QP: Watch out, the kids are back

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The prime minister had not planned to be in the Chamber today, and yet there he was, present for the moment of silence on the Day to Combat Islamophobia, and then stuck around for the Leaders’ Round. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, raised the prime minister’s vacation, and then blamed him for rising rents in Montreal. Trudeau stood up and gave a statement about the Day to Combat Islamophobia in French. Poilievre again blamed the prime minister for students living in shelters and demanded he end inflation and let developers ensure affordable housing. Trudeau noted that the was merely launching personal attacks, and that he voted against actions to help accelerate housing. Poilievre switched to English, and returned to the issue of Trudeau’s vacation, and wanted to know if he paid the “full carbon tax” on the flights he took. Trudeau read that Poilievre has no plan for climate change, while climate change causes droughts, which causes droughts, which rises food prices, and Poilievre has no plan for that. Poilievre called Trudeau a “high-carbon hypocrite,” and Trudeau called out individual Conservatives for voting against things they previously believed in. Poilievre then accused Trudeau of “muzzling” backbencher Ken McDonald and demanded he put his leadership up for review. Trudeau recited how they are working with mayors to build housing, before calling out Leslyn Lewis’ lunch with Christine Anderson.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he returned to his private little conspiracy theory about the Century Initiative around immigration levels. Trudeau pointed to the need for immigrants, and that the levels are stabilising. Blanchet then demanded better distribution of asylum seekers, and Trudeau insisted that hey were working with provinces. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed about homelessness but it was hard to hear him over Conservative roaring. Trudeau read a script about using every tool they have to ensure housing affordability, such as their announcement that morning. Singh switched to French to decry renovictions, which is a provincial issue. Trudeau read some boilerplate language.

Round two, and Andrew Scheer gave some snide remarks about the prime minister’s vacation before demanding the government reject Senate amendments to Bill C-234 (Freeland: We are aggressive working to build more homes across the country), John Barlow demanded Bill C-234 be restored and passed (Freeland: It’s common sense to have a national system of early learning and child care, and to to give the Canada Child Benefit; MacAulay: We have an environmental plan and you don’t), and Rachael Harder Thomas accused the government of weaponising ignorance and shouted about the carbon price (Freeland: You know a lot about hypocrisy, and are hypocritical about supporting working families).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe demanded the federal government “redistribute” asylum seekers in Quebec to other provinces (Miller: We are here to work together with provinces), and demanded the government restore visa requirements for Mexican nationals (Miller: I would counsel patience on this).

Melissa Lantsman read some angry scripts about housing (Fraser: You are playing on the anxieties of people but your plans shows you have no idea what you’re talking about; What you dismiss as photo ops are binding agreements with municipalities who have changed their zoning rules), and Tracy Grey read her own script with misleading talking points on housing (Fraser: We do have a plan to build homes in real communities, which you voted against).

Peter Julian raised the Quebec City mosque shooting, and demanded action on combatting online hate (Virani: We know radicalisation happens online and we are committed to tackling it with comprehensive legislation), and Heather McPherson demanded funding to UNRWA be restored (Hussen: The allegations are disturbing and we are acting prudently).

Round three saw yet more talking points about the prime minster’s vacation versus rents and housing (Fraser: Your leader’s solution is to call mayors incompetent; Rodriguez: In order to succeed in housing, you need to work with municipalities; Lebouthillier: Your colleague still haven’t apologised for insulting riding). It also saw questions on CEBA loan repayments (Valdez: We gave them added flexibility; Bibeau: Same answer), demanding a balanced budget (Freeland: This is alarmism, and our public finances are sustainable; You would cut our support for Ukraine; You should quote objective authorities like ratings agencies), the prime minister’s vacation (MacKinnon: The Ethics Commissioner was consulted), the senior public servants suspended for ArriveCan (LeBlanc: CBSA is doing their work to ensure that people are following the rules around contracting), serious crime (Virani: We unanimously addressed bail reforms), oil and gas CEOs (Guilbeault: I agree and we are taking action), and the amendments to the Sustainable Jobs Act (Wilkinson: A handful of amendments were passed in the chaos at committee). 

Overall, it was mostly just a return to form, where all sides were out to provide clips for their socials, and that was about it. Trudeau used his first response to make a statement about the Day to Combat Islamophobia as he didn’t have an opportunity during Members’ Statements like others did, and Ministers’ Statements is after QP, when they had already decided to give tributes to Ed Broadbent, so that was his moment to do so in the Chamber. I’m not a fan of that, but this is what happens when you focus all attention on QP in the day. I was surprised there wasn’t more of the promised “relentless focus” on Bill C-234 from the Conservatives, but Trudeau did have some talking points today about climate, drought, and rising food prices, so maybe he’s getting the message about how to communicate this kind of a situation after all.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much else to say. I’m surprised the NDP didn’t have more questions on Gaza than just the one. While the Speaker did give a warning about Freeland suggesting the Conservatives are supporting Putin, I’m very curious what Damien Kurek meant when he tried to insinuate that Freeland was the one who did. After QP, a Bloc MP tried to raise a point of privilege about how the Speaker not controlling the noise violated his rights, which was…novel. But really, this is just more of the same tired bullshit, and we’re still a long way from an election.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Marc Miller for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and a dark purple tie, and to Marie-Claude Bibeau for a black jacket and slacks over a navy top with a fuchsia grid pattern. Style citations go out to Marci Ien for a grey long-sleeved top with dull coloured panels across it, with maroon slacks, and to Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe for a black velvet jacket over a dull white shirt, black floral tie and blue jeans. 

4 thoughts on “QP: Watch out, the kids are back”

  1. Did they (both sides) really use the “h” word in QP? Surely that’s a prohibited/unparliamentary word?

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