QP: Call in the RCMP…that we don’t direct

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Both the prime minister and his deputy were present today, as were all of the other leaders, so that was nice to see. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and after reciting some slogans, he mischaracterized the Auditor General’s report into ArriveCan and boasted that he wrote to the RCMP to call on them to expand their investigation into wrongdoing and demanded that the prime minister not block their efforts. Justin Trudeau stated that the pandemic was a once-in-a-century event and that they expected rules to be followed in spite of this, and that the RCMP will do their job, but that this government is for border security, which the Conservatives vote against. Poilievre listed some revelations in the report and demanded that the prime minister respect the independence of a criminal investigation. Trudeau assured him that they would, and that there would be consequences for any civil servants that broke rules. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his boast that he wrote the RCMP to expand their investigation, and Trudeau repeated that the pandemic was once-in-a-generation event, and that they expected civil servants to follow the rules, but they don’t need to tell the RCMP to do their jobs. Poilievre howled that Trudeau keeps blocking investigations and accused him of filling the pockets of friends, all of which is specious on its face. Trudeau said that this was an example of Poilievre reverting to type and playing partisan games. Poilievre tried to spin this as Trudeau calling the Auditor General the conspiracy theorist, which was bizarre. Trudeau said that Poilievre needs to work on his listening skills, and that they await the results of the investigation so that those who broke the rules will be held to account.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and wanted the government to adopt the motion to allow for advanced directives on assisted dying. Trudeau recited that this is a very personal decision, and that they responsible for ensuring that vulnerable people are protected. Blanchet insisted that they move ahead with their motion, and Trudeau insisted that these are the kinds of conversations they need to be having.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP and quoted the National Housing Advocate and demanded that he follow her recommendations. Trudeau said that he welcomed the NDP’s support in their housing measures. Singh repeated his demand in French, and Trudeau said that they will continue to listen to community organisations and municipal partners. 

Round two, and Melissa Lantsman, John Brassard and Pierre Paul-Hus read angry scripts demanding more RCMP investigation into ArriveCan (Duclos: We have been following the recommendations of the Auditor General; The government doesn’t dictate how the police does their jobs in a democracy like ours; O’Connell: Any misconduct is unacceptable and we await the ongoing investigations including by the RCMP, but we don’t direct them).

Luc Thériault demanded once again the government allow for advanced requests for MAiD (Virani: We respect the work Quebec did around this, but we have one Criminal Code across Canada and if’s hard to give them a specific exemption; We have taken a cautious approach from the outset), and Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné wanted case-by-case exemptions for CEBA repayments (Valdez: Almost 80 percent of small businesses relayed their loans, and yay Black Entrepreneurship funds!)

Tony Baldinelli and Luc Bethold read more ArriveCan scripts (O’Connell: Any misconduct is unacceptable and CBSA has referred some files to the RCMP; We don’t direct the RCMP; Duclos: As we have said numerous times, we thank the AG for her report and we have been following her recommendations).

Lori Idlout raised Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision worried about Jordan’s Principle sunsetting (Battiste: That was a great decision, and everyone would read it), and Leah Gazan raised the family murder in Manitoba last weekend and demanded increased funding for shelters (Fraser: We are investing in projects that provide safety for people in desperate situations).

Round three saw questions on the carbon price (Guilbeault: 80 percent of households get more back than they spend; Do you support the Alberta province’s freeze on clean investment?; Alberta has to ration water because of drought thanks to climate change; MacKinnon: You ran on a carbon price last election; Let me quote the former head of the Agricultural Union), on ArriveCan (Duclos: You have heard this answer many times now; We made it possible to keep the border open during the height of the pandemic, but the lack of record-keeping is unacceptable), demanding Bill C-234 be passed in its original form (Freeland: Hooray last month’s great job numbers; MacAulay: Farmers understand we need to have an environmental plan; some slogans (Freeland: Hooray the jobs numbers; We halved poverty under our government while you only want to cut programmes people need), a crumbling housing unit in Montreal (Fraser: You’re right that federal governments got our of housing for decades but we have been re-investing), sending military exports to Israel (Oliphant: What is happening in Gaza is a tragedy, and this violence must stop and must have a sustainable peace).

Overall, it was largely a repeat of yesterday, where the only concern was gathering outrage clips for socials, reading the same script over and over again with different faces, with the only real change being this trumped-up demand to expand the RCMP probe, which the government has no control over anyway. The third round saw a few different questions, but even then, they were all pulled from the same roster of questions they ask every other day, so really, it was still more of the same. I did thing that Freeland constantly reverting to Friday’s job numbers was poor form and perhaps a bit tone-deaf considering the questions being posed (or what you could make out of those questions through the slogans, in any event). Also, those job numbers weren’t that great, in spite of the reassuring headline figure, so maybe don’t be quite so enthusiastic? Seriously, though.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Stephanie Kusie for a short-sleeved black dress, and to Yasir Naqvi for a tailored dark grey suit over a crisp white shirt and a dark purple tie. Style citations go out to Gerald Soroka for a dark taupe jacket over a grey shirt, gold patterned tie and dark grey slacks, and to Jenna Sudds for a gold, brown, black and white tartan jacket over a white v-necked top and black slacks. 

One thought on “QP: Call in the RCMP…that we don’t direct”

  1. For years and years we have heard Tories say that the government collects and keeps the “carbon tax” however you never hear Tories tell the truth …that is that 80% of Canadians get back more than they pay in the levy. Of course this is just one falsehood that the Tories and PP spout to gaslight Canadians. The sad part? So many Canadians are ignorant and many by choice. PP knows that and he profits by it.

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