QP: The last big Poilievre/Trudeau show of the spring sitting

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The prime minister was present for what we all hoped was the final QP of the sitting. Hopefully. Some of the other leaders were present, but not others, which was very unusual for a Wednesday where they would normally use as many spots as possible for themselves.

Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and worried that some housing costs have doubled in Quebec, and blamed the prime minister and inflation (which is risible). Justin Trudeau said that if Poilievre was serious, he would support their policies like the housing accelerator fund, and working with municipalities to build more. Poilievre switched to English to worry that it would take twenty-years to save up for a down payment in Toronto, and again blamed deficits for this. Trudeau praised their job creation record and investments in growing the economy, before talking about his work with municipalities to build housing. Poilievre trotted out his “he’s telling people they’ve never had it so good” line and railed about housing costs, and again blamed the prime minister. Trudeau worried the Conservatives would cut the programmes that are helping Canadians. Poilievre insisted that the programmes were not working and blamed them for doubling housing prices, which again is laughable. Trudeau said that picking fights with mayors, like Poilievre is trying to do, would not solve the housing crisis. Poilievre worried that Trudeau says all the right things but doesn’t do them, and Trudeau insisted that he would take saying the right things as a vote of confidence.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he worried about small companies suffering from the wildfires, and wanted to meet about implementing solutions, and Trudeau read a script about standing in solidarity with them, and promised to work with provinces through the summer. Blanchet insisted that they needed an immediate answer, and Trudeau insisted that they are working with the affected provinces.

Lori Idlout rose for the NDP, and she blamed the government’s inaction on intergenerational trauma with Indigenous people. Trudeau noted that today was a celebration of Indigneous languages and cultures while also recognise the sins of past and continuing the path of reconciliation. Idlout demanded action and not empathy, particularly with Grassy Narrows, and Trudeau insisted that they are working on that solution. 

Round two, and Poilievre got back up and tried to once again insist that Trudeau and deficits were responsible for rising mortgage costs (Trudeau: When you were in government, you did nothing about housing while we have reinvested to help address the challenges you ignored; We grew the economy; Your proposal of cuts and austerity are why your by-election results were underwhelming; The accelerator fund was the centrepiece of our platform but maybe you didn’t read it because you were too busy sharpening your knives), he listed a bunch of alleged bad government spending, which was not all bad (Trudeau: You want to cut childcare or climate rebates), and listed his “plan” items for housing (Trudeau: Most of that are things we are already working on while you delayed supports for Canadians).

Monique Pauzé worried about Suncor possibly drilling offshore exploratory wells (Trudeau: We are not approving offshore production and eliminating subsidies), Kristina Michaud demanded and end to fossil fuels (Trudeau: The world needs energy, and we are investing in hydrogen, nuclear, solar and wind).

Poilievre trotted out the false line about the clean fuel standard being a “second carbon tax” when it is not (Trudeau: You know nothing about what is happening on in Quebec; Our price on pollution is seeing emissions reductions and we are on target for 2030 and 2050 targets; Energy companies are making record profits and our climate rebates are increasing; You are desperate to demonstrate why not taking action is best for climate change but people can see the impacts).

Leah Gazan railed about the lack of progress on MMIW calls for action (Trudeau: Addressing this violence requires a whole-of-government approach, and here are actions we have taken; Dismissing our actions as platitudes is to dismiss the work of Indigenous leaders who are guiding the way).

Round three saw Poilievre ask yet questions on housing prices and the deficit (Trudeau: We have the lowest deficit and GDP ratio in the G7), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Trudeau: We have invested in infrastructure abroad because it helps with growth and climate resilience, and we are reviewing this situation; We will continue to invest in global infrastructure but we are assessing this bank), calling a public inquiry (Trudeau: Opposition parties say they want to work together, but we need to have consensus so we don’t fall back onto personal attacks), the cost of Trudeau attending meetings in New York (Trudeau: I was pleased to meet with world leaders because these meetings matter), demanding Marco Mendicino get fired (Trudeau: You hand-picked a candidate who engaged in homophobia; We shares the concerns of the families of Bernardo’s victims but this was an independent decision). There were also questions on a public inquiry (Trudeau: We are establishing a consensus on next steps), Indigenous youth facing homelessness (Trudeau: We have co-developed an Indigenous housing strategy and have been investing in it), and the clean fuel regulations (Trudeau: Canadians are feeling the effects of climate change).

Overall, the fact that this was probably the last sitting day kept things fairly raucous, and once again, Poilievre kept every question for himself rather than letting anyone else ask the prime minister (which, I remind you, was the point of his doing these proto-Prime Minster’s Questions on Wednesdays). That meant more clip-harvesting and trying to build his nonsense case around deficits driving up housing costs, which has no factual basis, or logical flow, and is a giant exercise in not understanding that correlation does not equal causation, as Poilievre made one specious connection after another. The prime minister could have pointed this fact out at any number of opportunities today, but did he? Of course not. And on and on this particular bit of bad theatre continues, to the detriment of the rest of us.

Additionally, it being Indigenous People’s Day, the NDP put up only Indigenous and Métis MPs to speak, which is something that they are wont to do on days like this. That said, the government had at least one backbench softball on the same issue, and got a generic white guy to ask the question, which seems tone deaf to me (but what do I know?) Then again, Poilievre and the Conservatives ignored it entirely, which was not terribly surprising either.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rachel Bendayan for a black half-sleeved dress with a grey and purple plaid pattern, and to Terry Beech for a tailored navy suit over a light blue shirt and a cranberry tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to Darren Fisher for his brown suede jacket over a dark blue collared shirt with red patterns and blue jeans with no tie, and to Heather McPherson for a reddish-orange jacket over a multicoloured bouffant dress with horizontal stripes in every shade of yellow, green and blue. Dishonourable mention goes out to Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné for a bright yellow jacket over what appeared to be a white shirt and black slacks.

3 thoughts on “QP: The last big Poilievre/Trudeau show of the spring sitting”

  1. With the Disabilities Act passing this week, this Official Critic or Shadow Minister (are they still running with that term?) for Disabilities ask any questions in QP about it?

      • I get there are many complains about QP (the whole post 2015 “tone” discussion comes to mind) and there’s the committees too, but I guess I thought part of (if not the central) function was Official Opposition and others questioning the legislation being passed yet it seems like act after act is passed without a question by an official critic on it?

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