“You say our motions have no substance, but look at all the things I can list! I say they matter. Trade deals! Doubling exports! Foreign investment is up! It's all good news to me. Why don't you focus on that instead of always criticizing?”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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The Conservatives moved a motion criticizing the government's economic record. They claimed Canada has the only economy in recession in the G7, the worst household debt, the worst housing costs, and the second highest unemployment. But most of the debate consisted of MPs speechifying about their own qualifications, bragging about their ridings, sparring over procedure, and accusing each other of lacking substance. Very little time was spent actually discussing and debating the specific economic issues raised in the motion.
“We have a lot of seasonal workers in my riding. I met a woman who pushes carts of crabs and lobsters. She had trouble with EI. The government should fix EI for seasonal workers.”
“We extended EI by five weeks in some regions. That should help seasonal workers. We also removed the waiting period for EI.”
“Thank you for mentioning the rural transit solutions fund. That fund is popular in our ridings and you represent a riding near mine. The Conservatives didn't vote for it. Can you talk more about how that fund is helpful? It's good when people have public transit options.”
“The federal government spent a lot of money on rural transit in my riding. This program is popular and I want to cheer for it. People use the service and I think it helps our region.”
“You shouldn't ask me that. I want people to notice the Prime Minister isn't here to answer questions.”
“The Prime Minister is doing a good job. Look at all the good things that have happened. Our economy is growing strong.”
“Canada is the only G7 country in recession. The Prime Minister won't talk about it. He finally spoke today but made excuses. He said it was only a technical recession. There's no such thing. Two quarters of shrinking is a recession. He said we can't just look at one thing. Okay, let's look at more: 112,000 jobs lost, 45,000 more unemployed since he took office, second-highest unemployment in the G7. It's because of his policies. We need to cut taxes, red tape, spending. Conservatives will fix this.”
“I want you to ignore that G7 recession fact. I want you to trust what the Bank of Canada says instead. I want you to think Conservatives look bad for saying recession. I want people to think our government will make the economy better. Do you have anything nice to say?”
“I think Canadians are tough. They endure our government's bad results. I want the economy to lead the G7 in good ways, not bad ways. I don't like our government leading in household debt, expensive housing, and fast-rising food costs. I don't like our government having the first economy in recession.”
“I think the opposition leader complains too much. He says the economy is bad. But he also says the government steals his ideas. I wonder if his ideas caused the bad economy.”
“I want to say the other party steals our ideas. But they don't use them. They only talk about it. They spend and borrow too much. They add rules that make it hard to build things. They say they will change but don't. I wish they would use our ideas for real.”
“The other party's actions have caused a recession. Food Banks Canada gave us bad grades in many areas. One in four Canadians don't have enough food. Our party has better ideas to fix this. Can you talk about those ideas?”
“The other party's actions have caused a recession. Many Canadians don't have enough food. Food banks are running out. Think of the real people harmed by this. If the Prime Minister cared, he would answer a question about it.”
“The government is spending too much and growing the economy too little. They have added bureaucracy and red tape instead of cutting it. To grow the economy, we need to get rid of the anti-energy policies and let people build things again.”
“I want to talk about good news only. Rents are down. Exports and net worth are up. Look at our credit rating. We have affordability programs too. Those are nice, right? Let's just talk about the nice things we're doing.”
“I'm tired of hearing the same bragging points over and over. This government has been in power 10 years, not one. And things aren't so great. Unemployment is up. Debts and deficits are at record highs. More Canadians need food banks than ever before. In Edmonton, even our veterans are lining up at two food banks! That's the real legacy of a tired, corrupt government that's been in power too long.”
“Hello. I want to make a point about the new U.S. tariffs. The tariffs will hurt Quebec's exports badly. We in the Bloc think the government should spend money to subsidize businesses and help them pay wages. What does my former seatmate think of our spending idea?”
“The Prime Minister made promises and didn't deliver. A deal is the best thing for Quebec businesses. This government failed them.”
“The Liberals say things are growing in Canada. There is growth, all right. Inflation is up. Unemployment is up. Food bank usage is up. Business investment is down for the fifth quarter in a row. The government needs to fix this.”