What they said. What they meant.

Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.

Recent debates

8 latest topics

Oral Questions

The Economy

The economy was debated in the House of Commons, with Conservatives highlighting food affordability issues and a recession in Canada. Liberals pointed to various government programs and spending they claim will help Canadians with the cost of living. The debate featured typical partisan sparring, with the Conservatives calling out the government's economic record and the Liberals defending their policies and criticizing the Conservatives' record and positions.

Official Hansard ↗

Hon. Buckley Belanger

Liberal
“I want to change the subject to something my party did for canola. Why didn't you support it? I'm filling time by asking you questions instead of answering yours.”
Our translation 57% shorter

Hon. Buckley Belanger

Liberal
“Why didn't you give us billions of dollars? You did nothing!”
Our translation 61% shorter

Hon. Buckley Belanger

Liberal
“I want Conservatives to visit my region more. You vote against my benefit programs. I won't listen to you about helping my region. I want to help all Canadians forever.”
Our translation 71% shorter

Hon. Nathalie Provost

Liberal
“We gave Canadians a grocery benefit. The government is helping people buy food. Canadians will keep working on the economy with us.”
Our translation 60% shorter

Hon. Nathalie Provost

Liberal
“I want to talk about our big spending announcement instead of the recession. We will spend $1 billion of taxpayers' money on food infrastructure. That will show Canadians we want to help.”
Our translation 59% shorter

Hon. Patty Hajdu

Liberal
“I won't defend our luxury spending. Instead I'll attack you. Why do you vote against our spending programs? I think our spending is good. You should want to spend more money too.”
Our translation 55% shorter

Hon. Patty Hajdu

Liberal
“I'm going to talk about helping each other because it sounds good. I don't want anyone to ask why more kids are going hungry under my government. Let me change the subject to nice Canadian values.”
Our translation 61% shorter

Hon. Jill McKnight

Liberal
“Look at me, I'm cheerleading for my government's spending and military buildup. I want you to believe it's good for the economy and for defense, but I'm not going to get into any pesky details or tradeoffs.”
Our translation 43% shorter