Tag Archives: Temporary Foreign Workers

QP: Did you watch my documentary?

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While the prime minister was in town, he was not present, though his deputy was. Most of the other leaders were absent as well, for what it’s worth. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he decried that rent was rising faster than salaries, and blamed the prime minister for it, and implored him to watch his “documentary” which he called “common sense,” and demanded a “common sense” plan. Sean Fraser got up to respond that it was a shame that Poilievre doesn’t put as much energy into generating housing policy as he does videos, and that the reality was when when he looks at Poilievre’s proposals, it would mean fewer houses get built. Poilievre insisted that minster must not have watched his “common sense” video, which he claimed was being “widely acclaimed” (it’s not), and listed some of his proposals. Fraser said that while Poilievre was more concerned about clicks, he was concerned about putting roofs over people’s heads. Poilievre mocked the progress the government has made and their insistence of photo ops, to which Fraser pointed out that Poilievre likes to go around the country on the taxpayer’s expense, and take photos in front of projects the government funded. Poilievre gave a soliloquy about how all of the government’s projects are imaginary, and this time, Fraser pointed out how much the government’s housing strategy has provided, and that they have turned the corner after three decades of federal inaction. Poilievre gave another pitch for his nonsense plan, and Fraser responded with the responsibility that they all have to ensure that everyone has a home.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and wanted to know how long the heritage minister knew that cuts were happening at CBC/Radio-Canada, as though she is the manager in charge. Pascale St-Onge praised their record on reinvesting in CBC and the media sector. Therrien then went on a rant about Catherine Tait having her term expend to make these cuts, to which St-Onge reminds him that CBC operates at arm’s length, and that they were doing more the media sector thanks to their Online News Act.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, took a swipe at St-Onge, before worrying about the Operation Santa Claus letters about children asking for food, and turned it into a rant about grocery giants. Chrystia Freeland talked about how the Canada Child Benefit has lifted families out of poverty but they were also advancing new competition measures. Alaister MacGregor took over in English to decry the grocery CEOs, to which Freeland repeated her praise about benefits, and their bill to enhance competition. 

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QP: Self-contradicting economic demands

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The prime minister was off in Toronto making housing announcements, and his deputy was on the West Coast for her own announcement. Most of the other leaders were also absent, but not Pierre Poilievre. He led off in French, as he so often does, and he accused the prime minister of replacing the joy of Christmas with poverty, according to Operation Santa Claus letters, and he blamed deficit spending. Anita Anand praised the Canada Child Benefit for lifting families out of poverty, and encouraged the Conservatives to vote for their bill to “stabilise grocery prices” (well, indirectly anyway). Poilievre then called the government hypocrites at for how much they fly, to which François-Philippe Champagne said that people can see who the real hypocrisy are because the opposition leader only opposes investment in the green economy. Poilievre switched to English to decry “stagflation” in the last quarter, blaming high deficits, taxes, and red tape, while the American economy was roaring. Anand wanted to remind everyone that they have an economic plan, and recited good news economic talking points to prove their plan was working. Poilievre returned to the accusation of hypocrisy for how much the environment minister has flown before demanding that they cut the carbon price, for which Champagne patted himself on the back for attracting foreign investment in the green economy. Poilievre then raised the court challenge from Ontario First Nations about the carbon price. Patty Hajdu noted that these nations are independent, decried the Conservatives’ colonial attitudes, and listed the investments they have made to those communities.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and demanded the federal government transfer $460 million to Quebec for asylum seekers, insisting they were solely a federal problem (which is not true—they are only federal once their claims re accepted). Don Vandal said that asylum seekers are a shared jurisdiction and they continue to converse with the province. Therrien made another demand, and this time Pablo Rodriguez says there is no fight, just that the Bloc is trying to pick one.

Jagmeet Singh appeared by video, and worried about the revelations from the US about assassination plots from India. Dominic LeBlanc said that the RCMP and policing partners across the country are taking this seriously, and cooperating with American law enforcement. Singh switch to French to repeat the concerns from Operation Santa Claus in Quebec, to which Anand plugged the bill they tabled to help build the economy.

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QP: Starting the Christmas brawling in November

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The prime minister was present while his deputy wasn’t, as news was breaking both about an indictment around Indian-sponsored assassination plots and a deal from Google on online news. Most of the other leaders were present, but there was also the promise that the one who wasn’t physically present was there virtually. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, claiming that the prime minister was ashamed of his fiscal record and launched into a rant about debt-servicing charges. Justin Trudeau responded by pointing out that the Conservatives opposed their health funding agreement with the provinces and would prefer austerity to the “responsible” record of the government. Poilievre trotted out his line about people already experiencing austerity and blamed government deficits. Trudeau said that Poilievre’s logic was faulty, as government austerity would not help those people. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and returned to misquoting that Scotiabank report before demanding that he “get control of his spending,” to which Trudeau said that the media didn’t cover the fall economic update much as they would have liked because they were too busy covering Poilievre’s terrible week. Poilievre suggested he give the media even more money to cover what he likes, before he recited lines about carbon pricing, to which Trudeau patted himself on the back for the deal with Google to help fund local journalism. Poilievre then moved to a juvenile “debate me!” cries, before demanding the carbon price be axed. Trudeau said that farmers are seeing the impacts of climate change, which is glaringly obvious to every except for certain MAGA Conservatives.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he demanded a call for tenders for surveillance aircraft that included Bombardier’s vapourware. Trudeau said that they were concerned that the armed forces gets what they need while keeping the aerospace sector in Quebec strong, and that minsters would making decisions in due course. Blanchet tried to insist this was some kind of slight against Quebec, but Trudeau reiterated his same response.

Jagmeet Singh appeared by video, and in English, he demanded to know where the online harms bill was after a sextortion case wound up in a suicide. Trudeau said that they all want to protect kids, and were moving forward in the right way, and that they need to ensure that they get this legislation right. Singh demanded action, before switching to French to decry that the president of COP28 was trying to make oil deals in Canada, but Trudeau kept going on about the forthcoming online harms bill, and said it was inappropriate to make accusations about actions or inactions.

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QP: The lie that C-234 is supposedly a money bill

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The prime minister and his deputy were both present today, which was nice to see, but not every other leader was in the Chamber. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he complained about the debt servicing costs, claiming the prime minister is spending “more for bankers than nurses,” never mind that healthcare is a provincial responsibility and government bonds aren’t lit on fire. Justin Trudeau responded that since last week, more Canadians are having harder believing Poilievre, and rattled off the talking points about Canada having the lowest debt and deficit in the G7, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio, and that inflation is coming down, while Poilievre would only cut benefits. Poilievre cited food bank stats in Quebec and blamed deficit spending and carbon pricing for it, and demanded the government end both. Trudeau patted himself on the back for their responsible fiscal approach. Poilievre switched to English to turn to the Stellantis plant and the possibility of 900 temporary foreign workers, which he misleadingly called “replacement” workers. Trudeau read that there would be 2300 local workers to build the plant and 2500 local workers when the plant is in operation, and that Poilievre’s need to politicise everything wasn’t helping, while he only wants to cut. Poilievre said that the prime minister was to blame for people’s self-imposed austerity, and demanded he “stop obstructing” Bill C-234 in the Senate, which is of course nonsense as he has no such powers—but this was also the subject of the Conservatives’ Supply Day motion. Trudeau pointed out that there are plenty of reasons for global food price inflation, not the least of which was Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, and took a dig at the Conservatives for voting against the trade agreement. Poilievre full-on flailed about Trudeau trying to change the channel from the misery he caused. Trudeau said that Poilievre was so desperate to score political points that he was standing against things that Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and noted the rise in antisemitic incidents, and blamed them on the “loophole” in the Criminal Code around religious speech, and wanted support for his bill to remove that loophole (which is a hugely complex issue). Trudeau called out the rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism, and said he would study the bill. Blanchet insisted the bill was straightforward and wanted it passed immediately. Trudeau read a script that hate speech is already criminal, and that they would take a “close look” at the bill.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, he demanded the “anti-scab” legislation be passed immediately. Trudeau took a bit of a jab at the NDP, saying that while they like to paint themselves as the party of workers the government has proved themselves to be, and that he was glad they worked together on this bill. Matthew Green took over in English and took credit for the bill, and demanded the bill be implemented sooner than the 18-month period in the bill. Trudeau repeated his same points in English.

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QP: Just impotently wailing about Senate votes

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While the prime minister was in town, he was not at QP, though his deputy was for a change. Most of the other leaders were also absent, for what it’s worth. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and accused the prime minister of subsidising three different battery plants to the tune of $44 billion, and lied about staffing them with “foreign replacement workers,” demanding to see the contracts for each plant. François-Philippe Champagne said that Canadians can see where Conservatives stand, and that when Poilievre was employment minister, he oversaw the loss of 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the country, and that these plants will create Canadian jobs. Poilievre said that Champagne would be a good employment minister for South Korea, before railing about how much the government was spending on servicing the debt. Chrystia Freeland noted that Canada has the lowest debt and deficit of all G7 countries plus a Aaa credit rating, while having a responsible plan that could make the necessary investments in the economy. Poilievre switched to English to cite the stats about food bank use, and demanded that C-234, on carving out more carbon prices for farmers, get passed. Freeland patted herself on the back for programmes like child care and dental care, and said that Poilievre’s plan for cuts is not common sense but nonsense. Poilievre repeated his demand for the bill to pass, to which Karina Gould said that once again, Poilievre was proving he couldn’t tell the truth to a Canadians, at which point she was being drowned out by the Conservatives. The Speaker warned her about not “approaching the limit of what is parliamentary.” Poilievre then continued to lie about the effect of the carbon price on food, and again demanded the bill get passed. Gould got back and says that just because he says something, it doesn’t mean it’s true, and gave a laundry list of falsehoods including that the government doesn’t direct the Senate.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he cited StatsCan figures around rental increases, and blamed the immigration targets for the rise. Marc Miller responded that Quebec controls its immigration levels and to blame the rise only on immigration was just rich. Therrien accused the government of getting their immigration targets by way of a Ouija board, and Miller dismissed this as not being a serious question.

Jenny Kwan demanded the government turn empty buildings into housing immediately, to which Freeland listed off their programmes to build, build, build. Lindsay Mathyssen repeated the thrust of the question with a slightly different frame, and this time Jenna Sudds recited that the government is helping families get by.

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Roundup: Trying to falsely blame CTV

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At his media availability yesterday, Pierre Poilievre was asked if it was responsible for him to declare the explosion on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls to be “terrorism” before anything was confirmed. And what did Poilievre do? True to form, he attacked the Canadian Press reporter asking the question (including lying about the substance of the corrections that a recent CP story made to a story about comments he had made), then lied about why he said “terrorism.” Poilievre claimed this was from CTV reports, and tried to get the CP reporter to try and denounce CTV. The problem was that CTV didn’t publish anything before Poilievre began his questions in QP. And what we do know is that Fox News was definitively calling it terrorism, as were several disinformation merchants who pose as journalists over Twitter. But rather than admit that these were his sources, Poilievre lied, continued to lie, and then post the video of him attacking the CP reporter to his followers, because right-wing populism has a huge hard-on/wide-on for putting people in their place (particularly if they’re vulnerable minorities or someone they suffer no repercussions for attacking, like media).

And then things got stupid online, as Poilievre’s fans and apologists kept trying to “prove” that CTV was still the source, really, relying on screenshots that came from a different time zone. And at least two MPs shared these screenshots before they were called out and deleted them.

I will say that between these lies, and the ones he has been telling about the Canada-Ukraine trade deal legislation, it seems to finally shaking up some legacy media outlets to actually start calling him out on them. Somewhat. Some outlets are still egregiously both-sidesing the lies, as they always do, but you had Power & Politics host David Cochrane finally interjecting in places saying “That wasn’t true,” or walking through the timeline of lies in the case of yesterday’s attempt to blame CTV. It’s not nearly enough, but it is a start, but we’ll see how long it can actually last.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A daytime cluster bomb attack in a suburb of Kherson in the south killed three people. Ukraine’s farmers are hoping that the Black Sea trade corridor will help them get exports to market so that they can survive.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1727681997076644088

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QP: Goading the Conservatives on Ukraine

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The prime minister was off to meet EU leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador, while his deputy was doing photo ops in Toronto. Even Pierre Poilievre was away today, as were every other leader. Andrew Scheer led off, and after giving the new “time’s up” slogan, he misquoted the Scotiabank report and demanded the government balance the budget. Randy Boissonnault got up to denounce the Conservatives for the voting against the Ukraine trade deal. Scheer repeated the lie that the government is forcing a carbon price on Ukraine, before repeating his demand for a balanced budget. Karina Gould pointed out that there was no carbon price in the trade deal, and brought up that Poilievre falsely called yesterday’s Rainbow Bridge incident a terror incident. Scheer demanded the government support their amendment to send more weapons and energy to Ukraine before rambling about the so-called “replacement” temporary foreign workers at the Stellantis plant, which again, has been debunked. Bill Blair got up to pat himsefl con the back for the billions in military aid sent to Ukraine. Gérard Deltell got up to repeat the demand for a balanced budget in French, to which François-Philippe Champagne praised the government’s efforts. Deltell railed that the government would force our great-grandchildren to pay the price for their mistakes, and Champagne implored for them to pass their affordability bill.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he decried the plan for interprovincial labour mobility for healthcare workers, and railed that this would disadvantage Quebec. Boissonnault pointed pivot that the federal government transfers hundreds of millions of dollars to Quebec to help francisise immigrants. Therrien insisted that all the federal government needed to do was increase transfers so that Quebec could hire more doctors on their own, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that Canadians can work together, whether the Bloc likes it or not.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he accused the industry minister of not doing anything about the grocery CEOs. Champagne insisted that he stared down those CEOs and he forced them to stabilise prices, before imploring them to pass the affordability bill. Alistair MacGregor gave the English version of the same question, and Champagne accused the NDP of not doing anything for consumers and again implored them to pass that bill.

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QP: Outright lying about the Ukraine trade deal

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The prime minister was present while his deputy was not. All other leaders were in the Chamber, so it was going to be a spectacle. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and asked for an update about the incident in Niagara Falls, which he attributed to a terrorist event (which was far too early to determine at the time, which seem to have been disproven), to which Justin Trudeau stated that a vehicle blew up on the Rainbow Bridge, and they were still gathering information, but that the border has been closed at additional locations. Poilievre repeated the request in English, but slipped in a “bring home” slogan in there, and got the same response, and then excused himself to go get further updates. Poilievre returned to French to decry that the $20 billion in new spending from the economic update would keep fuelling inflation. Randy Boissonneault insisted that the update would be good news. Poilievre got back up and asked “what’s up?”, paused, then listed things that he insisted were up before declaring “time’s up” for the government, and decried that $20 billion in English. Boissonnault repeated his good news points before lambasting the Conservatives for failing to vote for the legislation on the trade deal with Ukraine. Poilievre declared that the federal government “betrayed Ukraine” with a list of mostly falsehoods, but didn’t actually ask a question. Gould noted that if that were true, they would have voted for the bill, but they didn’t because of a red herring.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, hoped that the situation at the border would be as un-dramatic as possible, before decrying the empty box that was the economic update. Boissonnault gave his own well wishes for the situation the borders before deploying his good-news talking points. Blanchet then demanded that the government stop intruding in provincial jurisdiction around housing, to which Sean Fraser praised the deal with the Quebec government.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and asked for his own update on the border situation, to which Karina Gould gave some fairly bland assurances as there were no further details. Singh switched to French to decry that the housing funds in the fiscal update were backloaded two years. Marci Ien got up to praise the tax-free housing savings plan, insisting that it was working for young people.

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Roundup: A relatively restrained update

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And so, the government tabled their Fall Economic Statement, and lo, it was relatively restrained. There was very little spending, most of it very targeted, nothing about booking particular promised but not yet delivered spending programmes (such as the disability benefit), and most of that spending was geared toward either housing, or some targeted tax breaks. Critics will point out that what is offered for housing is very little given the scale of the crisis, but we also have to remember that the federal government needs to be restrained in its spending so as not to juice growth too much and keep inflation high—several provinces are already doing that, which makes the Bank of Canada’s job much harder, and Freeland seems to be making the effort to do her part not to make things worse.

With this in mind, here are some of the stories that emerged:

  • A overall look, including the deficit situation.
  • Further promising changes to competition law.
  • Using part of the growth fund to guarantee carbon prices for major emitters (as insurance for investments against future government actions).
  • There’s a new voluntary “Mortgage Charter,” and measures to help CHMC revive projects that may have been shelved because of interest rates.
  • Debt-servicing charges are increasing mostly because of how much they needed to take on during the pandemic.
  • Enriching the payroll tax credit for media organizations.
  • The Canadian Press has a list of highlights and five key affordability measures in the update.

Meanwhile, here is some added reaction:

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians hit a hospital in Selydove in the east, as well as a coal mine, as well as killing one while shelling Kharkiv. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion. The Russians claim to have scuppered more Ukrainian attempts to get footholds on the eastern banks of the Dnipro river. Two Ukrainian lawmakers are under investigation for trying to bribe reconstruction officials, one of them with Bitcoin.

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QP: Hyperventilating about Stellantis

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While the prime minister was present, his deputy was in the lock-up, meeting with reporters about the Fall Economic Statement in advance of its release at 4 PM. All of the other leaders were present, ready to demand to know what was in the update before its release. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, returns to the Scotiabank report he raised yesterday, and blamed the federal government for driving inflation, before demanding a balanced budget in the fiscal update. Justin Trudeau responded that the solution to this difficult period is not austerity, but strategic investments in helping families. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his same question, and lo, got very much the same response from Trudeau. Poilievre blamed the federal government for fast-rising rents, and demanded that the government cap the carbon price until the next election. Trudeau said the solution to rising rents is to build more units, which the government is doing, before mocking Poilievre’s assertion that the government is doing “damage” to Canada through child benefits, child care, or dental care. Poilievre then pivoted to the Stellantis plant and the overblown concern that it would use temporary foreign workers.  Trudeau noted that Poilievre would use any misinformation to denounce plans he doesn’t like, but he didn’t actually debunk the assertion. Poilievre said that no, it was Trudeau who spreading misinformation, and repeated his same overblown and false assertions. Trudeau said it was flat-out false and fear-mongering, but again, didn’t actually explain what the truth was, because of course not.

Yves-François Blanchet lead for the Bloc, and he demanded that the government include an increase in old-age security and an extension to CERB repayments in the economic update. Trudeau noted that they have been increasing payments for seniors, and that they supported those small businesses in COVID, but Blanchet would have to wait a couple of hours. Blanchet wondered if he should send his questions in advance so that he could get a real answer, before he repeated his same demand. Trudeau said he would be happy to send Blanchet a schedule that shows the update is released at 4 PM.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he too raised the spectre of temporary foreign workers at the Stellantis plant, to which Trudeau said that while nobody was surprised that Poilievre would fall prey to disinformation but it was disappointing that Singh did too—but again, didn’t explain the truth. Singh switched to French to demand a competition changes to target grocery giants. Trudeau patted himself on the back for their plan to summon grocery CEOs, and said that there would be competition measures in the economic update.

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