QP: Low-energy economic bafflegab

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On a rainy Monday, the prime minister was in town but not at QP, while his deputy was in his stead. Some of the other leaders were present today, but not Pierre Poilievre, unusually. That left Andrew Scheer to lead off to read some utter nonsense about “economic vandalism” and a “per capita” recession, and demanded a cancellation of “tax hikes.” Patty Hajdu got up to first speak to the passing of Senator Murray Sinclair. Scheer said they joined in sending condolences, before returning to his claims of economic vandalism and railed about the proposed emissions cap, and demanded it be scrapped. Jonathan Wilkinson said that they are moving to address climate change, and that low-carbon sources will be more valuable. Scheer read some statistics without context to claim the government was creating jobs in the U.S., to which Steven Guilbeault responded that Scheer should actually read the regulations, and not that production was still projected to increase. Luc Berthold took over in French to read the same non-sequitur economic stats, and Chrystia Freeland shot back with countering statistics about how much better the situation in Canada was compared to the U.S. Berthold insisted that the wealth gap is growing between countries, and Freeland quoted an American economist who suggested companies leave New York for Toronto.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he railed that the Senate needed to pass the Supply Management bill, lest there be economic doom. Lawrence MacAulay reminded him that he as been a farmer under the system his entier career, and that the government supports it. Therrien railed further about the Senators holding up the bill, two which Marie-Claude Bibeau reminded him that Senator are independent and that only a Liberal government would protect it.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP to point to doctors in Quebec offering private options, and demanded the government do something. Mark Holland recited the paean about public healthcare and suggested that they work together to pressure provinces. Singh repeated the same in French, and got much the same paean en français.

Round two, and Kyle Seeback got up to praise the Conservative GST plan on new builds (Fragiskatos: Your own caucus members have advocated for more Housing Accelerator funding; You have six houses to point to—which is not actually true), Scott Aitchison gave more of the same (Fragiskatos: Given the rise in development charges when you were mayor means you have no credibility), and Dominique Vien gave the same again in French (Martinez Ferrada: This wouldn’t increase supply but would come at the expense of the poorest, and you would put in danger the rents of people who need that housing; Duclos: Your leader’s record on housing units is not encouraging, and the programmes you would cut are responsible for thousands of new units in Quebec).

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Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe worried that immigration could skyrocket if Trump wins (Miller: We have reduced the number of asylum seekers, and we will continue to have a well-managed border with the U.S.; Miller: There is a plan but I am not going to make it public right now)

Tracy Grey read the talking points on the GST plan (Fragiskatos: I just met with the mayor in your community who showed how they sped up approvals thanks to the Accelerated Fund; Lamoureux: Your leader’s housing plan is a dud and why won’t he get his security clearance), and Brad Vis read more of the same (Fragiskatos: Cutting the existing programmes won’t get people off the streets).

Rachel Blaney wants recognition for Persian Gulf veterans (Sarai: The committee is currently studying this matter and the government will respond when the report is tabled), and Brian Masse railed about Rogers’ price hikes (Turnbull: The minister has spoken to Rogers, and we have taken action in the last two budgets).

Round three saw questions on economic performance (Freeland: Inflation is lower, and interest rates are lower, and we live longer because of our healthcare system; On previous trade disputes you urged capitulation while we got action with retaliation; Ng: We have been helping the softwood sector access new markets while we work on a deal with the U.S.; Why won’t your leader get his security clearance?), the emissions cap (Guilbeault: Are you encouraging us to meddle in provincial jurisdiction?; If you go to an election, this won’t be out into place), carbon levy vs food insecurity (Lamoureux: Why won’t your leader get his security clearance?), tough on crime nonsense (Virani: The deputy police chief of York Region said that you need to deal with the courts and detention centres, which are provincial responsibility), the BC port labour dispute (MacKinnon: I have told the employer and union to come to an agreement), and underfunding transit (Guilbeault: We are investing historic amounts in transit, and we have been the only G7 government to cut fossil fuel subsidies). 

Overall, it was fairly low-energy today, and it was pretty much a recite-by-numbers gathering of clips for each party. The Conservatives have been keeping up their economic bafflegab talking points, and the Liberals keep responding with pabulum that doesn’t actually address the points that are being made, or rather, that don’t expose those points as being out of context, false, or the ramblings of a dilettante who doesn’t understand what they mean. Instead, it’s just more of the same from pretty much every party, and the discourse remains cheapened by a bunch of unserious people who think those clips over their socials will be meaningful in some capacity.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Laila Goodridge for a dark blue jacket over a matching skirts with a white side panel and a white top, and to Scott Aitchison for a dark grey suit with a white shirt and a light purple tie. Style citations go out to Alain Therrien for a dark blue jacket over a white shirt, dark blue patterned tie and blue jeans, and to Ruby Sahota for a sleeveless beige jacket over an olive green turtleneck and black slacks.