QP: More childish passport drama

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The prime minister was in town, but meeting the president of Moldova, while his deputy was at G7 meetings in Japan. Most of the other leaders were also present, for what it’s worth. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, decrying the “wokeist” ideology of the prime minster taking photos of Terry Fox and Vimy Ridge out of the passport in lieu of “colouring book” pages and a supposed picture of the prime minster swimming at Herrington Lake (which is not true). Sean Fraser said that people don’t learn history from passport photos, but actual books, and talking to veterans. Poilievre went again in English, voting to “bring home” the old images and what they represent if he forms government. Fraser took a swipe that the Conservatives don’t have a monopoly on heroes like Terry Fox. Poilievre then pretended that the PM was present and too afraid to answer, before decrying a “second carbon tax.” Steven Guilbeault noted that the premier of New Brunswick just adopted the federal system at the urging of one of the Conservative MPs. Poilievre repeated his antics again, and Guilbeault tried to quote from the Conservative platform before he was shouted down, and after the Speaker demanded silence, Guilbeault went on a tear about if Poilievre considers him “woke,” then he provided his own wrong definition. Poilievre turned this around with a stream of bullshit about what he thinks “woke” means, and doesn’t. Karina Gould stood up this time to decry the Conservatives opposing government help to people who need it.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc and yet again decried the “century initiative” and demanded the government not increase immigration levels. Fraser said that the initiative is not a government policy and they are bringing in needed workers while still protecting French. Alain Therrien started screaming about nobody wanting this kind of immigration, and Dominic LeBlanc spoke about seeing all kinds of signs in Quebec about people needing workers and not finding them.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and in French, lamented that the Liberals  were all talk about protecting abortion but not doing anything to increase access (which is provincial jurisdiction). Jenna Sudds stood up to recite that the usual lines about Conservatives attacking abortion rights. Singh repeated the question in English, and this time, Mélanie Joly stood up to give a more vociferous denunciation of Conservatives and insisting that this a government was doing more to protect abortion.

Round two, and Melissa Lantsman blamed the federal government for not building housing—which is not really their jurisdiction (Hussen: We have been taking measures for years, while you have half-baked ideas; Your leader just attacked mayors, which won’t get housing built), Leslyn Lewis decried carbon prices (Guilbeault: We halved foreign oil imports, and more Canadians are using Canadian energy; Fraser: You are talking about stripping social programmes), and Michael Barrett and Luc Berthold railed about the Trudeau Foundation (Holland: The prime minster has not had any connection with the Foundation for over ten years).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe again cried about the “century initiative” (Fraser: You haven’t read our plan, especially the part about Francophone immigration; Champagne: Quebec sets their own levels, but industry needs talent), and Luc Thériault decried that healthcare funding was not sufficient under the “century initiative” (Joly: The initially is not federal policy, and no member from the Bloc was with the minsters at the bargaining table with premiers).

Jasraj Hallan shouted about the finance minister not appearing at committee (Boissonnault: She is scheduled to appear, but your members are to busy filibustering), and Bernard Généroux complained about the prime minister’s travels (Champagne: We listened to Canadians and are putting in policies according to what they told us).

Heather McPherson lamented that the federal government was not providing abortion access in rural areas—which is provincial jurisdiction (Sudds: We are funding groups to improve access), and Charlie Angus decried that a particular misogynistic group is still getting Canada Summer Jobs grants (Sudds: Bland pabulum about how great the programme is).

Round three saw questions on passport changes (Fraser: You are deeply mistaken, and we have managed to eliminate the backlog, and the designs were approved years ago; Damoff: It breaks my heart to hear anyone politicising Terry Fox; Gould: When you were in government, you were more concerned about symbols than actions), the threats against Michael Chong or other MPs (Mendicino: CSIS makes the decision on what information to share; LeBlanc: We take the threat of foreign interference extremely seriously), housing starts being down while CMHC is getting bonuses—which is an independent Crown corporation that the government doesn’t control (Hussen: They are independent, and here are our measures you voted against; LeBlanc: I work with mayors, and they want a partner at the federal government not someone who will insult them), carbon prices (Boissonnault: This is absurd in the extreme), the prime minister’s travelling (Boissonnault: If you worried about the cost of living, you would stop your filibuster at committee and pass the budget), making prescription contraceptives free nationally (Sudds: We invested in UBC’s programme to increase abortion access), and stopping Chinese investment in prospecting companies (Joly: We have a national security lens on foreign investments).

Overall, it feels like things are just getting progressively worse. On top of Poilievre going back to his mendacious shtick of pretending that the prime minister is present and not answering when he is in fact away, he and Steven Guilbeault got into a shouting match about what qualifies as “woke.” They were both wrong, and it’s just this asinine way of fighting over buzzwords that are divorced from their actual meanings, and it’s so, so stupid. And the ongoing questions about the passport changes are so bad they’re utterly dispiriting. And while Sean Fraser did a slightly better job of owning the changes today than the prime minister did yesterday, it was still just more ridiculous exchanges back and forth, particularly when the Conservatives kept shouting “You did!” when a Liberal would deny they were erasing history.

It was also March for Life Day in Ottawa, when Catholic high school students are bussed in from around the region to march in downtown Ottawa and rally on the Hill with some anti-abortion nonsense. And of course, the Liberals and NDP were trying to out-do one another to proclaim themselves pro-choice, the NDP trying to insist that the Liberals have done nothing in office (guys, this is the federal level), while the Conservatives sit stone-faced and trying not to take the bait. And while this was bad enough, there were places where ministers tried to wedge these references into their answer, which was forced and fairly tiresome.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Fergus for a navy suit and bow tie over a white shirt, and to Mélanie Joly for a navy suit over a light blue collared shirt, with a red and blue scarf draped under the jacket lapels. Style citations go out to Kerry-Lynne Findlay for a long-sleeved red jacket with a leopard-print pattern over a black top and slacks, and to Mark Gerretsen for a navy jacket and tie with a light blue shirt and blue jeans. Dishonourable mention goes out to Sylvie Bérubé for a dark yellow jacket over a black patterned top, and to Ginette Petitpas Taylor for a mustard sweater over a white collared shirt and black slacks.

2 thoughts on “QP: More childish passport drama”

  1. Conservatives: The Liberals have disgraced the memory of Terry Fox!

    Also Conservatives: (supports an insurrectionist mob whose participants defecated on his statue)

    Hypocrisy, thy name is the Conservative Party of Canada.

  2. I think if Pierre Poilievre’s mother’s picture was on the passport, he would complain.

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