QP: Last chance to get clips before the summer

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It’s a sweltering, muggy Wednesday, and everyone hopes the final day before the House rises for the summer. The prime minister was present, while his deputy was not, and the other leaders al deigned to attend for on last go-around to gather some clips for the summer break. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he lamented that the country is broken, and took a swipe at the Bloc, and demanded an election right now. Justin Trudeau said that if the leader opposite was really concerned about affordability, he would help pass their measures to help people rather than play petty partisan games. Poilievre worried that the government is threatening to “shut down” the Quebec forestry sector (not true), and Trudeau responded that unlike the Conservatives, Quebeckers know they need to protect the environment and the economy at the same time. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his assertion that everything  is broken and demanded an election, and Trudeau repeated his same assertion that the Conservatives should support their programmes. Poilievre expounded on just how much the country is a living hell thanks to his “whackonomics,” and Trudeau shot back that the Conservatives are only concerned with protecting the wealthiest, particularly over the capital gains changes. Poilievre claimed the Middle Class™ doesn’t exist anymore, and Trudeau reiterated that Poilievre only cares about himself. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and complained about anglophone mail carriers in Quebec, and Trudeau praised the government’s support for French, including in Quebec, and promised to follow up on it. Blanchet accused the government’s programmes of harming French, and Trudeau dismissed this as “identitarian” squabbling.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he accused the government of coddling CEOs, to which Trudeau patted himself on the back for raising taxes on the wealthiest, and took a shot at the Conservatives in the process. Singh tried again in French, and Trudeau listed the programmes they have delivered.

Round two, and Poilievre gave a little speech both the IRGC and Trudeau not moving on listing it as a terrorist entity for years, and accused him of putting his political fortunes ahead of national security (Trudeau: We have listed them), went on a misleading tear about the so-called “secret report” (Trudeau: Eight out of ten families are better off and you are using erroneous figures; All of your math depends on climate change not being real), and asserted that the carbon levy doesn’t change any weather or natural disasters (Trudeau: That only makes sense if you think climate change doesn’t exist and has no costs).

Blanchet got back up to complain that Americans are possibly challenging Quebec’s language laws (Trudeau: Quebec has had excellent representations in Washington, and we ensure to protect Canada’s cultural and linguistic realities in trade negotiations; You are only trying to pick fights, and we have more Quebeckers in our caucus than yours).

Poilievre claimed the government was increasing taxes on farmers, doctors, and small businesses with a Quebec twist (Trudeau: I’m not sure I followed the question, but at least the Bloc understands that the Conservatives are protecting the wealthiest) and demanded an amendment to the capital gains changes to protect these groups (Trudeau: The Conservatives only want to protect the wealthiest), and tried again in English (Trudeau: The increase in the inclusion rate affects people who make more than $250K in profits in a year; After pretending to care about working people you have returned to type).

Bonita Zarrillo demanded affordable homes for seniors in her riding (Trudeau: We have been pleased to build more homes for seniors), and Lisa Marie Barron demanded a plan on phasing out open net fish farms (Trudeau: We will be there to support Indigenous communities with economic opportunities and growth).

Round three saw Poilievre named Liberals, current and former who oppose the carbon levy or capital gains changes (Trudeau: We have demonstrated that investing in the middle class can create growth in the country), Toronto taking longer to approve building permits (Trudeau: Housing starts are up cross the country), municipal development charges (Trudeau: Your plan to re-impose GST on apartment construction would slow it down), the federal measures on woodland caribou (Trudeau: You refuse to accept the responsibility to protect the environment; Brian Mulroney showed you can protect the environment and the economy, and you forgot those lessons), RCMP investigations into procurement contracts (Trudeau: The situation is unacceptable which is why there are investigations), spending on consultants (Trudeau: We are delivering for Canadians), the costs for food on official aircraft (Trudeau: You continue to use cheap attacks and slogans), and demanded an election (Trudeau: You are filled with slogans that don’t solve problems while we are focused on supporting Canadians). There were also questions on the woodland caribou issue (Trudeau: Over the past ten years, the federal government has worked with Quebec to come up with a plan to protect them; We are a country of the rule of law with laws about protecting endangered species), an Indigenous trades programme (Trudeau: We are working in partnership with Indigenous communities, and have increased funding—but didn’t actually answer the question), and a shared course of action on the NSICOP report (Trudeau: We are pleased the Commission has agreed to look into this).

Overall, it was definitely time for MPs to go home, and hey, they did shortly after QP was over, so that’s great news. Nevertheless, they got their last chance to get their clips before the summer, whether it was Poilievre lamenting all of the things that are “broken” and demanding an election, Singh playacting being tough about CEOs and corporations, and Trudeau getting clips about the Conservatives “returning to type” and protecting the wealthiest. Poilievre once again choreographed all of his questions to open on demanding an election and ending on a same call after listing all of the things the government said no about. And because this it’s telling just how much of a clip-harvesting exercise it was, Poilievre got up and left right after delivering his last question before Trudeau could even respond, which shows how seriously they take this exercise of looking for answers seriously.

And with that, MPs are gone for the summer. The Conservatives’ motion to hold more committee hearings over the summer got shouted down, and they will no doubt attempt to hold “emergency” hearings throughout the summer, but it doesn’t sound like the Bloc and NDP want to play ball on that—at least not now, but something may arise in the summer that they’ll hunger to get clips about (because content machines need content). In the meantime, the circus that is Question Period can go to sleep, and recaps will continue in September.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Ben Carr for a dark blue suit with a crisp white shirt and a bright pink tie, and to Rachel Bendayan for a navy suit over a v-necked white top. Style citations go out to Stephanie Kusie for a black, white and red patterned dress with frilled wizard sleeves, and to Steven Guilbeault for a dark khaki suit over a light grey shirt and an eggplant tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné for a bright yellow jacket over a white top and black slacks.