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.
“Conservatives hurt Quebec by opposing help for [company], [company], and [industry]. They were bad for Quebec's economy! They must change and support Quebec more in the future.”
“Canada has very high household debt. The people most hurt by that are low-income seasonal workers. Lise Lapierre lost her EI benefits for over a month. She had no other choice but to go into debt. When will the government fix EI so seasonal workers don't have a spring gap without any income?”
“The Conservatives might be overstating things. But Liberal policies did help cause this recession. Their immigration ideas make no sense. They drove up housing costs. And public service costs too. They won't pay Quebec back for that. They owe us $700 million for asylum seekers. The Liberals won't pay. What will you do for Quebec?”
“I want to argue about whether we're in a recession or not. I don't like the term 'technical recession'. The real debate should be about exports and our relationship with the United States. The Prime Minister is damaging our relationship with the U.S. to win votes in Canada.”
“The Bloc would support the Prime Minister if he had a clear strategy. He doesn't. The numbers show the economy is terrible. Exports are the problem. New tariff calculations will make it even worse, especially for Quebec. The other side needs to face reality, not just talk.”
“I'm filling time by talking about how the other party limits debate. Then I make vague economic buzzwords. In my opinion we should only talk about falling exports.”
“The Prime Minister said he would make trade deals with other countries. He wanted the new trade to replace trade we lost to America. I don't think it worked. Does my friend agree?”
“Diversification is good but the government is screwing it up. They think signing trade deals means they've protected Canada. But the reality is our economy depends on trade with the U.S. The government needs to make both work, not just diversify. Instead, the Prime Minister is letting our trade relationship with the U.S. fall apart and that's hurting real people. The government can't just keep sending out checks while our exports decline. Our economy relies on exports.”
“Quebec wants more money from Ottawa. What Ottawa is doing is not enough. We need more money for social programs. A circular economy and protecting the environment is the future.”
“Free trade works because each country can focus on what it does best. I'm saying that Canada keeps having trouble finding a variety of good products to sell. The Prime Minister says he will fix that problem in three years. I think he won't fix it that fast. He just says that to get votes. He really needs to be nicer to the United States.”
“I want to challenge Conservatives about the cost of their proposal to eliminate fuel taxes. They should be willing to cut oil subsidies too to make up the lost money.”
“I don't agree with everything in the Conservative motion. But they raise a fair question. The government hasn't given a good answer. The Prime Minister said he would fix the tariff crisis, but nothing has changed in a year. The government is only arguing about trade with other countries instead of fixing things with our most important neighbor. The government should negotiate with the US.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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?”
“Exports are bad. The forestry industry has big U.S. duties. The government should pay off those duties to help businesses. Why didn't they do what we suggested?”
“You said you used AI to analyze our motion. I thought MPs were elected to think for themselves about House debates. But lately, Liberal MPs are using foreign algorithms to analyze bills and opposition motions instead. How common is this?”
