Tag Archives: Tough on Crime

QP: Revisionist history about CEBA

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Neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, and neither were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he raised the Auditor General’s report, and the $3.5 billion that was given to businesses that didn’t qualify for the CEBA loan programme, and the fact that the government subcontracted out its administration, claiming this was a loss of control and corruption. Rechie Valdez, in English, retorted that during COVID, Poilievre said that they don’t believe in these kinds of supports, while the government stood up for small businesses. Poilievre said that this report shows that he was right all along, and Arif Virani, in French, listed the help they have given businesses, including the carbon levy rebates (finally) being returned to them and the GST “holiday” (which most businesses are not really thrilled about). Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, and Valdez cited Conservative MPs who wrote her office to advocate for the loan programme. Poilievre said his members champion constituents who are eligible for the programme, not those who weren’t, and pivoted to another report on food insecurity, and misleadingly blamed the carbon levy. Jenna Sudds praised the work of food banks and cited from the report that praised government efforts for seniors. Poilievre cited the faux talking point about food price increases in Canada versus the U.S., and demanded once again to kill the carbon levy, and Karina Gould cited the ways he has voted against Canadians, that they gave him an opposition day to make his case and he turned it down, which was a sign of his own weak leaders.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised the Auditor General’s report that they are not tracking the data for support for seniors, and used this to demand more aid for them. Steven MacKinnon retorted that the Bloc have voted against seniors at every opportunity. Therrien again demanded more aid for seniors, and MacKinnon again listed programmes that the Bloc voted against, calling it “shocking.”

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and in French, worried about the Trump tariffs and accused Trudeau of coming home empty-handed. Dominic LeBlanc agreed the tariffs would be destructive, which his why they spoke to their American counterparts about the integration of the economy. Blake Desjarlais repeated the same in English, and LeBlanc responded much the same way.

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QP: Undignified exchanges on the GST “holiday”

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Neither the PM nor his deputy were present today, nor were most of the other leaders. Pierre Poilievre was present, and led off in French, and he declared Justin Trudeau to be “weak,” blamed him for Roxham Road, the rise in foreign students and the claim that 500,000 people were “lost,” and demanded to know what he would do to secure the border. Jean-Yves Duclos noted that the relationship with the U.S. is the most important, and praised the changes to the Safe Third Country Agreement. Poilievre accused the government of losing control of the border and that premiers were sending more provincial police to the borders. Duclos took the opportunity to raise Poilievre not having his security clearance. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his first question, with slightly more faux menace, and this time, Marc Miller noted that hundreds of thousands of people come to this country and then leave, who are called tourists and that anyone who doesn’t leave will face consequences, before saying that Poilievre and Tim Uppal have been telling people they won’t be deported because he’ll give them all visas. Poilievre stumblingly called this a “hallucination,” and Miller said he would tweet out the video, before saying that Poilievre needs to “grow a pair” and get his security clearance. Poilievre called this “erratic behaviour” and demanded an election, to which Karina Gould called him all talk and no walk.

https://twitter.com/MarcMillerVM/status/1862269731329262017

 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and claimed the government was finally listening to the Bloc and  adding resource to the border (Duclos: The prime minster had a good call with the premiers), and on a follow-up, Mélanie Joly noted that she spoke with François Legault this morning, as well as a number of influential American senators.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP to demand that the “rebate” cheques be expanded to more people. Soraya Martinez Ferrada thanked the NDP for their support on the GST holiday, unlike the “grinches” on the other side. Laurel Collins took over in English to also demand the rebate be expanded, and this time, Ferrada praised in French their (wholly inadequate) disability benefit and took the jab at the NDP for not supporting workers.

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QP: Trotting out a Canada First™ slogan

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In the wake of the panic over the first Trump 2.0 pronouncement about Canada, the PM was present for QP, though his deputy was not. All of the other leaders were presented for a second day in a row, and Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and immediately demanded a “Canada First™” plan for the border and security, and claimed the government had no plan other than a Zoom call, and blamed Trudeau for the “chaos” at the borders. Justin Trudeau responded that he had a good call with Trump last night and that he underscored how well they have worked together for decades in order to create prosperity for all, and insisted that they would always defend Canadian jobs in an non-partisan way as a team. Poilievre said the call didn’t work because Trump threatened with tariffs a few minutes later—not true—and brought up softwood lumber and Buy America, and claimed Trudeau had not gotten any gains for Canada, and claimed Trudeau broke the immigration system. Trudeau said that there are international students who come to Canada, and after they complete their studies, they return home in the majority of cases, and they have a system when they don’t return, and praised their latest immigration changes. Poilievre switched to English to again demand a ”Canada First™” approach, and claiming that Trudeau didn’t have a plan other than a Zoom call, and listed a number of specious issues. Trudeau again noted that he did speak with Trump, and that they had a good conversation and that he was working with the premiers. Poilievre again claimed that the tariff announcement was after Trudeau’s call, and then lent credence to Trump’s nonsense about drugs and the border. Trudeau noted that Poilievre was making stuff up, that the call was after the announcement, and that it was time to work togetherness rather than engage in partisanship. Poilievre, flailing, tried to claim that the timing was somehow worse, and then claimed that Trudeau was putting a “tariff on jobs” and demanded tax cuts and an end to the carbon levy. Trudeau said that again Poilievre was making stuff up, and if he wanted to re-criminalise marijuana, he should just say so.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, noted the disruptions all around, and wanted the “rebate” cheques extended to seniors. Trudeau noted that everyone gets the tax cut, but talked around the issue with somewhat hollow platitudes. Blanchet wanted the threshold for the cheques pulled down so seniors could get the cheques, and Trudeau noted that people are struggling in different ways, and listed programmes to help like child care, dental care, and enriched OAS and GIS.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and demanded a plan to fight back, because bullies only respect strength. Trudeau said that rather than panicking, they are engaging in constructive dialogue with all sides, and that they will stand up for jobs and prosperity. Singh repeated his demand in French, and Trudeau reiterated that they are need to take action in a way that isn’t out of panic.

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QP: Blaming Trudeau for a “woke riot”

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While the PM was off to Montreal to address the NATO parliamentary association meeting (which I remind you is not a NATO leaders’ summit), his deputy was present in his stead. Unusually, all of the other leaders were present on a Monday with no PM present, and Pierre Poilievre was present and led off in French, and he blamed Trudeau for the riot in Montreal, listed off a metric tonne of absolute bullshit, and demanded an election. Bill Blair said that what was on display was criminality, and that everyone must condemn it in no uncertain terms. Poilievre repeated the same bullshit in English, and this time Blair denounced the attempt to score partisan points off of what happened. Poilievre returned to French to take a swipe at the Bloc for supporting the government and demanded an election, and Chrystia Freeland said that every member has an opportunity to help Canadians with their measures, and wondered if the Conservatives would be free to vote into help people. Poilievre returned to English again to decry the “tax trick” of the GST “holiday,” and Freeland noted that in Canada, inflation, interest rates, deficits and the public debt are lower than the U.S., and repeated the question as to whether Conservatives would be free to vote for the tax holiday. Poilievre then denounced the notion of a “vibe-cession,” and Freeland suggested that Poilievre needs to be a little more economically literate, noted the upward GDP revisions, and the increase in per capita GDP.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, to decry that the cheques would go to high-income earners but not seniors, and Freeland said that they take the concerns of seniors seriously, and noted that they have supported seniors more than any government in the past, and that the federal expenditure on seniors is $48 billion. Blanchet decried the “discrimination” of this measure, and Freeland noted that seniors who are still working will get the cheque.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP to also decry that seniors won’t get that cheque, calling them the “most vulnerable” (the vast majority of seniors are not). Freeland reiterated that that how is the time to help people who have been through tough times with extra support. Singh switched to French, he repeated his condemnation of the exclusion of seniors, and added in students for good measure, and Freeland said that she hoped that the NDP would help them help Canadians.

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QP: Attempting to be clever about a poor policy decision

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The prime minister was in Toronto for the ill-considered GST “holiday” announcement along with his deputy, and most of the other leaders made themselves absent as well. Pierre Poilievre had just given a press conference but was not present, leaving it up to Frank Caputo to lead off instead, asking a ghoulish about sexual killers getting reduced security in prison, falsely blaming the former Bill C-83 (which was about solitary confinement reform). Dominic LeBlanc castigated the Conservatives for constantly repeating the names of heinous killers who are behind bars. Caputo then switched to denouncing the announced “affordability package” and demanded an election. Arif Virani declared that today was a great day for affordability and hoped the Conservatives wouldn’t be muzzled from voting for it. Caputo dismissed the measures and again demanded the carbon levy be cut instead. Virani gave a paean about how great the measures were for Xmas. Luc Berthold took over in French to say the best course was to cut the carbon levy, but the framing was odd because it doesn’t apply in Quebec, and François-Philippe Champagne praised the proposed measures. Berthold insisted the measures would raise inflation and demanded an election, and Champagne said that they don’t need an election, and the Conservatives need to support it.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and complained about the state of official languages and the decline of French. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, newly in the portfolio, said she looked forward to working with the Quebec government. Therrien quoted Quebec’s French Language Commissioner in saying that the federal government is “anglicising” Gatineau and Quebec, and Petitpas Taylor said she was offended by this as a New Brunswicker.

Alexandre Bourlerice rose for the NDP, and took credit for the government temporarily cutting the GST on certain items, and demanded this be made permanent. Champagne said that the NDP is just waking up and that the government has long understood the affordability needs and giving people a hand at Xmas. Don Davies made the same demand in English, and Anita Anand yelled that it was tax-free on essential goods for the holidays and how great this was, ending with a swipe at the Conservatives about “How can they claim to speak for Canadians when they can’t even speak for themselves?”

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QP: Boissonnault out vs caucus muzzling

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Fresh from his trips to Peru and Brazil, the prime minister was present for QP today, ready to respond to any and all questions, though his deputy was elsewhere. All of the other leaders were present, and just before QP started, it was announced that Randy Boissonnault was stepping away from Cabinet to “clear his name” from the various allegations against him. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and led off with the various salacious allegations against Boissonnault. Justin Trudeau noted that Boissonnault has left Cabinet to focus on the allegations, but the Conservatives only want to cut. Poilievre raised Jody Wilson-Raybould and tried to compare her to Boissonnault, and Trudeau noted that for a leader who claims to want the truth is muzzling his own caucus. Poilievre switched to English, gave a quip about doubling hosing prices and gun crimes, and up until a minute ago, had a minister with a “double identity,” and Trudeau again repeated the points about Poilievre muzzling his MPs rather than letting them advocate for their communities. Poilievre again tried compare Wilson-Raybould to Boissonnault, and Trudeau repeated that Poilievre won’t let his caucus talk because he’s afraid of what they are going to say about him. Poilievre retorted that twenty Liberals want Trudeau gone, and demanded an election. Trudeau said that MPs on his side were free to share their opinions unlike the other side.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, said this display proved why Quebec needs to be on its own, and then demanded that the government force the Senate to pass the Supply Management bill. Trudeau noted that his party was in favour of it, and demanded the prime minister personally meet with senators to get them to pass it, and Trudeau noted that he does meet with them often, but regardless, the government will protect the system.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, complained about the cost of living, and demanded the government support their economically illiterate GST cut plan. Trudeau said that if the NDP was so concerned about the cost of living, they would help the government break the Conservative obstruction in the Chamber. Singh repeated the demand in French, and Trudeau repeated his same response. 

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QP: Speaker Fergus walks into the trap set for him

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The PM was wrapping up at the G20, while his deputy was also elsewhere, as were most of the other leaders. Andrew Scheer was there to lead off, and he listed a bunch of specious allegations around Randy Boissonnault, and Boissonnault responded that he had nothing to do with the person in question. Scheer tried again, listing more salacious allegations, and this time Jean-Yves Duclos responded with the usual lines about Pierre Poilievre not getting his security clearance. Scheer then cited a tweet from Jody Wilson-Raybould that took a swipe at Boissonnault and then got into a back-and-forth with Speaker Fergus about which words he used weren’t parliamentary. Karina Gould got up to to decry the disrespect the Conservatives have been showing the Chamber, and had to start over after a lengthy intervention by the Speaker, who was pretty much exasperated by this point. Fergus then threatened to start taking questions away, before Luc Berthold got up to give the same talking points about Boissonnault in French, and Gould again got up to say that Boissonnault has answered, and it was time to stop the partisan games. Berthold tried one more time, got warned about the use of a first name, and Gould again got up to moralise about how the Conservatives are making a joke of this place.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and railed about their fraud perpetrated against the CRA and the hunt for the whistleblowers. Marie-Claude Bibeau insisted that this was false and that they took it seriously, and that the Privacy Commissioner was involved. Therrien went on a tear about CRA trying to protect their own backsides, and Bibeau replied that they have not hidden anything and that that they have taken action.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and demand the government adopt the NDP’s economically illiterate GST cut plan. François-Philippe Champagne agreed with the framing device that the Conservatives would only cut, while the government is investing in Canadians. Leila Dance made the same demand in English, and Jenna Sudds also agreed that the Conservatives will cut before praising the school food programme.

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QP: The character assassination of Boissonnault continues

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While the prime minister was still in Rio for the G20 summit, his deputy was present, but most other leaders didn’t bother. Pierre Poilievre was present, however, and he led off in French by equating the prime minister to a firefighter setting fires, who blamed “bad actors” for the immigration problems, and that he needed to look in the mirror. Marc Miller spoke about the decision to lower targets as being the responsible thing to do. Poilievre repeated this in English, and Miller said they wouldn’t take any lessons from someone who has spent twenty years lighting fires in the House of Commons. Poilievre switched to the various allegations about Randy Boissonnault and demanded his resignation. Boissonnault said that despite the innuendo, he had not met and has no dealings with the person referred to in the article today. Poilievre tried again, with a couple of added swipes, and Boissonnault repeated that the same denial, and the article stated that fact. Poilievre then took a swipe at Trudeau saying people are confused by misinformation about the carbon levy, repeated lies about it, and demanded an election. Jonathan Wilkinson called out the disinformation and chanted that eight out of ten households get more money back. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he decried the amendments to their Supply Management bill in the Senate, and demanded the prime minister order senators to defeat the amendment. Karina Gould reminded him that senators are independent. Therrien railed about that independence and didn’t believe it, and repeated his demand. This time Marie-Claude Bibeau suggested that the Conservatives tell their own senators to pass the bill. 

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, complained about prices “not making sense” and more, and demanded the government adopt their economically stupid plan to cut the GST on certain items. Jean-Yves Duclos responded with a swipe about the Conservatives not supporting dental care. Don Davies repeated the same demand in English, and François-Philipppe Champagne repeated that the Conservatives will cut, and patted himself on the back for creating economic opportunities. 

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Roundup: Clapping back at the provinces and their JPs

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Justice Minister Arif Virani has been honing his responses to the cries for bail reform lately, both in pointing out that the provinces are not living up to their responsibilities—whether that’s with properly resourcing the court system so that trials are conducted in a timely manner, or in dealing with overcrowded remand centres where people are locked up awaiting trial, and because of the overcrowding and poor conditions, many accused are being given bail rather than subjected to those conditions. Even more recently, he has started pointing to how certain provinces, and Ontario especially, have been appointing Justices of the Peace, to decide on most bail hearings.

Ontario in particular had this whole song and dance about how great it was that they were appointing JPs who weren’t all lawyers, because it gave them greater breadth of experience or whatever, but if it’s true that they’re not actually applying the law of bail properly, that’s a problem. It could simply be that their training is inadequate, which again is a provincial responsibility, because if they are being expected to read, understand and apply case law that the Supreme Court of Canada has laid out when it comes to the law of bail, then again, that is a problem that the provinces need to solve.

And yes, there are going to continue to be voices chirping that the law is the problem, and that the Liberals created an “open door” through two pieces of legislation, but this has been an orchestrated disinformation campaign. The one law that the Conservatives refer to codified Supreme Court jurisprudence, and actually toughened bail in certain respects, especially around domestic violence; the other law they refer to had to do with doing away with solitary confinement in federal penitentiaries, which has nothing to do with bail in the slightest, but repeated lying that has not been pushed back against by both-sidesing media has led a whole lot of credulous people to believe the bullshit. The law of bail is not the problem—it’s everything else that is, and the provinces are once again being allowed to get away with not doing their jobs.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian security services have detained a special forces unit commander accused of being Russian mole. Russian air defences claim to have downed a series of Ukrainian drones in a number of different regions. There could be another mass displacement of Ukrainians if energy systems continue to be damaged over the winter. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a call with Putin, asking him to withdraw his troops and negotiate, which of course Putin won’t, and now Zelenskyy is angry with Scholz because these kinds of calls decrease Putin’s isolation.

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QP: Concern trolling about climate targets

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

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

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

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