Both the PM and his deputy were present for QP today, in advance of the Supplementary Estimates, as were all of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and cited the “weak” prime minister who has lost control of everything, and that he has now lost control of his finance minister, who wanted a big deficit but that Trudeau wanted an even bigger one, and wondered which of them would win. Trudeau said that when a government delivers dental care to seniors, or food to children’s schools, Canadians win, but they won’t if the Conservatives come to power. Poilievre insisted that his finance minister doesn’t agree and that he imposed the “inflationary” GST “holiday” plan on her. Trudeau said that the only one voting against Canadians is the leader of the opposition. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question and got much the same response, with a few added jabs that Poilievre was against growing the economy. Poilievre again quoted the Globe and Mail article from this morning, and wondered if they would meet their deficit target. Trudeau accused Poilievre of talking down Canada, while the Bank of Canada would likely cut rates again this week because inflation is on target, and then took another swipe at Poilievre controlling his caucus. Poilievre gave a tortured analogy about the finance minister driving a bus while a “lunatic” grabs control of the wheel, jerks it to the left and smashes through a guardrail down a cliff, Trudeau responded with a paean about the supports they have given Canadians, which Poilievre voted against.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and wanted the PM to denounce his immigration minister for calling out François Legault for attacking Muslims in the name of “secularism” while going to Notre Dame in Paris, to which Trudeau gave a rote line about Charter rights and diversity. Blanchet gave a torture definition of what equality means, and Trudeau reminds him that they should cherish individual rights and freedoms, and that the federal government will defend those rights.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and accused the government of siding with the Conservatives in voting against their GST cut proposal, and Trudeau said he was equally puzzled when the Conservatives voted against a tax break for Canadians—but didn’t say anything about the NDP’s plan (which was bad and disproportionately benefits the wealthy). Singh made a half-hearted jab about taxing (or axing?) the prime minister’s excuses, before switching to French to worry about private healthcare in Quebec. Trudeau said that they respect provincial jurisdiction but they have also invested billions in healthcare across the country and would defend the public system.

Round two, and Melissa Lantsman accused Trudeau of “bullying” his female finance minister (Freeland: We are united in working hard for Canadians, and the only would-be bullies in this Chamber are opposite and I can fully stand up to them), and demanded the deficit figure (Freeland: I look forward to tabling the Fall Economic Statement on Monday, and it will show we are keeping our fiscal anchor of the declining debt-to-GDP ratio), and Dominique Vien tried again in French (Freeland: Same answer about the fiscal anchor; I’m glad you raised the PBO because he said our fiscal position is sustainable; Freeland: I am tabling the economic statement on Monday).

Someone in the gallery is yelling about homelessness being a national emergency, and is being escorted out. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-10T19:46:51.605Z

Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe raised the story about Chilean asylum seekers under removal orders escaping a holding facility (LeBlanc: We share the concerns, and I have asked the CBSA to revisit their protocols around this facility and to ensure it doesn’t happen again), Kristina Michaud raised previous Auditor General’s reports regarding CBSA’s lack of tracking of people under removal orders (LeBlanc: This is common around the world given the increase in asylum seekers around the world, but we are taking additional measures; We work with police and provinces to detaining people who are inadmissible in the country).

Jasraj Hallan breathlessly read some rhyming word salad about the deficit (Freeland: Are you giving out Xmas presents for alliteration?; I look forward to tabling the Economic Statement on Monday), and Luc Berthold read the same talking points about the deficit in French (Freeland: Look at all the things we delivered for Canadians; I will be tabling the Statement on Monday, and it will show we have our fiscal anchor).

Hallan: Canadians can’t afford Xmas because [Freeland] can’t do math. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-10T19:52:04.671Z

Bonita Zarrillo worried about renters—which is a provincial jurisdiction (Fraser: No one is choosing to be homeless, but we are making investments while the Conservatives are making jokes), and Taylor Bachrach asked about Air Canada charging new baggage fees (Anand: If I could clarify, we are concerned with the fees, and I will be speaking with the executives and calling them out).

Zarrillo references the disturbance in the gallery.The Speaker warns her she can’t reference what happened in the gallery. She repeats it. She gets warned again. This time she doesn’t reference it. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-12-10T19:57:36.760Z

Round three saw more questions on the deficit (Freeland: I look forward to tabling the statement next Monday; Gould: You are trying to distract from your voting against a tax break; The only people engaged in bullying are the Conservatives; You know very well the number will be released on Monday; Conservatives say that when times are tough they want to take supports away from Canadians; Valdez: Your leader calls our support programs “big fat government spending”; Duclos: We have the best fiscal record of anyone in the G7; Virani: The Minister is so great because she empowers women to participate in the economy through the child care programme), whether the prime minister still has confidence in Freeland (Freeland: Yes), a motion at committee on calling on the Auditor General to investigate CBSA’s latest IT problem (LeBlanc: We don’t tell the AG what to do; We are always looking for solutions and the new system replaced an ancient system that was on the verge of failing), a closing mine in Northern Ontario and transitioning to a new project (Wilkinson: Critical minerals offer a tremendous opportunity, and I am happy to sit down and have that conversation), and a coal mine going ahead in the Rocky Mountains without an assessment (Guilbeault: The Supreme Court directed us to review some of the elements of the legislation, and there are Indigenous communities supporting the project).

Overall, much hay was made today by pretty much every Conservative question about that story in the Globe and Mail about tensions between the PMO and Freeland’s office, particularly over the GST “holiday,” and Freeland, through her very careful use of language, seemed to be indicating that the deficit figures will be higher than the number she set out in the spring, but that because of GDP growth will still be within the declining debt-to-GDP ratio, but anything will be treated as a big number and therefore scandalous, regardless of what the actual figures wind up being when released next week. Nevertheless, watching Conservative after Conservative get up to belittle Freeland and then have the temerity to claim that it’s Trudeau who is “bullying” her—all while turning Bill Morneau into some kind of a folk hero–was bizarre and kind of gross to watch. Time to send them home.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anna Gainey for a collared white shirt under a dark grey vest and dark grey slacks, and to Marc Miller for a tailored navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a light purple tie. Style citations go out to Ryan Williams for a dark blue checkerboard jacket over a black waistcoat, pale blue shirt, red tie, and faded dark blue slacks, and to Mary Ng for a translucent grey dress with puffy sleeves, a polka dot pattern, and a pussy bow.