“You can't answer my first question, so I'm asking you a harder one.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
Recent debates
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Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act
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A bill to make many changes to Canada's immigration and border control laws. During debate, Conservatives asked questions about specific cases and raised concerns about fraud, while the Liberal minister responded but often discussed unrelated topics like Canada Summer Jobs and praised a Liberal colleague.
“You should apologize for giving out 126,000 foreign worker permits and hurting 127,000 unemployed Canadians.”
“You won't admit you messed up. I want you to look bad. The union said guest workers are bad for jobs and pay. I want you to apologize and admit you're wrong.”
“You haven't answered my point. I said your program hurts Canadian workers. Admit you were wrong.”
“The chair asked me to speak. I want to say that the minister is very very bad. She should feel bad about her choices. A union leader named Doug Parton said that temporary foreign workers are just used to lower everyone's wages. Is the minister saying Doug is wrong?”
“You've lost control of our borders. There are a lot of undocumented people.”
“Mr. Chair, the government admits many people are undocumented. Can the minister promise none work illegal jobs at construction sites the government pays for?”
“You didn't answer the question about undocumented workers. Four were found at the Calgary event centre project. Are you aware of this, and what are you doing to stop it?”
“You didn't answer the question. People will be upset. The government gave money to a project. Some workers might have been treated very badly. Can you tell me one thing you did to check or stop this?”
“You didn't answer my first question. I'll ask a different one. Does the program only bring in foreign workers if no Canadians are available for those jobs?”
“I'm filling my time by telling a story about how some temporary foreign workers were brought in while locals were available. This makes me sad.”
“Just say yes or no. Is the IRGC a terrorist group here or not?”
“You can't dodge my question that easily. Someone granted this man a visa. I want to know exactly why.”
“You just said he wasn't allowed in Canada. Someone in your department ignored that. I want you to say yes or no, are you okay with how they handled this?”
“I want you to admit you're okay with a bad guy getting in because I think it makes you look bad. I want a yes or no answer so you can't dodge it.”
“Someone let in bad people by mistake. Lots of people got in. The department is checking if they were bad. Can the minister say if that's true?”
“Just answer the question without the filler. Did your department skip security checks for those people or not?”
“I want a yes-or-no answer from you.”
“You admitted it. Now say the number out loud.”
“Stop dodging. I want to pin you down to a number.”