QP: Pretending to care about history

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The prime minister was present today while his deputy was in Japan for G7 meetings. The other leaders were all present for another episode of the clown show. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and joked that the prime minister heard that there were problems with passports, but didn’t realise that it wasn’t the images but that people couldn’t get them, and then lamented that the image of Vimy Ridge was removed. Justin Trudeau said that the Conservatives used veterans as props when they need them while they cut their funding consistently. Poilievre went again in English, and Trudeau ramped up the dramatics for the same answer. Poilievre lamented other images removed, while Trudeau gave a paean about the measures in his budget. Poilievre pivoted to one of Trudeau’s favourite delis in Montreal closing and blaming food prices, before he railed about the carbon price, to which Trudeau recited his lines about fighting carbon change while sending rebates to Canadians. Poilievre blamed the prime minister for food prices increasing, used his “bring home” line, and railed about the carbon price, and Trudeau went on a tear about Poilievre’s social media and his uses of misogynistic hashtags on his YouTube channel, which was a completely bizarre non-sequitur to the question.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he once again railed about the so-called “century plan,” and the impact on Quebec. Trudeau said that while Quebec controls its own immigration levels, the federal government sets the levels nationally, and they are ensuring economic growth. Blanchet railed that nobody in Quebec wants these levels, to which Trudeau quipped that the levels were released in November, and it took Quebec media until now to create this firestorm.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and raised the number of times pharmaceutical lobbyists met with the government and blamed them for not making changes on PMPRB. Trudeau read a script about the actions they have taken to lower drug prices. Singh read his question again in French, and Trudeau read the French version of his same script.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to blame the prime minister for the increasing cost of housing and CMHC executive bonuses—which is arm’s length from government (Trudeau: You talk about the issue with no solutions except tax breaks for landlords who sell their buildings; We are investing in municipalities and taking other measures; Your only plan is to pick fights with provinces and municipalities; We are signing agreements that include obligations around densification and transit; This is getting silly).

Blachet got back up to name someone he blamed for the government’s immigration targets (Trudeau: We hear from Quebeckers complaining about labour shortages, while the Quebec government sets their own targets; We consulted 300,000 people in setting our targets, including in Quebec).

Poilievre got up again, and this time accused the government of constantly changing their story around the Chong briefing (Trudeau: The three former advisors confirmed yesterday that they didn’t see that report; Intelligence agencies make their determinations over what goes up the chain, and I have directed them do direct threats against MPs to go up), and tried to bring in the Trudeau Foundation to this, and demanded new powers for the Auditor General so she could look into them (Trudeau: I haven’t been involved in the Foundation for a decade).

Singh got back up, and raised land agreements with Indigenous people in Saskatchewan (Trudeau: We are working to implement UNDRIP in conjunction with provinces), and Bonita Zarillo raised the costs of housing (Trudeau: We have been putting forward a number of measures and are working with municipalities).

Round three, and Poilievre got up yet again to accuse the government of fuelling the opioid crisis with safe supply and trying to decriminalise crack and heroin with increasingly unhinged rhetoric (Trudeau: We are using every tool with our partners to save lives; We have seen this kind of rhetoric before from the American far-right, and we need to stay grounded in what front-line responders are telling us; The Harper approach failed and we won’t take any lessons),  and the so-called “second carbon tax” (Trudeau: We ensured it is not free to pollute, and have put more money in people’s pockets), the number of belugas in Canadian waters (Trudeau: You are showing you know nothing about what is happening in Quebec), and LNG development (Trudeau: Clever buzzwords are not a plan to grow the economy). It also saw yet more questions on immigration levels (Trudeau: Quebec needs a bigger labour force and Quebec families want to welcome newcomers who will fill gaps; We can see that the Bloc only wants to squabble), as well as wildfires in Alberta affecting Indigenous and Métis communities (Trudeau: We will be there for them, and work with the provincial government), and electoral reform (Trudeau: I tried to find consensus for ranked ballots and there was none to be had).

Overall, it was such a stupid day that I felt like I was bleeding IQ points. It’s not just that the exchanges were inane—it’s that they were actively making me dumber by the minute. I barely know where to begin. There was today’s faux controversy over the new passports, where Poilievre pretended to care about history, and Trudeau refused to own the changes to the document design. There was Trudeau’s bizarre non sequitur about Poilievre using misogynistic hashtags when the question was carbon prices. There was the Bloc continuing to push this Replacement Theory bullshit over immigration targets that aren’t even the ones the government set. There was Singh using American talking points about big pharma lobbyists, as though they’re bankrolling parties. There was the insipid “You stole our ideas!” “No, you stole our ideas!” about housing policy. There was the completely boneheaded demand to expand the Auditor General’s powers to turn her into some kind of roving commission of inquiry. There were the frankly grotesque questions about the opioid crisis based on a dubiously-sourced National Post article. And then a grab-bag of back-and-forth stupidity about LNG projects. And there were real answers that Trudeau could have given that dismantled all of Poilievre’s bullshit if he actually bothered, but he doesn’t, so we get these increasingly braindead back-and-forth exchanges that are all heat and no light. It’s just so dispiriting to try and watch.

And as for the Liberals going to the outrage well not once but twice with two separate backbench suck-up questions on that stupid and doomed Conservative private members’ backdoor abortion-banning bill is just pathetic.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a tailored navy suit over a light  purple shirt with a matching pocket square and a light blue tie, and to Anita Anand for a dark pink jacket over a black top and slacks. Style citations go out to Jennifer O’Connell for a grey high-collared top with pink and blue florals with forest green slacks, and to Omar Alghabra for a milk chocolate brown suit over a white shirt and a dark maroon tie.