Thursday, and neither the PM nor his deputy were in town to attend QP, and all of the other leaders decided to be absent as well. That left Andrew Scheer to lead off, giving a misleading condemnation of the emissions cap, claiming this was driving jobs and investment to the US, and wondered if the PM was getting a commission from the US energy department for all the jobs he was creating. Steven Guilbeault started that it was a cap on pollution, and that oil production was projected to keep increasing another 16 percent by 2030, and companies in the sector were making billion-dollar investments to ensure that the sector has a future while they fight climate change. Scheer insisted that this was a cap on production, and then used the Environment Commissioner’s report to concern troll about the slow progress on emissions reductions, before demanding an election, claiming the current path was “insanity.” Guilbeault noted that it was extraordinary that the Conservatives were talking about climate change, and repeated that emissions were going down after they had to pick up the slack after a decade of inaction. Scheer then cited a Salvation Army report about food insecurity and blamed the carbon levy before demanding an election, to which Soraya Martinez Ferrada responded in French that the Conservatives have an inferiority complex, noted that Canada had lower inflation than other countries and the Conservatives were jealous. Luc Berthold took over in French, repeated the concern trolling about emissions reductions, and Guilbeault repeated that it was extraordinary that the Conservatives were talking about climate change and that they have no plan. Berthold repeated the claims that the Liberals have done nothing for climate, and Guilbeault reiterated that the Conservatives would just let the planet burn because they have no plan for climate or the economy. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and railed about the amendment to the Supply Management bill in the Senate, claiming those senators were doing Trump’s bidding (seriously?!) and demanded the government call on senators to vote down the amendment. Karina Gould said that they were disappointed by the move and called on senators to vote it down. Therrien railed further about the amendment, and Marie-Claude Bibeau reiterated their support for Supply Management and encouraged senators to vote down the amendment. 

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he too railed about the Environment Commissioner’s report, and that the Liberals weren’t doing their jobs. Guilbeault suggested he actually read the report and insisted it showed progress because emissions were going down while the economy was growing. Lisa Marie Barron repeated the condemnation in English, and Guilbeault noted previous NDP support for carbon pricing and thanks to Conservative pressure, they are no longer progressive or environmentalists. 

Round two, and Damien Kurek condemned the emissions cap with a bunch of falsehoods about it (Guilbeault: The cap is on pollution which is a bad thing, and your party used to understand that; Bendayan: Foreign direct investment is up and investors are coming here because they know this is a good place to invest), Jeremy Patzer read more of the same (Turnbull: Even your friend the Food Processor noted that climate change is raising food prices;  Bendayan: We love powerful paycheques and wages have risen higher than inflation, and US economist David Rosenberg is urging people to move to Toronto), Mike Lake read more nonsense about the emissions cap (Turnbull: Look at these great economic measures), and Clifford Small read more of the same (Gould: Imports of foreign oil into Canada were fifty percent higher when your party was in power).

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe insisted the border was under-protected to stop asylum seekers (Dominic LeBlanc: The RCMP and Quebec commander have stated there is no reduction and we have invested in CBSA), Kristina Michaud worried that the Quebec government may Need to patrol the border themselves (LeBlanc: I reassured you at committee that the RCMP and border services are ready for any contingency, but it would be irresponsible to make those plans public; Miller: I thought you were against the CAQ policy of scaremongering but here we are).

Dan Mazier read the talking points about emissions reductions (Guilbeault: The report looks back to 1990, which includes the inaction during the Conservative years, but we have bent the curve; van Koeverden: The Commissioner confirmed that emissions are down, and the Conservatives have confirmed they don’t care about the environment), and Richard Martel read the same lines in French (LeBouthiller: Why won’t your leader get his security clearance?).

Jenny Kwan demanded an end to closed work permits for migrant workers (Kusmierczyk: We have mandated all employers provide information about rights and prohibited reprisals for whistleblowers), and Niki Ashton complained that a water treatment plant in a First Nation is behind schedule (Hajdu: I hope your support in passing the clean water legislation).

Round three saw questions on another lawsuit against Randy Boissonnault’s former business (Gould: The Ethics Commissioner has cleared this issue; Sousa: The article confirms that the business didn’t receive any Indigenous-relates contracts; We have established checks on the Indigenous procurement programme), the Environment Commissioner’s report (Guilbeault: Your party is allying with the Conservatives to bring down the government and prevent the emissions cap or any other protections), homeless veterans (Fraser: We have programmes to ensure communities have the capacity to help veterans experiencing homelessness; Sarai: You shut down nine Veterans Affairs offices and laid off thousands of workers helping veterans, which we reversed), homelessness vs cutting the GST on new homes (Fraser: We are making investments to built homes, including the agreement with Quebec to build 8000 social housing units, and you were against cutting GST for rental buildings), crime (Virani: We keep citizens safe with gun control; LeBlanc: We work with law enforcement across the country and have invested in preventing guns from entering the country), Paul Bernardo being up for parole (LeBlanc: Don’t give him publicity, and you know the Parole Board is independent), homeless seniors (Fraser: I share your concerns, and we are need to build out the affordable housing stock), and a paean about veterans and a swipe at the government’s commitment to Canada (Sarai: We all admire the sacrifice of veterans, and that question was quite out of line).

Overall, it was a little unruly today, but at least we barely had any mentions of security clearances. Instead, it was mostly a lot of concern trolling from Conservatives about the Environment Commissioner’s report, as though their own lack of performance when they were in government wasn’t also included (as it went back to 1990), and also played into this particular fallacy of “We won’t meet the target so we won’t try,” as though getting close doesn’t count. “I can’t lose twenty pounds by next month, so I guess I’ll just eat this bag of cookies on the sofa.” Honestly, the hypocrisy of it all is astounding. As for the Bloc complaining the Liberals weren’t meeting the targets, they kept asking “Do you want to leave up protecting biodiversity to the Conservatives?” as though they haven’t decided they were going to work with the Conservatives to bring the government down. Unbelievable.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Sean Fraser for a tailored black suit with a white shirt and a blue and yellow tartan tie, and to Julie Dzerowicz for a black suit over a lilac v-necked top. Style citations go out to Patty Hajdu for a long light grey jacket with a loud pink floral pattern and khaki slacks, and to Robert Waugh for a milk chocolate brown jacket over a medium-blue shirt, brown and burgundy striped tie and taupe-grey slacks. Dishonourable mention goes out to Marci Ien for an oversized black sweater with yellow polka dots across it.