QP: The usual demands ahead of the fiscal update

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While the prime minister was in town today, he was not in QP, and neither was his deputy. Most of the other leaders were absent as well. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and cited a figure that claims the deficit is adding two percent of interest rates per month (erm…), and demanded a balanced budget. Anita Anand listed measures the government is taking to help people with affordability. Poilievre repeated the same claim and demand in English, to which Anand noted that much of the spending noted by that report was provincial and not federal, and that they were there for Canadians when they need it. Poilievre repeated his same points more emphatically, and this time Sean Fraser said it was hard to accept criticism from a member who didn’t get homes built when he was the minister charge of the housing file. Poilievre then pivoted to the carbon price, and proposed a “Canadian compromise” to freeze said price until the next election. Fraser then listed figures that poked holes in Poilievre’s revisionist history of his time as a minister. Poilievre pivoted again and worried that one of the battery plants the government is funding would rely on temporary foreign workers. Fraser got back up to carry on with the criticisms on housing, with a slight mention of the new economy. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he demanded that the government extend the CERB repayment deadline lest there be millions of bankruptcies. Rechie Valdez read her talking points about extending the date and providing more flexibility. Therrien then demanded the fiscal update include the promise for a national school lunch programme, and more specifically transferring money to Quebec for it. Jenna Sudds reiterated that the government is working with the provinces to developing this programme together. 

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he decried the profits of grocery giants, and demanded a windfall tax in the economic update. Anand praised the government’s bill to increase competition, now that it is moving ahead again. Daniel Blaikie patted himself on the back for “improving” that bill and demanded more funds for housing in the fiscal update. Fraser suggested he wait for the update tomorrow.

Round two, and Jasraj Hallan lied about what the Bank of Canada said about the carbon price (Bendayan: With the update tomorrow, you’ll get real numbers and facts; Wilkinson: What you said is wrong and misleading), Adam Chambers demanded a balance budget (Bendayan: We believe you can balance compassion with fiscal responsibility),  and Pierre Paul-Hus read the same script in French (Bendayan: What kind of austerity are you proposing?; Rodriguez: What would you cut?)

Claude DeBellefeuille worried that Mexican drug cartels were smuggling people into Canada and the US (LeBlanc: We have invested to strengthen our borders and I have been working with our American colleagues), and Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe read the same alarmist script (LeBlanc: We have not lost control of the border). 

Kerry Lynne-Findlay read some slogans about housing (Fraser: Here are some facts from StatsCan), and Philip Lawrence repeated the same Scotiabank report that Poilievre did (Fraser: Tell your leader to stop blocking the bill to cut GST for rental construction).

Lori Idlout demanded more housing money for Nunavut in the economic update (Vandal: We are engaged with the territory and rights-holders, and the strategy will roll out in the months to come), and Leah Gazan demanded federal housing in Winnipeg (Fraser: I met with the mayor this morning and we have been engaging to facilitate the reforms to get federal money).

Round three saw questions on cherry-picked housing statistics  (Fraser: We are making the investments to get houses built; Bendayan: You need to support our bill), the surveillance aircraft contract and letting Bombardier bid (Blair: This is a vital capability that must be replaced; Duclos: We are meeting our needs while supporting the sector), the SDTC resignations (Turnbull: We all expect money to be spent responsibly and we ordered an investigation into when allegations were raised), the ArriveCan procurement (LeBlanc: We expect all officials responsible for contracting to do with the rules, and those who who did not follow the rules will face the consequences), the Stellantis plan using temporary foreign workers (Kusmierczyk: We delivered the battery plant, and we will work with Stellantis to ensure local workers are prioritised), and the ongoing Phoenix issue (Duclos: We are hiring 600 new staff to help clear the backlog).

Overall, it was actually a fairly quiet day to kick off the first day of the final stretch of 2023. It was also fairly lacklustre in the lead-up to tomorrow’s Fall Economic Statement, and while there  were demands today for what opposition parties wanted to see in it, which of course the government wouldn’t really respond to, if memory serves it’s always worst on the day of the Budget or the update, so we have that to look forward to tomorrow (oh boy!) It is somewhat noteworthy that the government responses on questions about that Scotiabank report did provide some proper context around how much of that government spending they raised the alarm about was provincial (true!), for what it’s worth. Certainly none of the facts presented in response to these questions or those about cherry-picked housing data made a difference because everyone had their scripts all written up beforehand and nobody can think on their feet any longer, but sometimes it would be nice to call out that kind of behaviour with the obnoxious scripts. But then again, everyone is equally guilty of using them, so anyone calling it out would be cast as a hypocrite regardless, for what it’s worth.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Christine Normandin for a slim black dress with three-quarter sleeves, and to Rob Oliphant for a dark grey suit with a white shirt and a dark lavender tie. Style citations go out to Darren Fisher for a powder blue jacket over a black shirt and a dark blue tie, and to Pam Damoff for a black collared dress with grey and burgundy floral under a black jacket.