QP: Demands to turn over documents

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The prime minister was off in Winnipeg for a healthcare announcement with premier Wab Kinew, and his deputy was away in Toronto, while most of the other leaders were also absent. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and after deploying a half-dozen slogans, he broached the ArriveCan issue and said that he was told that a court order would be required to get a court order for the production of documents, and wanted the government to turn them all over. Jean-Yves Duclos said that the Auditor General did good work in her damning report, and that they have taken steps and more would follow soon, and that they were being transparent and turning over all requested documents to the RCMP and elsewhere. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the allegation that the RCMP needs a production order for records and again demanded that the government simply turn over the documents to the RCMP and committees. Duclos cautioned that Poilievre sounded like he was calling into question the capabilities of the Auditor General. Poilievre repeated his claim and again demanded that all documents related to ArriveCan or GC Strategies be turned over. Dominic LeBlanc insisted that they have been cooperative. Poilievre then quoted Thomas Mulcair on the situation, Poilievre wondered why the NDP were keeping the government in power, but that wasn’t a question to government. LeBlanc got up anyway to insist that they have taken this situation seriously. Poilievre then quoted Sean Fraser, claiming he was attacking himself, and demanded the government start building homes. Soraya Martinez Ferrada got up to pat the government on the back for working with mayors, and said that unlike when Poilievre was minister, they were getting housing built.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he wanted an expanded investigation into GC Strategies. Duclos reminded him of the scope of urgency in the pandemic, but said it wasn’t an excuse for civil servants not to do their jobs properly. Therrien demanded a “clean sweep” at CBSA, to which Duclos agreed that there needed to be an investigation, several of which are ongoing.

Heather McPherson rose for the NDP, and raised the number of casualties in Gaza, but insisted that the government is keeping up with arms sales (which they haven’t), and called out Rob Oliphant’s leaked comments. Ahmed Hussen insisted that Canada was the first to start offering humanitarian aid. Daniel Blaikie wanted support for the party’s bill on amending EI benefits, and Randy Boissonnault said that the work to modernise the system is ongoing, and this particular issue of women on mat leave being laid off was before the courts.

Round two, and Poilievre got back up to again needle Sean Fraser for comments about the Housing Accelerator Fund not building housing (Fragiskatos: The housing crisis requires a cooperative approach, unlike your approach of insulting mayors), Andrew Scheer returned to the demand to turn over ArriveCan documents (LeBlanc: The government doesn’t direct the RCMP; We have been transparent), and Gérard Deltell repeated the demand in French (Duclos: The Auditor General did important work and we are implementing her recommendations).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe demanded that the government redistribute asylum seekers lest they endanger French (Miller: We have sent funds to Quebec, and I would hope you don’t want to deport people for not speaking French), and Mario Beaulieu accused the government of not appointing enough Francophones to key positions (Rodriguez: We are making appointments while you just pick fights).

Larry Brock and Bernard Généroux read more ArriveCan scripts (Duclos: We expected rules to be followed; We had a responsibility to protect people in the pandemic and to ensure the border could remain open).

Lori Idlout demanded all-weather roads in the North (Fragiskatos: We have been investing in infrastructure in the North), and Niki Ashton made a similar demand (Fragiskatos: We have been investing while the Conservatives oppose).

Round three saw questions on accused the government of engaging in a “war on cars” (Fragiskatos: You talk about infrastructure when you only want to make cuts; All you have are slogans; MacKinnon: You voted against projects), the proposed nuclear waste disposal at Chalk River (Serré: The CNSC is independent and only approves projects that at safe and have been consulted upon), not replacing a bridge in a federal park (Fragiskatos: You are being partisan), carbon prices (Anand: Would you cut the rebates families rely on?; It’s not common sense to deny climate change and denying families money; Boissonnault: We will do the right thing by fighting climate change and putting money into the pockets of Albertans), rental prices (Fragiskatos: We have topped up the Housing Benefit for those who need it), and the upcoming trade ministerial in Abu Dhabi (Ng: I will represent Canada, and I will fight I for climate change).

Overall, it was not as chaotic as yesterday, but was almost as repetitive. As was to be expected, the Conservatives have decided to take on Steven Guilbeault as though he were waging a “war on cars,” which is patent nonsense, but they know that this gets votes. It mostly gets votes on the municipal level, but this is red meat for the base and it’s being weaponized in an entirely disingenuous way—surprise, surprise. The other thing I would point to is that the Bloc are essentially trading in “replacement theory” conspiracies, that asylum seekers are a threat to the French language, which is fairly alarming. Marc Miller did push back a little on it, and was rewarded with the Bloc’s House Leader railing about it in a point of order after QP (which wasn’t a real point of order).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Peter Fragiskatos for a dark grey three-piece suit over a white shirt with a matching pocket square and a lavender paisley tie, and to Rechie Valdez for a blue-grey suit over a black top. Style citations go out to Pam Damoff for a pale purple jacket over a black floral top and maroon slacks, and to Clifford Small for a dark grey jacket with a loud pattern over a blueberry top, dark blue slacks and a lighter blue tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Anna Roberts for a dark yellow jacket over a black and gold striped top and black slacks.