OTTAWA – Members of Parliament made history Monday, taking their seats and beginning debate in the new House of Commons inside the renovated West Block.
While tough talk about the ongoing China dispute and taxes were the top topics in question period, there was a "first day of school" energy in the air.
- Scroll down or click here to recap the first day inside West Block.
Not only is the sitting historic - because it’s the first day in the new Chamber that MPs will be calling home for a decade or more as Centre Block undergoes considerable renovation - Monday also marked the kick-off of the final six months of Parliament before the Oct. 21 federal election.
As MPs filed in, many had big-eyed looks on their faces as they tried to navigate the new space.
"It's like the first day of school, right? You're trying to find your way around, where's your class? All that stuff," said NDP MP Matt Dube, while holding up a map of the new building.
He noted that West Block is a smaller space than Centre Block, which on the first day prompted some to use the word "chaos" particularly in the foyer of the new House of Commons, where reporters bumped elbows trying to get their cameras and recorders in place to capture the remarks from ministers and MPs passing by.
"Takes some getting used to but I think we’ll manage," Dube said.
"People were here to help me find my way to the House," said People's Party Leader Maxime Bernier.
"I'm lost, where’s the West Block?" joked Vaughan outside of the new building.
The sitting got underway at 11 a.m. with debate on a private members' motion M-207, which calls on the House to recognize May 5 as Dutch Heritage Day. By noon, debate moved on to Bill C-57, which makes changes to the Federal Sustainable Development Act. It's a priority bill for the government and was returned to the House with Senate amendments late last year. Debate on the Senate amendments went on for most of the afternoon.
"Looking forward to engaging in robust debate in this new building for us, it's going to be an opportunity to engage with a broad range of topics, respond to a diversity of views, but do it in space that is certainly worthy and fitting for Canadian democracy," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his way in to the new House chamber.
China, economy dominate QP
During the first daily question period of 2019, and the first ever question period held in West Block, Trudeau faced a series of questions from both the Conservatives and New Democrats about the ongoing diplomatic dispute with China, further inflamed this weekend by the firing of Canada’s ambassador to China John McCallum after he repeatedly made comments that weren’t in line with the government’s position on the extradition of Meng Wanzhou.
"Mr. Speaker, it's clear that the prime minister's foreign policy is a disaster and Canadians are paying for his mistakes… And now we have the debacle with China. Why did the prime minster show such weakness and wait so long to fire his ambassador?" said Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, leading off question period.
Instead of answering, Trudeau used up his time thanking the people who designed and built the reworked West Block.
"I guess if I want straight answers on China, I should ask John McCallum," offered up Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O'Toole later on.
In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Conservatives are the ones playing politics with the issue, when two Canadians are detained in China. She called it "reprehensible," and repeated the Liberal’s oft-repeated assertion that Canada is a rule of law country.
The opposition parties also used this question period as a set-up of the key issues they'll be pushing through the sitting. This saw the Conservatives ask quite a few questions about the economy and the carbon tax, while the NDP made inquiries about housing and rural bus service.
Another moment of note during question period, was when Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette asked a question in Cree and it was simultaneously translated. It was the first time that service has been available to Indigenous MPs.
Partisan shots taken
Already all sides are ramping up their partisan attacks on each other. Convened in Ottawa this weekend, the Official Opposition Conservatives plotted out their parliamentary strategy and made some platform pronouncements, including vowing to lower taxes and balance the federal budget.
"As us parliamentarians get back to work in Ottawa, and as you candidates head back to the campaign trail in your ridings, I leave you with this: The everyday Canadians we fight for can't afford four more years of Justin Trudeau. They can't afford four more years of a Prime Minister who is always spending other people's money and making them pay for his mistakes," Scheer told a pool of parliamentarians and candidates.
First-thing Monday morning, the federal Liberal Party issued a missive taking direct aim at Scheer’s economic plans, saying they will make "deep cuts to services that Canadians rely on." The statement called him a "right wing populist."
The statement was signed by cabinet minister Navdeep Bains, who was just last week named one of the Liberal’s National Campaign Committee co-chairs for the 2019 election.
Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is not on the Hill today, as he’s focused on his February byelection race. His parliamentary representative Guy Caron and finance critic Peter Julian did speak with reporters in the new House of Commons foyer Monday morning, however, marking the first ever media availability there.
They faced questions about the prospect of current NDP MPs not running again, and touted their "strong" parliamentary team, despite Singh's absence.
Julian said the fall federal campaign will be the real test. "I find the Trudeau government falls far short on a whole range of issues," he said.
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