Tag Archives: Inflation

QP: Mendaciously torquing a boneheaded comment

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The prime minister and his deputy were both in town today, but absent from the Chamber as QP got underway, while the other leaders were all present, which is actually quite unusual for a Monday. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, lying about the carbon price, and then calling on the “second carbon tax,” which doesn’t exist, to also be cancelled, with a mention of Quebec and the Bloc thrown in there. Steven Guilbeault insisted that the government has been consistent, ask that any party that wants to be in government needs to deal with climate change while tackling affordability, and that the Conservatives have nothing on offer. Poilievre switched to English to claim that Trudeau was huddled in the foetal position, sweating about Poilievre’s “Axe the Tax” rally, before he paused the carbon tax on heating oil. Jonathan Wilkinson pointed out their heat pump programme for people to take advantage of. Poilievre raised Gudie Hutchings’ media interview when she talked about other areas of the country needing to elect more Liberals and suggested that the Liberal MPs were useless in other areas. Wilkinson again got up to insist that they had programmes for everyone. Poilievre kept going about how useless those Liberal MPs from other cities were, and this time Karina Gould got up to praise the rebates. Poilievre demanded breaks for other provinces, and accused the prime minister of dividing the country. Gould raised the previous “common sense conservative” government in Ontario that gutted programmes people needed.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded an extension of the repayment period for CEBA loans, to which Rechie Valdez read her script about the added flexibility they offered for repayment. Blanchet was not satisfied and demanded that full extension, decrying the effect on “real companies.” This time Marie-Claude Bibeau got up to repeat the same points in more confident, extemporaneous French.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he demanded that the GST be removed on all home heating—something which disproportionately benefits the rich. Wilkinson suggested that Singh needs to do his homework and repeated the points about the national programmes. Singh switched to French to raise Doug Ford and the Greenbelt before demanded the government build not-for-profit housing. Guilbeault pointed out that he was opposed to Ford’s plans, and that they signed agreements with province to protect more natural areas.

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QP: Trying to make “quadruple” happen

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While the prime minister was in town and due to make an announcement shortly after QP, neither he nor any other leader were present today. Melissa Lantsman led off, and laid out a network of supposedly shady dealings around the ArriveCan app development. Arif Virani said that they were aware of the allegations and there was an RCMP investigation underway, so they would not comment. Lantsman tried to equate this scandal with people using food banks, and Virani repeated his same response. Lantsman repeated the same assertion, and this time Sean Fraser stood up and pointed out that the Conservatives’ record doesn’t stand up to their rhetoric. Pierre Paul-Hus took over in French, and he gave Quebec-specific food bank figures to tie it to the ArriveCan app development. Virani got up to give the French version of his statement. Paul-Hus cited a survey about Quebeckers being worried about their mortgage renewals, which they blamed on government spending. Rodriguez stood up to say that Quebeckers are afraid of Conservatives because all they care about is cuts.

Alain Therrien led off for the Bloc, and wanted the government to cut immigration numbers because of housing supply issues. Fraser said that it is possible to welcome arrivals and build new housing at the same time, and that they signed a housing agreement with Quebec. Therrien repeated the same demand, and this time Marc Miller said that as a Quebecker, he recognises the need for higher immigration.

Heather McPherson rose for the NDP, and she demanded immediate action for homelessness in Edmonton. Fraser for back up to say that they have been working to build more homes and doubled support for homelessness. Bonita Zarrillo said that those solutions would not help this winter, and demanded immediate action (because they have a magic wand?) Fraser repeated his same points about the support they have been provided.

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Roundup: A “dull as hell” House

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Jean Chrétien gave an interview yesterday to mark the 30th anniversary of his election win to form government in 1993, and there’s one part in it that sticks out for me in particular, which was about his time in politics, pre-dating his becoming prime minister, which has to do with the use of television in the Chamber:

“When I became a member of Parliament, there was no TV… In the House of Commons, we had no television. In those days in the House of Commons, we didn’t have the right to read anything. We had to get up and speak. It was fun. Today, they all come with speeches prepared by kids in the office and it is dull as hell, rather than have a real debate like we had in those days.”

This is spot on. It wasn’t just the arrival of the cameras that changed things, it was the relaxation of the rules around prepared speeches. It used to be that you weren’t allowed them, with very limited exceptions—the address in reply to the Speech from the Throne, the budget, and if you needed some particular help with specific facts or figures or translation (because simultaneous interpretation was a later arrival into Parliament). When they relaxed the rule around prepared speeches, it meant MPs started reading speeches into the record; time limits started to mean that they didn’t just speak up to that twenty-minute mark, but they were expected to fill the time entirely, which again, makes for very bad prepared speeches. There’s no actual debate either—during “debate” on a bill, the period for “questions and comments” is usually reserved for recitations of established talking points, with no actual exchange. One question, one response is not actually debate. Without relying on prepared speeches, and actually being allowed to debate, it would have made for actual tension or frisson between them, and to force them to know their material.

The other thing with the arrival of television is how it changed the nature of Question Period. It became very much about trying to a) get on TV, and b) providing clips for the evening news, which is one reason why parties started to do things like asking the same question in English and in French, so that they could get clips for both news services. With the advent of social media, however, the incentives changed again, and it was about creating content for those social feeds, which could include bad behaviour to drive up engagement. This is where we’re at now. It’s not exciting, and like Chrétien says, it’s “dull has hell” because you’re just watching badly scripted performances meant entirely for the consumption of clips. Politics should not be about this.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A civilian was killed in the Kherson region early Wednesday after Russians bombed the area. Russians are ignoring their losses and pressing on at Avdiivka, Debris from downed Russian drones downed power lines near a nuclear plan in the western part of the country, knocking out power for hundreds of people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine will strike back if Russia attacks their power grid again this weekend. Here is a look at some Ukrainian sappers who have returned to the job of de-mining after they lost limbs doing the work.

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QP: The worst kind of reading of scripts

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The prime minister and all other leaders were present today, and if anything, it promised to be a sour note all around. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he cited a “devastating” report about food bank use, blaming carbon prices. Justin Trudeau took the opportunity to mark the passing for Senator Ian Shugart, the former Clerk of the Privy Council. Poilievre said that Shuguart was his deputy minister and was a great public servant. He then returned to French to quote from the same report on food bank use. Trudeau cited the assistance they have delivered to Canadians, such as the Canada Child Benefit, child care and dental care, while the Conservatives would only those supports. Poilievre switched to English to reiterate his first question about the carbon price. Trudeau praised his government’s record in reducing poverty and reiterated the threat that the Conservatives would only cut supports. Poilievre cited a Nova Scotia quoted in the report and again blamed the carbon price, and Trudeau noted that Poilievre was part of a government that raised the age of retirement, and that it was about time he finally defended the CPP. Poilievre again quoted from the report on housing pressures and demanded more homes. Trudeau said that Poilievre has put forward no plan on housing and he lacks credibility on the file, while the housing minster was currently in BC signing new agreements. 

Yves-François Blanchet led off for the Bloc, and wanted the prime minster to acknowledge that Quebec would be financially viable on their own. Trudeau dismissed this as trying to reopen old fights that have long been settled, and listed off investments the federal government has made in the province. Blanchet again tried to get Trudeau to “admit” the province’s fiscal viability, and Trudeau again talked around the issue about growing the economy in the province together. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and blamed food prices on greedy CEOs, and Trudeau listed more programmes they have rolled out to help Canadians. Singh repeated the question in French, to which Trudeau listed off those programmes en français. 

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Roundup: Bad behaviour on committees for clips

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The Commons Access to Information, Ethics and Privacy committee released their report on foreign interference yesterday, and much of it was marked by recommendations to do things like finally implement a foreign agent registry (which the government is working on and has been undertaking consultations), and to fix issues that were the subject of leaks from national security agencies. The Conservatives, however, were not on board with the recommendation for web giants like Google and Meta to be held accountable for the spread of disinformation on their platforms, much in the way that the European Union has been doing. The Conservatives claim they are concerned about free speech and journalistic independence, but I have my doubts about that, because cynically, I suspect it’s in their self-interest to be able to continue spreading their own disinformation over these platforms and they don’t want to be accountable for that. Predictably, the Conservatives also used their dissenting report to demand forensic audits of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, even though there is no avenue for the government do really do this as it’s an independent non-profit corporation, and the initial endowment from the government is not at issue in all of the various conspiracy theories that the Conservative shave been pursing.

As for their concern about journalistic independence, they told on themselves some more as their fight to try and haul CBC management to answer questions on their coverage of Hamas and the use of the word “terrorist” took over the Heritage committee with a heated exchange, and Conservative MP Rachael Thomas vowing to make it “hell” for the chair if she didn’t get her own way. Peter Julian kept trying to tell her that the president of CBC, Catherine Tait, is already scheduled to appear next week on other matters, but Thomas kept up this dog and pony show so that she could get clips of her being “shut down” by the committee. But seriously, it is not up to Parliament to make demands of CBC’s coverage, and for the party to claim they respect journalistic independence while pursuing this vendetta just shows how much they are invested in their bullshit, and how willing they are to erode democratic norms (like the independence of the public broadcaster) in order to score a few points.

This use of committees as clip-gathering for social media was also on full display at Status of Women, as MP Michelle Ferreri staged another such stunt, by demanding a study on violence against women on transit as an “emergency,” while Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld objected because the study she had been trying to launch for months now on the mental health of women refugees who faced sexual violence would be pushed back yet again. Ferreri claimed that she wasn’t doing this for clips—and then put out a shitpost attacking Vandenbeld. It’s shameful that committees are being used like this.

 

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces continue to pound Avdiivka in the east, while Ukrainians say their defensive line is holding. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that they will continue to put their own pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea, and that increasing strikes have force the Russians to pull out their fleet as they are no longer to safely operate it from there. Elsewhere, Ukraine’s justice minister says he’s willing to go after the country’s oligarchs for embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering.

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QP: A committee chair tells on himself

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The prime minster and all other leaders were present today, which is nice to see. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he raised that the Parti Québécois “independent budget” and that they claim that Trudeau is leading Canada to financial ruin. Justin Trudeau said that he would get to the questions in a moment but took the opportunity to pay respects to the shooting in Sault Ste Marie. Poilievre insisted that separatism was off the table under the Harper years because of low taxes, which is risible, to which Trudeau shrugged it off and praised his government’s actions to help people. Poilievre switched to English repeated his same claim about separatists before pivoting to the carbon price and blaming it on inflation, shrinks-flatiron, and “skimp-flatiron.” Trudeau suggested that Poilievre was guilty of conflation, and noted the Conservatives only want to cut. Poilievre went on a tear about the RCMP Commissioner being shut down at committee and the ArriveCan investigation, and cried corruption. Trudeau said that if the Conservatives were digging up matters that were settled years ago, they were desperate. Poilievre then pivoted again and demanded to know if the PM believed Israel fired on the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza. Trudeau said that they needed to ensure they had the facts, and the best evidence was that Israel did not do it.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, praised Poilievre for bringing separatism back to the floor of the Commons, before turning to discussing with the US about a truce in Gaza. Trudeau said that he did speak to Biden over the weekend and they were working to a humanitarian solution. Blanchet wanted to know what happened to the idea of party leaders getting together to speak on this with a single voice, and Trudeau said that time will be set aside for such a meeting.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, raised the dubious story about the Calgary senior whose mortgage went from $1000 to $2600 per month (which is impossible), and demanded help for Canadians. Trudeau said that he was just in Singh’s hometown of Brampton to announce more housing plans. Singh switched to French to raise the tent encampment in Gatineau while the prime minister was hosting a fundraiser there, to which Trudeau praised the signature of a housing agreement with Quebec, details to be forthcoming.

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QP: Questions about French castles

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While the prime minister was entertaining Caribbean leaders for the CARICOM summit, his deputy was on her way to Washington for other meetings, and only a couple of the other leaders were present in the Chamber for QP. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and recounted the story of a couple from Ontario who wold their home and bought a castle in France, and wouldn’t be able to afford to move back to Ontario and buy a new home there. François-Philippe Champagne took this up and launched into a demand that the Conservatives support their bill on affordability. Poilievre pivoted and said that they warned the government that the clean fuel regulations would impose higher costs on lower income Canadians and wanted it cancelled, and Steven Guilbeault noted that the Conservatives campaigned on the same standards, but the difference is that the Liberals actually did it. Poilievre switched to English to repeat the story of a couple with the castle in France. Champagne got back up to deploy the “take no lessons” line and exhorted the Conservatives support their bill. Poilievre claimed this was Champagne saying “let them eat cake,” and this time Karina Gould got up to point out that Poilievre won’t explain why he won’t support a bill to increase affordability measures. Poilievre returned to the question on the clean fuel regulations, and this time Guilbeault read a survey of small businesses owners impacted by weather events and pilloried the Conservatives for ignoring climate change. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and decried that only 20 trucks of humanitarian aid have been allowed into Gaza, and wanted to know if the government has been on the case. Mélanie Joly says that they have been constantly asking to deliver humanitarian aid, and that they are engaging with the different countries in the region. Therrien insisted that Canada needed to show humanitarian leadership, to which Ahmed Hussen red a script about their commitment to getting humanitarian aid to civilians. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed that Toronto hasn’t received the promised $97 million in aid for housing, particularly around asylum seekers. Mark Miller said that they are engaging with the city and the province, and that they have been asking the city for the receipts which they will pay for once they receive them. Singh switched to French to recount a story of someone who was evicted and needed to find a smaller, less adapted home. Champagne exhorted him and all of the opposition to vote for their affordability measure.

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QP: The first attempt to publicly undermine Speaker Fergus

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The prime minister and his deputy were in town but away, hosting CARICOM meetings instead, while the other leaders were all present. Speaker Fergus wanted to make a statement about decorum before things got underway, Pierre Poilievre decided to throw a tantrum because he started right now, and had Andrew Scheer fight on his behalf. There was a back-and-forth on the rules and consultation with the Table Officers, and Fergus trying to assert his authority as the Conservatives tried to undermine him publicly. Eventually, Fergus did get to his speech, and faced attempts by the Conservatives to interrupted him with points of order, and eventually he got to the point about excessive and loud heckling, while recognising that there is a place for witty comments as a feature of our system; the use of “provocative” terms that lead to tense exchanges, such as calling one another racists or shouting obscenities; and the tendency to the make personal attacks, including coming up with fake titles, or drawing attention to absences. He promised to use what tools he has to limit those attacks, reinforcing that he has the authority to preserve order and decorum. That would include refusing to recognise a member, or to name a member.

Poilievre finally led off in French, and he decried “inflationary deficits” with a couple of bespoke mentions of Quebeckers. François-Philippe Champagne trotted out the “take no lessons” line and decried the cuts the Conservatives would make cuts to services. Poilievre switched to English to worry about the “middle-class homeless,” and demanded an end to deficits, to which Anita Anand recited the points about the country’s Aaa credit rating and that the government invests in Canadians. Poilievre shrugged off the “incompetent ratings agencies” before worrying about homeless seniors with a specious connection to deficits. Mark Holland said that cuts to social programmes like Poilievre was peddling would make people worse off in the long-run. Poilievre boasted that the previous government balanced the budget will increasing healthcare (false), and Anand got back up to insist that they won’t balance the budget on the backs of Canadians. Poilievre retorted that the government runs massive deficits on the backs of people before turning to the hospital in Gaza, and demanded that they denounce terrorists for inflicting it. Karina Gould said that their hearts were broken for the innocent Palestinians affected and that they have denounced terrorism while they stand with Israel.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded Canada work with allies to get humanitarian aid to Gaza. Gould insisted that they were calling for a humanitarian corridor and to protect the lives of civilians. Blanchet was incredulous that Trudeau had not apparently spoken to Joe Biden since the attack in Israel, and Gould reiterated that they are in contact with allies and stakeholders. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and mocked Champagne’s inability to get answers on how the grocery chains were lowering prices, and wanted support for a motion to call them to committee. Champagne insisted that his summoning those CEOs was unprecedented. Singh got back up ask the question in French—because he needs clips in both languages—and Champagne says that he wrote to the chair of the committee to ask him to summon the CEOs, so he was glad the NDP was on board.

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Roundup: Openly pursuing creeping illiberalism

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You may have heard mention of a lavish trip that Conservative MPs took to London courtesy of a Hungarian think tank, but as you might expect from Canadian legacy media, the focus remains on the costs of the trip, and the stupid little partisan games in trying to get the ethics committee to look into it. What isn’t being mentioned is the fact that the think tank, the Danube Institute, is closely tied to the Orbán regime, and that is a worrying problem because of what it signals about right-wing parties in North America cosying up to Orbán.

Why this matters is because Orbán is undermining the rule of law and public institutions in Hungary, and is praising greater illiberalism. By cosying up to Orbán while has-beens like Stephen Harper try to sanitise his image through his IDU social club is because it creates a permission structure for right-wing parties like the Conservatives to start normalising the same illiberalism, pretending that this is all standard stuff for small-c conservative parties these days. The “don’t say gay” legislation in the US all came from Orbán’s playbook, and that is crossing over into Canada as well, with Conservatives openly winking and nodding to it, while you have conservative premiers invoking the notwithstanding clause to take away the rights of gender-diverse youth. This is the canary in the coal mine.

On the subject of creeping illiberalism, Conservatives (and MP Rachael Harder in particular) tried to get the public accounts committee to haul the CBC executives before them to “explain” why they don’t use the term “terrorist” when referring to Hamas, never mind that this is a practice shared by other news organisations like the BBC and The Associated Press. This kind of attempted intimidation is absolutely out of order, and represents political interference in the public broadcaster, which would be bad enough it Harder wasn’t the one always screaming about so-called “government censorship” with the Online Streaming Act and the Online News Act, as though that were a credible problem. It’s not, but it also seems to be both projection and an admission, that they want to control the news and programming, while accusing the Liberals of doing so (even though they absolutely are not). This is extremely dangerous for our democracy, and we should absolutely beware what they are trying to get away with.

Ukraine Dispatch:

While the attacks on Avdiivka continue, Russians struck an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia and killed two people. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for an attack on two Russian airfield in occupied areas using longer-range ballistic missiles quietly provided by the Americans, which is an unusual admission for them, but also signals that they can now hit Russian supply lines in more protected areas.

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QP: Dangerous questions on the independence of media

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The prime minister was present today, which was nice to see, as were all of the other party leaders, and it wasn’t even a Wednesday to get everyone together, so that was great. The prime minister’s deputy, however, was absent, as is so often the case these days. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he decried that the government’s deficit is driving up inflation and interest rates, which means people can’t get homes. (Erm…) Justin Trudeau responded that the austerity preached by the opposition wouldn’t help anyone get housing, before praising his government’s programmes. Poilievre insisted that people were living austerity while the government lived in largesse, and repeated his anecdote yesterday about the shipyard worker who couldn’t afford a house in Vancouver. Trudeau repeated that the Conservative’s austerity wouldn’t help people, and wondered what programmes the Conservatives would cut. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his anecdote about the shipyard worker with some added affected gravitas, and Trudeau repeated that the Conservative austerity won’t help anyone. Poilievre repeated his talking point about people living austerity amidst government largesse. Trudeau reminded him that Canada already has the lowest deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, and wondered again what programmes Poilievre proposes to cut. Poilievre insisted he would cut the ArriveCan app, the Infrastructure Bank and McKinsey contracts and wondered if he would cooperate with the RCMP investigation into the ArriveCan contract. Trudeau noted that the government invests in people, and suggests that Poilievre ride the new transit line in Montreal that the Infrastructure Bank helped fund.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he returned to his concern trolling about Canada not being part of the Quint group (never mind that we are not a nuclear power), to which Trudeau insisted that Canada is already working closely with the US and other countries. Blanchet repeated his question, and wondered if party leaders could get more comprehensive briefings, and Trudeau said his officials were working on it.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he wanted assurances that all Canadians could safely get out of Gaza. Trudeau said that they have been concerned for all of the innocents in the region and praised their airlifts, before saying he was working to get the humanitarian corridor so Canadians could get out. Singh switched to French to raise the possibility that a hospital in Gaza may have been hit, and demanded that Trudeau call for a ceasefire. Trudeau insisted that he has been calling for hostages to be freed and to call for international law be respected.

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