Tag Archives: Inflation

QP: Claims that carbon prices are the problem

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While the prime minster returned from his trip abroad in the wee hours, neither he nor his deputy were present for QP today. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he lamented that Canada is 58 out of 63 countries when it comes to reducing GHG emissions, that the current government has missed every emissions reduction target (not really true and the government Poilievre was a member of sabotaged any effort at reductions), then complained that the government was carrying on with their plan to “triple” the carbon price (it triples by 2030), and demanded a better way to fight climate change. Jonathan Wilkinson reminded him that Canada has one of the most detailed plans to fight climate change and that we will hit our targets to reduce emissions by 2030, while still ensuring that life is affordable. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his needling, and dismissed the carbon price as a “tax” that is being “triple, triple, tripled” (it’s not a tax and it’s not tripling anytime soon), and demanded the government get rid of the price. Wilkinson repeated that they have made enormous progress, started from a place where the Conservatives spent a decade doing nothing. After the Speaker interrupted and gently chided MPs to stop shouting, Wilkinson started his answer over again, ending on his reminder that eight out of ten people get more money back than they pay in carbon prices, and raised the announcement made earlier in the morning to help more people transition to heat pumps. Poilievre falsely claimed that by focusing on technology and not “taxes” that the Conservatives reduced emissions (blatantly untrue, unless he is referring to emissions intensity in the oil sands, which didn’t see the intensity reductions that they like to claim), and then repeated his claim that the carbon price is the real problem. Wilkinson needled Poilievre in return, saying that his lament about taxes is ironic considering that Poilievre spent his entire working life being paid by the taxpayer where as Wilkinson spent twenty years in the clean tech sector, and then stated that the carbon price is not the whole climate plan, it’s part of a plan that also includes regulation and investment, and ended that fighting climate change can generate prosperity if you know what you’re doing. Poilievre got back up to repeat his same talking points about missed targets and was concerned about Atlantic Canadians facing a doubled heating bill (which has precious little to do with carbon prices), and Lawrence MacAulay stood up, somewhat surprisingly, to decry that they had a prime example of climate devastation with Hurricane Fiona, and that they need to continue to address climate change like the government is doing. Poilievre fell back on the canard that the carbon price has failed to reduce emissions, and dismissed the plan to help people transition to heat pumps. This time Ginette Petitpas Taylor got up, and was “stunned” by the comments from the other side, given that she saw the devastation of Hurricane Fiona, pointed to a school in PEI whose roof was blown off completely, which is why the government has a plan.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he worried about the confrontation with Xi Jinping and the allegations of Chinese interference in the 2019 election and the fact that the prime minister later said he wasn’t briefed on the matter, insinuating that the prime minister wasn’t honest with the media about the briefing. Marco Mendicino said that they had independent panels who determined there was no foreign interference, and they already passed interference legislation. Therrien worried that the confrontation was diplomatic incompetence or that the government is hiding something and wondered which it was. Mendicino praised national security agencies for their work and wanted support for their cyber-security legislation. 

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, he drained about corporate profits and accused the government of blaming workers’ wages instead of corporate greed for inflation (which is nonsense). Randy Boissonneault listed ways that the government is making big businesses pay their fair share. Heather McPherson repeated the question in English, and Andy Fillmore read the English response of the same response.

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QP: Oops, wrong script

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The prime minister was in Bangkok for the APEC summit, while his deputy was present for a fourth showdown with Pierre Poilievre in a row. Poilievre led off in French, he raised the story that CSIS warned the prime minister ten months ago of attempted Chinese interference in the 2019 election, and switched to English to repeat the allegation and wondered if this was raised with the Chief Electoral Officer. In French, Chrystia Freeland says they know that there are dictators trying to undermine democracies, and she had experience with the Soviet Union so she has no illusions, and that national security agencies are monitoring threats. Poilievre then raised the COP27 conference, trotted out his tired line that the government doesn’t have a climate plan but a tax plan (*drink!*) and given that a report ranks Canada out of 63 countries on their climate performance, then recited his “triple, triple, triple” ear worm, and demanded the government cancel the carbon price and come up with a “real” climate plan (and it’s hard to believe that he didn’t choke on number the utter disingenuous things said in those thirty seconds). Freeland said that Canadians know that the Conservatives don’t have a plan to tackle climate change, which means he doesn’t have a plan to grow the economy, because our trading partners are all taking serious climate action, and then pointed to the investments in the green transition. Poilievre insisted that those allies and trading partners have better climate performance while Canada is merely raising “taxes” on heating that people need (never mind that the world price of oil has more to do with those increases than carbon pricing). Freeland responded that putting a price on carbon is the most effective way to fight climate change, and that Preston Manning recognised this, and that the carbon price is revenue neutral. Poilievre disputed the revenue neutrality based on a false reading of a PBO report and demanded the government waive carbon prices to make LNG plants economical, and Freeland noted that they recognise that LNG is an important transition fuel, but all projects need to pass assessments and get First Nations approval. Poilievre insisted that the former government had a real environmental assssment plan (they didn’t), and that these projects give benefits to First Nations and quoted a single Indigenous grandmother to prove his point. Freeland responded with an anecdote from a crypto bro who said that central banks are slavery and need to be burned down and that Poilievre appeared on his YouTube channel to say that he had good ideas, and she wanted an apology for that.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he lamented that provinces weren’t getting enough healthcare dollars from the federal government, and Freeland told him she just spoke with Quebec’s finance minister and pointed out how much higher transfers are this year. Blanchet insisted that the federal government doesn’t have any expertise and just demanded money, and Freeland repeated that the transfer increased 4.2 percent this year, plus other funds to help with delays and diagnoses.

Peter Julian led for the NDP, and in French, he decried wait times in ERs, as though this was something the federal government has any control over. Freeland reiterated that they are increasing transfers to provinces already this year, and that the increasing funding must come with results. Lindsay Mathyssen repeated the concern in English, but with a London, Ontario, spin and Freeland repeated her response.

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Roundup: A scolding from Xi Jinping

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Much of the conversation yesterday was about a piece of video was captured at the G20 meeting in Bali, where on the sidelines, we saw Xi Jinping scolding Trudeau for “leaking” their conversation to the press, except there was no “leak.” It was a bog-standard readout like is sent out after any conversation with a foreign leader, with its vague wording and fairly inscrutable pabulum. And Trudeau told him as much about Canada believing in “free and open and frank dialogue.” Xi, however, put on a show of scolding, which some have said was more about saving face than anything. Nevertheless, this became something of a Rorschach test, based on your feelings about Trudeau—if you like him, he’s standing firm in the face of Xi, but if you don’t, he’s either looking chastened, or weak, or that Xi is taking Trudeau down a peg. It’s both fascinating and crashingly dull that these same narratives keep getting trotted out time and again.

https://twitter.com/Dennismolin11/status/1592905231427592193

https://twitter.com/acoyne/status/1593073811481853952

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 267:

Russian attacks in the east of Ukraine intensified as they were reinforced with troops fleeing from Kherson, as Ukrainian cities were working to restore power after the missile attacks earlier in the week. It also looks more likely that the missiles that struck Poland were Ukrainian anti-missile missiles, which still leaves Russia culpable, given that they fired some 100 cruise missiles at civilian targets in the first place. Meanwhile, two Canadian companies that produce electrical transmission towers are looking to assist Ukraine by offering their emergency replacement pylons to local companies.

https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1592980519997751297

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QP: Theatrical accusations of breaking Canada

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With the PM still in Bali, his deputy was present, though it was unlikely that she was going to take on the usual proto-PMQ practice of the PM taking every Wednesday question. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he wondered why children in other countries could get access to pain medications but not Canada, and accused the government of inaction when there were warning signs in April. Freeland said that as a mother she understood the stress that families were going through, which was why the government announced a supply of additional medications from abroad. Poilievre repeated the question in English, with the added question of what date the Cabinet was aware of the shortages, but Freeland repeated her same response in her slow and deliberate style as she read the script in front of her. Poilievre turns back to French, somewhat unusually, and raised the inflation numbers that were released earlier, and blamed it on the so-called “triple, triple, triple” carbon price, which is of course not accurate. Freeland started off in English, saying that the only thing that has tripled was our Aaa credit rating, before switching to French to note how inflation stabilised. Poilievre was back in English to be dismissive, noted that heating oil costs were up over 70 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador, and gave his usual demands. Freeland noted that the people who are broke are those who followed Poilievre’s advice about crypto. Poilievre spouted a bunch of nonsense about the threat of deflation (which was real, which could have spiralled into a depression), and made some jibes about Disney+. Freeland responded that Poilievre lives in a nineteen-room mansion with a chef and a driver, and that while this is fine for the leader of the opposition, he was irresponsible in advising people to invest in crypto. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, raised the federal debt position relative to the provinces, and demanded higher transfers to provinces. Freeland noted that transfers had increased by 4.8 this year, and that any other increased funding must come with accountability. Therrien insisted that people were suffering and blamed the federal government for under-funding the system, and Freeland agreed that there were real challenges in the system, and that Quebec got $10.1 billion this year, which was the 4.8 percent increase.

Peter Julian rose for the NDP in French, and denounced grocery CEOs and the Bank of Canada while demanding those grocery chains pay more taxes. Freeland read the approved lines about increasing corporate taxes, the recovery dividend, and luxury taxes. Daniel Blaikie took over in English to demand government intervention in the way of windfall taxes, and Freeland repeated the same points in English.

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QP: Disney+ versus crypto outrage

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While the PM had landed in Bali for the G20 meeting, his deputy was present for Question Period back in Ottawa. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he worried about children not getting medication, and the report that only Canada is lacking these medications out of 19 countries that one company distributes to. Jean-Yves Duclos noted that the supply has increased, and that hours ago, they announced that they signed a deal with a company to import several months’ supply of children analgesics. Poilievre repeated the question in English, and Duclos repeated his answer in English. Poilievre then misquoted the governor of the Bank of Canada on the supposed “domestic” source of inflation (which is not what he said—the inflationary pressures are largely domestic now because they have metastasised through the economy, not because they were caused by local factors) and then wholly made up him saying that they need to cut wages and increase unemployment (which is entirely false), and demanded to know if the government agrees. Chrystia Freeland praised their “compassionate” and “fiscally responsible” plan, and quoted the Globe and Mail to bolster her cause. Poilievre raised the cost of diesel and blamed that on food-price inflation (it’s not the cause), and decried that families in “oil-heated communities” couldn’t cut their subscriptions to Disney+ to heat their homes, again raising the fake outrage that dominated the country last week, before demanding they cut the carbon price. Freeland noted that everyone in this Chamber is privileged, and that she recognises how privileged her family is, which is why they focused the government’s finite resources on those who need it. Poilievre demanded that the Liberals end their plan to “triple, triple, triple” their carbon price, and this time Fraser got up to take exception to the line about oil-heated communities because his province has seen the cost of climate inaction and worse is yet to come, and after the Speaker had to quiet the Chamber down, Fraser said that perhaps they should turn on the microphones of the backbenches to showcase their climate denialism.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he decried the notion that the conversation on health transfers was futile as provinces we “rolling in money,” and demanded they talk to emergency room doctors. Duclos insisted that they should be discussing actions that should be taken. Therrien decried that the “pontificators” in government were unable to do things like get passports out, so how could they manage healthcare (which no one is asking). Pablo Rodriguez got up and chirped about the Bloc’s recent convention and how their only priority was independence and not helping people. 

Peter Julian rose for the NDP, and in French, decried the overloaded emergency rooms and demanded that the federal do something about it, as though it were their jurisdiction. Duclos listed the stressors on the system and called on people to mask and vaccinate. Don Davies took over in English, raised drug shortages and demanded a plan, to which Duclos reminded him that they did announce an emergency importation of analgesics as domestic production ramps up. 

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QP: It’s hogwash and poppycock

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In advance of the Fall Economic Statement, neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, and neither was Pierre Poilievre, for a change. That left Jasraj Hallan to lead off, and declared the Statement to be the “last chance” to stop tax increases and inflationary spending (of which there are no actual taxes being raised for ordinary Canadians, nor is the spending actually inflationary). He insisted that people are paying more in taxes than ever before (not sure that’s actually true), and railed about the so-called “Liberal inflation tax,” and demanded the prime minister stop spending. Randy Boissonnault reminded him that the plan would be released in two hours, but that they could rely on the government to do what is right, and supporting Canadians who need it. Hallan insisted the government’s “greed knows no bounds” and decried rising interest rates because of the “Liberal inflation tax” and demanded the government stop spending. Boissonnault reminded him that they reduced taxes on Canadians five times, and that the Conservatives voted against it every time. Hallan repeated his demand a third time, to which Boissonnault listed that the Conservative plan is to cut benefits, EI, climate incentives, child care, and so on. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French, and declared that the government is in no hurry to reduce inflation because that would reduce its revenues (which doesn’t actually match what the government is doing and is completely misleading), and demanded no new taxes, and Boissonnault said the statement was both economically false and cruel, as helping Canadians who need it is not inflationary. Paul-Hus misquoted Mark Carney about inflation and blamed it on “irresponsible spending” (which, once again, is not true), and Boissonnault quoted former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz in saying that the government’s measures stopped a deflationary spiral, while the Conservatives only want to cut, cut, cut.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he worried about the announced immigration targets, insisting that Quebec cannot handle that many and wanted a slowdown. Sean Fraser stated that the Quebec doesn’t set targets, the federal government does, and we need immigration. Blanchet insisted that this was about trying to weaken the Quebec nation and drown them out, to which Pablo Rodriguez needled that the Bloc was so concerned about percentages when these are about men, women and children.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, he cited a report stating that the government was losing $30 billion per year to tax evasion and the Irving family in particular was  a prime offender. Diane Lebouthillier said that those who evaded taxes would get a knock on the door from the CRA. Daniel Blaikie then worried about Loblaws’ profits, demanding that the chains “pay what they owe,” and a windfall profit tax, to which Boissonnault listed the actions they have taken around raising income taxes and investments in the CRA to combat evasion.

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QP: Getting shouty to build their narratives

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It being Wednesday, the benches were largely full, and the prime minister was present for his designated day to answer everything. Pierre Poilievre led off partly in French, and worried about the shortage of children’s Tylenol, and switched to English halfway through to reiterate. Justin Trudeau started talking about Health Canada taking action and there were challenges to supply chains around the world, but was shouted down and needed to reiterate his answer when it quieted down. Poilievre then moved onto his bog standard inflationary nonsense and “triple, triple, triple” ear worm, and demanded that tomorrow’s fiscal update have a spending freeze. Trudeau noted that they have supports for Canadians as the GST rebate comes out on days, and other supports are on the way. Poilievre repeated his question in French, and Trudeau noted that the Conservatives only want austerity and cuts. Poilievre returned to English to claim only he was protecting pensions from inflation, and repeated his demand to cap spending and taxes. Trudeau called Conservatives cold-hearted if they considered dental care for children to be pouring fuel on the inflationary fire. Poilievre tried to turn over the “cold-hearted” accusation with his tripling nonsense, to which Trudeau reiterated that in spite of Conservative misinformation and disinformation, the climate rebates give more back to most Canadians than they pay.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he accused the federal government of starving the healthcare system (which is utter bunkum), and wanted more funding without conditions. Trudeau reminded him that Quebeckers and Canadians expect results from the system, but if systems don’t work as expected, they want to work with provinces to ensure that more money gets better results. Blanchet accused the federal government of micromanaging, and Trudeau reiterate that the systems are not working, which is why they are trying to get provinces onside to improve things for that money.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he attacked Doug Ford’s preemptive use of the Notwithstanding Clause, and demanded the prime minster do something about it. Trudeau denounced Ford’s actions, and called out Poilievre for not denouncing it. Singh repeated the question in French, and got the same answer.

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QP: A puzzling and aborted attempt to change the channel

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The PM was present today, while his deputy was not, though most of the other leaders weren’t. Pierre Poilievre led off in French by accusing the government of fuelling inflation and added in some nonsense about rising taxes and deficits making interest rates go higher (no, that’s not how this works), and demanded an end to government spending. Justin Trudeau said that Canadians are concerned about the cost of living, the cost of going to the dentist, and the cost of rent, which is why they put forward measures that the Conservative have been opposing. Poilievre switched to English to insist that everything that Trudeau does makes everything worse, and demanded the prime minister stop driving up the cost of living by ending government taxing Canadians (which are wildly disparate concepts being mashed together with zero regard for how things work). Trudeau listed measures that they have made to support people and employers through the pandemic and ensured that our economy came “roaring back” faster than other countries, because it ensured economic growth. Poilievre insisted that Trudeau’s “own parliamentary budget officer” (which is some weird bullshit) that much of that COVID spending had nothing to do with COVID, and quoted some Desjardins figures about federal debt charges which he asserted could have been better spent on health transfers. (Erm, really? That’s your line? Also, those “bankers and bondholders” for that federal debt actually goes a lot to things like pension plans.) Trudeau once again touted the investments they made to support low-income families, and that the Conservatives would rather see cuts. Poilievre spun a tale of woe for people’s credit card rates, with some disingenuous laugh lines about the government assuming debt so people wouldn’t have to in the pandemic, leading to a false reading of how federal debt works. Trudeau repeated that they face supports to people, before calling out Poilievre for not condemning Doug Ford’s preemptive use of the Notwithstanding Clause. Poilievre then went on a bad faith rant about the ArriveCan app and trolled for support for his Supply Day motion on calling the Auditor General on the app. Trudeau said it was no surprise that Poilievre would not condemn this attack on rights, before returning to the points that the Conservatives want to raid EI and pensions.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he lamented the state of the healthcare system and worried that the federal government was “scheming” to deprive provinces of funding. Trudeau said that they want to see an effective system, which is why they want to supply more money, but they need to work with provinces to ensure that there are results. Therrien turned this into an attack on Quebec, and referenced the (largely apocryphal) Night of the Knives under his father. Trudeau insisted they want to work with provinces but need tangible results rather than throwing money at a broken system. 

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, he shouts about fossil fuel subsidies, saying that 2023 was two months away. Trudeau said that the elimination of “inefficient” subsidies would happen by the end of 2023. Daniel Blaikie took over in English, and demanded the government eliminate GST off of home heating (which is really just a subsidy for rich households. Trudeau praised their climate rebates, and other affordability measures. 

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QP: Competing misuses of “ironic”

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Neither the PM not his deputy were present today in spite of being in town, and most other leaders weren’t either. Pierre Poilievre was, however, and he led off in French with hyperbolic nonsense about deficits driving inflation (they are not), and worried that Canadians are cutting back to be able to afford to eat, and wanted the government to cancel their “inflationary policies” in their economic update, and called it “ironic” that it would mean cancelling everything they’ve done for seven years, which is neither ironic, nor in any way resembling reality. Randy Boissonnault responded by insisting that the government has a concrete plan for inflation including child care, the GST rebate, and the dental and rental supports, and said that it was “ironic” that the Conservatives voted against these measures, which again, is not actually ironic. Poilievre switched to English to misquote Tiff Macklem and Mark Carney about the domestic drivers of inflation, and then repeated his misuse of the term “ironic,” and once again, Boissonnault repeated his response, and his own misuse of the term “ironic.” (Make it stop!) Poilievre quoted the statistic on food bank usage, and pointed out that one in Toronto had to close because rent doubled, blaming the federal government for that, somehow. Boissonnault recited that this government has lifted people out of poverty, and wondered why the Conservatives voted against measures to help Canadians. Poilievre tried to call out the NDP for supporting the government’s carbon price as home heating bills increase, to which Sean Fraser stood up to take exception to this line of questioning, pointing to the Hurricane Fiona damage that his province suffered, and that most families get more back than they spent on it. Poilievre insisted this wasn’t a climate plan but a tax plan because the government hasn’t hit any climate targets (never mind that this is largely impossible under the sabotage of the previous government on the environmental file). Fraser got back up to insist that Poilievre has been repeating the same false points for years, and keeps being proven wrong.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he decried the story in the Star that claimed the government planned to freeze out certain provinces in negotiations for health transfers, to which Jean-Yves Duclos insisted that all health ministers have the same goals for the same dollars. Therrien shouted that this as about breaking provinces and it was blackmail, but Duclos calmly recited that the federal government has been there for the provinces and listed the billions of dollars transferred to them.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, accused the government of letting people starve while CEOs get rich. François-Philippe Champagne said that this was theatrical, and listed actions he has taken such as calling up the grocery CEOs and getting the Competition Bureau involved. Daniel Blaikie repeated the same in English, hoping for measures in the Fall Economic Statement, and Champagne repeated his response in English.

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QP: Framing food bank stats for their own ends

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present today, nor were most other leaders, save Pierre Poilievre, who is nearly always present. Poilievre led off in French, worrying that 1.5 million visits to food banks and that this was Canada, but he blamed taxes for this. Randy Boissonnault noted that people are having a tough time, but this government had supports available while the Conservatives would rather see them on their own. Poilievre repeated the statistic in English, adding in a “triple, triple, triple” talking point to that, and this time Karina Gould delivered the same response. Poilievre called the $6000 hotel room in London as a (tortured) analogy about this government and that the party was over, but Gould got back up to point out that the Conservatives would have abandoned Canadians in their darkest hour in the pandemic. Poilievre tried to bring in WE and ArriveCan as examples of waste, and Boissonnault repeated Gould’s point more excitedly. Poilievre raised a media story of a family who over-leveraged themselves on their mortgage and their payments have gone up $2000 and wonders what the hell they do now. (The Speaker cautioned him against this). Ahmed Hussen rose to accuse Poilievre of “gatekeeping” rental supports for those who need it and dental care.

Alain Therrien rose for the Bloc, railed that the dental support was not adequate for Quebec families and wondered why the government just didn’t approach the Quebec government (because federal-provincial agreements are that easy). Pablo Rodriguez chided the Bloc for not caring enough about children. Therrien got even more exercise about this, to which Adam van Koeverden read a statement about the benefit being available to those who need it.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he too raised the food bank usage figure, but blamed the government for not tackling corporate greed. Gould reminded him that this government has raised more children out of poverty than ever before. Alastair MacGregor repeated the same question in English (Champagne: I called on grocery CEOs to task them with taking action, and I demanded the Competition Bureau investigate the sector).

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