QP: Harvesting carbon and capital gains clips

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As the final sitting week of the spring begins, with a heat wave starting, neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, but most of the other leaders were. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he worried about Bloc having concerns about the capital gains changes, and that their hoped-for amendments wouldn’t happen next week when it comes into force. Anita Anand praised the plan the government put forward for the economy, which the Conservatives don’t have. Poilievre kept needling the Bloc, claiming they were taking Quebeckers’ money and giving it to Ottawa. Jean-Yves Duclos asked Poilievre to explain why people who make half a million in capital gains should pay less tax than a nurse making $50,000 in a year. Poilievre switched to English to worry about the so-called “cover up” of the costs of the carbon levy, claiming it costs the economy $30 billion per year, and wondered what else they were hiding about their other tax hikes. Steven Guilbeault pointed out the reductions in emissions while the Conservatives want to let the planet burn. Poilievre tried the same again, insisting the carbon levy won’t change the weather or stop a single forest fire, to which Jonathan Wilkinson wondered if Poilievre was a climate denier. Poilievre turned back to the capital gains changes, and cited the “Food Professor” about it (seriously?!), and Anita Anand praised…housing starts. Come on!

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he worried that the government would discredit the Hogue Commission if she didn’t come to the same conclusion as the government. Dominic LeBlanc said that he was pleased that Justice Hogue had agreed to look into this. Therrien railed that the prime minister has slept on the foreign interference file for months, and LeBlanc insisted that they have taken this seriously since the get-go.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed that progress on the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action were taking too long to be implemented. Patty Hajdu insisted that they have been working, and that she just stood with the National Chief to announce funding for a Northern Ontario hospital. Singh repeated the question in French, and got much the same response.

Round two, and Eric Duncan returned to the overwrought script about the so-called secret carbon price report (Guilbeault: Eight out of ten households are better off, but your plan to let the planet burn is immoral; Wilkinson: We have a comprehensive plan and you don’t), Kyle Seeback gave his own version (Guilbeault: If anyone should resign, it’s those of you who mislead this House; You should update your speaking notes because we received the climate score card 2024 leadership award), and Luc Berthold gave the French version of the script (Guilbeault: You ran on a carbon price; The MP just behind you voted to put a price on pollution in Quebec when she was in provincial government).

Kristina Michaud accused the government of still funding the fossil fuel industry (Guilbeault: We cut their subsidies faster than anyone else, as well as for Crown corporations; We have a meeting with provinces next week on the environment; We just got a 2024 prize).

Shannon Stubbs read another misleading script on the so-called secret report (Wilkinson: Eight out of ten households are better off), and Martin Shields read his own script (Bendayan: Why should a dollar earned from working be taxed more than the profit from the sale of an investment?)

Lori Idlout accused the government say if they would recognise a Labrador group she accused of identity fraud (Vandal: We will engage to ensure that Section 35 rights are respected), and Gord Johns worried about a ship carrying toxic chemicals being broken up in a shellfish collection region (Lebouthillier: We have committed to reducing the number of abandoned vessels).

Round three saw questions on the housing crisis in Quebec (Duclos: Your leader built a whole six affordable housing units as “minister,” while 222 have been built in your riding so far; 181 affordable units were built in your riding so far, and there will be more in the coming months), cuts to job training funds (Martinez Ferrada: We are making historic investments in training; Kusmierczyk: No government has delivered more for jobs and training than this government), capital gains changes affecting tourism (Bendayan: You should look into the small business tax exemption coming into effect; Valdez: You mock and vote against the measures we have made to support small businesses, including a tax cut), the capital gains supposedly chasing away family doctors (Holland: Your cuts would create worse problems), antisemitism on university campuses (Khera: We all condemn antisemitism and the budget has investments in combatting hate), the minister of foreign affairs not being aware of the warship sent to Cuba (Blair: I’m not surprised you are politicising RCN deployments, and this was a joint operation with the U.S. and we planned the mission to be there while the Russians were), a lack of guidance on helping aid getting to those who need it in Afghanistan (Hussen: Hooray our legislation, and any delays are frustrating, but we are hoping this will launch in the near future), and the disagreement with NSICOP (LeBlanc: You should be careful before you make things up in Question Period and say things that are simply false).

Overall, it was a little boisterous as MPs reach the point of the year where they start turning feral because they all need to be sent home. Nevertheless, there was nothing really novel today, as much of it was the same misleading nonsense we got last week about the so-called “secret report” (which was not secret or a report) on carbon pricing, and the misleading nonsense about the capital gains inclusion rate changes. It was really just more MPs harvesting more clips that they can use over their socials over the summer, and there is nothing to be gained here.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Lisa Hepfner for a fuchsia suit with a black v-necked top, and to Kyle Seeback for a dark blue suit over a crisp white shirt and a yellow tie. Style citations go out to Larry Maguire for a tan suit with a pale pink shirt and a multicoloured tie, and to Kristina Michaud for a red and white swirl-patterned long-sleeved button-up dress. Dishonourable mention goes out to Rachel Bendayan for custard yellow jacket over a black top and slacks.