The prime minister was present for one of the final Question Periods of the sitting, but his deputy was away in Toronto, and only a few of the other leaders were present. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, claiming that trust in democracy has been “shattered” and that he has been working with opposition parties about a public inquiry, but demanded the inquiry be declared before he shared names for who to lead it. Justin Trudeau read a script about working with stakeholders and opposition leaders about next steps in this issue. Poilievre then pivoted and cited a letter to the Journal de Montreal about someone losing their house, and demanded a balanced budget, as though there were a correlation. Trudeau patted himself on the back for the “tangible investments for families” with things like dental care. Poilievre switched to English to worry about household debt and again demanded a balanced budget. Trudeau acknowledged that Canadians are struggling which was why they have supports for them, while the Conservatives only promise cuts. Poilievre reiterated the story of the woman losing her house, trying to tie this to the deficit, which is false, and demanded a balanced budget yet again. Trudeau again reiterated that the Conservatives only proposed cuts while Canada has the lowest deficit and debt-to-GDP in the G7, and then took a swipe at Poilievre’s underwhelming by-election results. Poilievre again tried to tie housing and rental price increase to deficits, which is specious, and Trudeau again took a swipe at the by-election results before patting himself on the back for his positive vision.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and as expected, he demanded a public inquiry immediately. Trudeau insisted that the opposition turned this into a partisan issue rather than taking this seriously. Therrien repeated his demands, and Trudeau repeated his same points about working to establish the next steps.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he worried about the rental prices in Toronto and blamed corporate landlords—never mind that this is an issue of provincial jurisdiction. Trudeau recited the housing measures that they have taken or are planning to take. Singh insisted that they were not acting with urgency and in French, noted that July 1st is Moving Day in Quebec and that families were under stress. Trudeau reiterated that they are there with projects and plans to help people.

Round two, and Melissa Lantsman listed Marco Mendicino’s sins and demanded his resignation (Mendicino: Your willingness to let AR-15s on the street is reckless for public safety), Stephanie Kusie breathlessly recited her own script on demanding a public inquiry (O’Connell: We are continuing to work with opposition parties because we are taking this seriously), and Dominique Vien demanded a public inquiry in French (Mendicino: We will find the best way to move forward for Canadians), as well as Bernardo transfer (Mendicino: When I was informed, I reached out to the Commissioner of Corrections).

If Stephanie Kusie makes it back to drama camp this summer, I’m hoping they coach her on her breathing during her dramatic recitations. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 20, 2023

Denis Trudel demanded the federal government build more social housing in Québec (Rodriguez: You call the first of July a nightmare, which I take exception to; Martinez Ferrada: We created an accelerator fund for municipalities; Housing is a provincial jurisdiction and we are working with them).

I’m surprised that the Bloc is demanding the federal government build social housing in Quebec rather than just give the provincial government money. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 20, 2023

Damien Kurek read some nonsense about the deficit and inflation (Boissonnault: Thousands of people voted against your attacks in the by-elections last night), and Rosemarie Falk read her own version of said nonsense (Saks: We are investing in Canadians; St-Onge: Canadians remember Conservative cuts and austerity).

Leah Gazan demanded a national school meal programme implemented immediately (Saks: We have been working to reduce child poverty), and Blake Desjarlais worried about rental prices in Edmonton (Martinez Ferrada: We have been making investments).

I’m *pretty sure* that school food programmes are provincial jurisdiction. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 20, 2023

Round three saw questions on carbon prices and the clean fuel standard (Bibeau: You are twisting the facts, and you are assuming farms above average size and with no innovation; Your government cut hundreds of millions in research and innovation while we invested; Dabrusin: If you want to talk about the clean fuel standard, let’s actually do that; These regulations drive technology and innovation; Our emissions are decreasing and clean fuels will help the economy; Wilkinson: We have to address climate change in an affordable way, and most families get more back then they pay; St-Onge: Climate change has a cost, including the wildfires we are experiencing), forest fires causing loss of jobs (Blair: We are working with provinces through the disaster relief funds) and affecting EI eligibility (Qualtrough: We are working with employers to ensure that there is the support necessary and that workers have access to EI), fishery quotas (Murray: My goal is to grow the sector in a sustainable way, and the stock decisions have not yet been made), cancelling a committee meeting (Holland: You are obstructing everything), grocery CEOs (Saks: We made funding available to food banks and charities), loan forgiveness for small businesses (Ng: We have been in touch with small businesses and will continue to work with them).

There is no second carbon price.
How can the government not point this out? #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 20, 2023

There is so much specious logic on display, and does it get called out? Of course not. #QP pic.twitter.com/YzmTgJ4Kzz

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 20, 2023

Overall, it was largely more muted again today (with the exception of the one outburst at the end that I will address in a moment), but there were no real surprises in terms of topics as MPs from the Conservatives and NDP try to get as many clips as they can before the summer recess, which is one of the reasons why things have been fairly scattershot, but also a heavy emphasis on carbon prices because those increase on July 1st, and it’s also when the Clean Fuel Standard regulations come into effect (and no, it’s not another carbon price, and I wish to gods the government could spell this out but they refuse to). I would also point out that the prime minister made a couple of rather forced swipes at Poilievre over last night’s by-election results, which were not great for the Conservatives (even if they did hold their two seats, as they lost voter share in them), but it was pretty forced, and wasn’t much of a gotcha.

Additionally, we had another moment of ineptitude from the Speaker with regards to questions directed to committee chairs. The chair did actually stand up to answer, but who did Rota recognise? Mark Holland, the House leader. When this was raised after QP, where Rota had to consult with the table officers, he did apologize for recognising the wrong person, but honest to Zeus, he’s been Speaker for almost four years now. He should know this, and which person to recognise when a question is asked of a committee chair (and when that’s being done for the sake of shenanigans), 

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Kelly Block for a short-sleeved black top over a black skirt with a diamond grid pattern, and to Glen Motz for an eggplant suit with a crisp white shirt and a striped purple tie and a purple pocket square. Style citations go out to Alain Therrien for a navy jacket over a white shirt, blue striped tie and blue jeans, and Lisa Hepfner for a black wrap dress with copper and white leaf patterns. Dishonourable mention goes out to Julie Vignola for a yellow top with wide half-sleeves over black slacks, and to Gudie Hutchings for a black short-sleeved shirt-dress with large mustard florals.