to the NRA), going after “real” criminals (Trudeau: If you were serious about it, you would support our plan to ban handguns and assault rifles, while we invested in police after you cut them).

Singh got back up again, and once again demanded the government capitulate to the union (Trudeau: We are at the negotiating table right now), and tried to drag Galen Weston into the strike talking points (Trudeau: The very first thing we did when we came in was to lower taxes on the Middle Class™ and raise the on the wealthiest, and you vote against it).

Round three saw yet more questions from Poilievre on housing prices (Trudeau: Your government under-invested on housing, so we brought forward a national strategy; Your only plan was tax breaks for landlords who sell their buildings; You can’t cut your way to prosperity; Talk about how great the 2008 recession was for Canadians, because that’s what you’re saying; You are looking to pick fights with other orders to government, which won’t deliver results; You’re not actually fighting for things communities need), demanding his repay the cost of the London hotel room during the Queen’s funeral (Trudeau: You keep attacking me but I am delivering for Canadians), plus more questions on the strike (Trudeau: Everyone is working in good faith at the bargaining table), and student jobs (Trudeau: We boosted the programme during the height of the pandemic and we are returning to pre-pandemic levels, while we have other measures as well).

Overall, once you got past the attempted sing-along, it was actually a fairly dynamic day with somewhat extemporaneous back-and-forth exchanges, rather than it simply being the same talking points being read out eleventy times and a litany of ministers answering with non-sequitur pabulum. Instead, we had actual volleys that weren’t scripted, even if they were repeating some worn talking points along the way. That doesn’t mean the exchanges were great, and Trudeau really, really needs to learn how to call Poilievre out on just how he’s cherry-picking the PBO’s numbers to mendacious effect, and most especially his inability to differentiate between correlation and causation, especially on the questions of housing price. Trudeau did have a half-point in the Conservatives under-investing in the sector for a decade, but the problems we’re seeing now have been baked-in since the Conservatives were in power, maybe even longer, so Poilievre can’t pat himself on the back or take credit for the fact that prices were lower then because he did absolutely nothing on the file. Oh, and Trudeau’s “Poilievre is in the pocket of the NRA” lines are beyond risible. There is a difference between pandering to the gun lobby and being beholden to an American organisation that can’t bankroll his party or their elections, and we need to stop cosplaying American drama in our politics. Cripes.

Meanwhile, the Speaker continues to be completely useless, and today he suggested that because of raucous behaviour, he might simply mix up the speaking order on his list rather than taking away questions, which is ridiculous because a) it doesn’t actually punish the offenders, and b) this just creates more havoc as they will complain that this messes up their strategy, and when the assistant deputy Speaker took away a question a couple of weeks ago—one of her choosing—they freaked out on her and stalled proceedings, even though the Speaker can call on whom they like and the list is merely a convenience. It’s ludicrous that this just keeps being allowed to get worse.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit over a crisp white shirt, white a matching pocket square and a purple striped tie, and to Julie Dzerowicz for a dark red jacket over a v-necked off-white top and black slacks. Style citations go out to Sylvie Bérubé for an off-white jacket with tropical florals and black ferns across it over a black top with a lace neckline, and to Paul Chiang for a maroon jacket over a navy shirt with a red tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Ginette Petitpas Taylor for a dull yellow jacket over a white top and black slacks.

One thought on “QP: One aborted sing-along later…”

  1. Mentioning sartorial aspect, I wanted a clip on CPAC of QP today and never noticed how big Mr. Polievre’s chest is especially looking at his waist. Maybe it’s just an odd cut of his suit jacket, but am I alone in noticing it?

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