“The Liberals keep making excuses for the recession. First they blamed the world, but other countries are doing fine. Now they blame low immigration, but our GDP per person is the worst in the G7. It's their fault, not the world's.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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Oral Questions
The Economy
The economy's in a bit of a slump, so the Conservatives asked the Prime Minister about it. But he didn't answer - instead, his backbenchers talked about a trade war, infrastructure spending, and how the Conservatives have no plan. The Prime Minister mostly stayed quiet except to say some things that weren't true, according to Statistics Canada. Then a Liberal talked about how great farming is, and another talked about funding for small craft harbours, which apparently is really important for rural coastal indigenous communities.
“We're in a trade war, and the opposition leader keeps changing his story. To help, we're giving more loans and spending lots of money on forestry projects and regional development.”
“The other party made a mess. You should blame them, not me. Can you defend that? No? I didn't think so.”
“I have nothing to say about the economy struggling. Look over here at these shiny spending projects instead! Spending is always good, right?”
“The Prime Minister is wrong and hiding from his own words. Investment is down for the fifth quarter in a row. Is this the 'master economist's' definition of a recession? Yes or no?”
“I don't want to answer your question. Instead I will happily attack you and your record. You spent too much money when you were in power.”
“You can't defend your economic record. A few supporters get rich from your spending while everyone else pays for it. Answer the question: are we in a recession or not?”
“You're using a lot of rhetoric. I talk to farmers. You don't talk to farmers.”
“I'll cheer for farmers so that I look good.”
“You said the Prime Minister is an economic genius. But Canada's the only G7 country in a recession. He can't fix the recession if he won't admit there is one. Will the Prime Minister admit we're in a recession?”
“You're talking about a recession? Talking about a recession is bad! Let me change the subject to spending $1 billion on harbours. That's good, right? I think that's good.”
“I don't like that. I want taxpayers to spend more money. More money for my program.”