Capital Dispatch: 'Not so much room for discussion'

Here's what you need to know about the top political stories of the week.

September 27, 2024

Bloc Quebecois issues an ultimatum, House Speaker struggles to control the Commons Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survives the first test of his confidence in the fall sitting, with more challenges to come. The Bloc Quebecois continues to keep things interesting… And with emotions running high, House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus tries to wrangle his "colleagues." Here's your rundown of what happened on Parliament Hill this week.    The week that was MPs debated the first non-confidence motion of the fall House of Commons sitting on Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pushed once again for a snap election.  But with votes secured to keep them afloat, the Liberals were quick to turn the discussion into a referendum on the Conservative alternative. While his government's record was being debated on Parliament Hill, the prime minister was in New York City, where he faced questions from reporters about his leadership. "Obviously, the Conservatives are very much thinking about power right now," Trudeau said. "I'm thinking about how we can best help Canadians." Wednesday brought the big drama. So much so, that the Liberal minority holding on to power when the Conservative's non-confidence motion was defeated 211-120 was only a slice of the story.  In voting down what Poilievre framed as a choice "to give Canadians the carbon tax election they want," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet indicated they aren't yet ready to help force Canadians into an early election, which polling indicates the Conservatives would likely win.  With the outcome of the opposition motion all but expected in the hours leading up to it, political posturing ramped up over future tests of the Liberal minority government.  On Wednesday morning, Blanchet essentially gave the government an ultimatum, and a one-month deadline to commit to his demands.  He said Trudeau has until Oct. 29 to agree to help pass and enact a pair of Bloc-originated bills or he'll start talking to the other parties about taking Trudeau's government down. The legislation Blanchet wants the government to push through are Bill C-319, which proposes a 10 per cent increase to Old Age Security (OAS) payouts for seniors ages 65 to 74, and Bill C-282, which seeks to protect dairy, egg and poultry farmers in future trade talks. Earlier in the week, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said conversations were "ongoing" with both the Bloc and the NDP about their requests for policy action in exchange for votes of confidence.  Blanchet seemed to pour cold water on the state of those talks. "It is a friendly specialty of the Liberals to say that they are having discussions and that everybody is their close friends," he said on Wednesday. "So far, there's been very little discussions. And as you see, there's not so much room for discussion." His deadline timing, he said, took into consideration the potential ability to still have the time to call and hold an election before the new year.  Then came the big clash in the Commons.  What started with a question from Poilievre about the controversial purchase of a luxury condo in New York for Canada's consul general, quickly erupted. Heckling off camera – but captured by Hansard – included comments about engaging in a bathtub, and who got the top bunk. Trudeau called it out.  "On this side of the House, we are used to casual homophobic comments from the other side of the House," he said. Acrimony ensued, the microphones in the chamber were muted. House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus tried to get things under control, but faced challenges from MPs about his handling of the situation.  Trudeau then offered this: "Mr. Speaker, standing up to bullies requires us to call them out on their crap sometimes, and that is what I will do."   More "Oh, oh!" from "some hon. members" followed.     The prime minister ultimately withdrew what he said about "defecating," and it wasn't until the next day that we heard from the member accused of making the bathtub remark.  "Of course meetings do not take place in a bathtub. A luxurious bathtub has nothing to do with meetings. The prime minister's answer had nothing to do with the questions. However, the comment was not about sex. I was not thinking about sex at all," said Conservative MP Garnett Genuis after question period on Thursday.  Liberal Rob Oliphant, who is an openly gay member of Parliament, didn't agree. "It is a homophobic slur… And if the consul general in New York were a woman, if she was treated that way in this House, this House would be outraged. Every member of this House should be outraged," he said. Speaking to reporters about the state of decorum, some parliamentarians said the kind of heckling happening is more fitting for a frat house than the House of Commons. Politicians and staffers who were on the Hill during past minorities, said what's on display is emblematic of a Parliament in its dying days. For more on those conversations, that's all in here. Thursday was also of course, the second day MPs debated a second Conservative motion of non-confidence. "That, given that, after nine years, the government has doubled housing costs, taxed food, punished work, unleashed crime, and is the most centralizing government in Canadian history, the House has lost confidence in the government and offers Canadians the option to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime."   Government House Leader Karina Gould described the vibe in the chamber early in debate on this motion as "a little deflated."

Not to be missed Trudeau's late-night debut  Making his late-night television debut on Monday, Trudeau said on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert that many Canadians are taking their cost-of-living frustrations "out on me for understandable reasons." As my colleague Stephanie Ha reports, when asked about the efforts to try to topple his government and the Liberals' lagging poll numbers, the prime minister said the idea that Canadians want an election now "is something that my opponents are trying to bank on."  'No intention' to pause carbon tax   The federal government has "no intention" of pausing the next planned increase to the consumer carbon price, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said this week. As my colleague Sam Pope reports, in an interview with CTV's Power Play with Vassy Kapelos, the minister asserted the controversial price on carbon continues to be a necessary measure to combat climate change and there is no chance his government won't increase the tax on April 1.  Foreign interference inquiry latest  And, the public inquiry into foreign interference heard testimony from Canada's chief electoral officer this week, generating headlines about donations and nominations. Then the commission heard from a senior official that the federal government is considering new ways to alert the public about possible foreign meddling during election campaigns. Next week, top RCMP and Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Taskforce (SITE) officials are on the docket to testify.

Quote of the week "I've won, I've lost, I've come, I've gone, I've done other things in my life. I will do other things in my life… The only thing that we have in life is to look in the mirror and say, in the moments you had you did what was right… A minority government is a shared responsibility here, folks. You know, when we come to this place, we're elected. Canadians expect us to be here for four years and get things done. It seems lately that there is a political fever that has gripped this place where some people are far more excited about an election than getting things done. And look, I understand that that creates a lot of attention, a lot of noise. But is that really what's in the best interest of people? And I would say what's in the best interest of people is to demonstrate every day that what we're doing is trying to find a way to make this Parliament work for people, not looking for a way to engineer an election, hoping that you can have some wedge issue that you can take into a campaign and get some more seats with."  - Health Minister Mark Holland, speaking Thursday about the state of things as he sees it.

The week ahead MPs are back on the Hill on Tuesday… which has been assigned as another opposition day. This time it is the Bloc Quebecois' turn.  This will be their one and only "supply" day before the winter break, which makes the timing rather interesting, given Blanchet's aforementioned ultimatum.  Tuesday is also when the vote on the Conservatives' latest non-confidence motion will happen.  On Wednesday, the Bloc motion will come to a vote. That day the government also plans to call a second confidence vote.  That will be the "Ways and Means Motion" — essentially granting the government the approval to table a spending bill — connected to post-consultation changes to the capital gains policy. It was supposed to come to a vote this week, but procedural tactics — which the Liberals say were conducted by the Conservatives — put it off.  As former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore told CTV News yesterday: "once you vote non-confidence once, you can't go back."  Beyond Wednesday, the legislative agenda remains to be seen. In discussing all this during the "Thursday Question" Gould veered from listing the other bills coming up next week to state:  "The government has a responsibility to ensure the orderly continuance of the work of the House, notwithstanding the efforts of the Conservatives to disrupt this important work at every opportunity," Gould said.  "And I will reiterate the fact that there are three parties… that are here to work for Canadians, and we look forward to continuing that important work next week."

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