CBCN - Thursday, May 23, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #48

mcdavid and leon draisatl, it's almost like having wayne gretzky and mark messier. You can't ever count them out. >> Reporter: julia wong, cbc news, edmonton. >> Adrienne: now let's breakdown the week in politics. Rosie is here with "at issue." >> The conservative leader is wearing more make up than I am. >> Rosemary: this time, the deputy prime minister had to apologize for that comment. >> With so many empty stomachs, isn't it a little bit wacko to be raising prices on farmers and food? >> Rosemary: with the election still months away, is it crazy to be doing this? Let's break it down with our panel, chantal hebert, andrew coyne, and althia raj. We've now entered what we call silly season here, where, for the next five weeks, M.P.s do not not get to go back to their ridings for a week, and this is the first week of that. I'm not sure where we're going to end up by the end of june. Althia, on a more serious note, what do you make of sort of the tenor of discourse and debate given chrystia freeland's comments and poiflierre poilievre, too. >> One thing, the liberals have decided to fight fire with fight, which is not a good look for them after a lot of hard work. You see miss freeland, the deep prime minister, going out of their way to attack the opposition leader. The other thing is tieing mr. Poilievre to a strategy that worked in 2020 and 2021, and that's mr. Poilievre is a phony. Andrew scheer was a dual citizen. With erin o'toole, they had him on vaccine mandates and abortion and guns, and you see that starting to happen with the conservative leader. You saw miss freeland withdraw her comments, and after that, she called him a phony. They started laying the groundwork for the abortion question, but they went there on carbon pricing, they went there today on homelessness, on support for our veterans. I think those two things have given the liberals a bit of a swing in their step. They seem much happier this week than they have from their week in their constituency and the slight rise in the polls. >> Rosemary: chantal, that's like framing a leader which everyone wants to do, is paint a picture of someone. But those personalized attacks that are pretty petty, to be honest, does that tend to work or is that anything that canadians would be listening to and think oh, no, she's right? >> She's right that he's wearing more make up than she is. If he was she and that person was a man saying that to a woman in the house of commons, we'd be in deep trouble today. It's a stupid comment but it's also a demeaning comment, and it didn't particularly work. Why should anyone stop doing whatever serious things they're doing to worry about the make up on the face of the leader of the opposition or the minister of finance? Yes, it is silly season. Does anybody remember the elbowing episode when the prime minister stormed across the aisle some years ago at the same time in the session because he was angry because it was taking too long to get a vote underway? We've seen unpleasant scenes in the past. I've covered thomas mulcairn and stephen harper, and I've rarely seen two leaders who dislike each other as much as justin trudeau and pierre poilievre, and framing it that way. But the liberals may want to look back in history to how the conservatives were successful in framing liberal leaders. When they tried it with justin trudeau, it wasn't third time it works.

it just didn't work, and I suspect we're at that place in the cycle where what worked for scheer, what worked with o'toole will not work with poilievre. >> Rosemary: well, I would argue that scheer and o'toole gave much more ammunition to the liberals, to make their point. But talk to me about where this level of debate tells us where we're at? >> Well, I can think of 100 things that are wrong and parliamentary decorum is the 101. For all the things that are going on in parliament, I can assure you that a lot worse is happening on social media and during the campaign, a lot worse will be happening. We talked about framing or defining. Let's call it what it is, smearing, and that's what they do to each other. That has become part of, as I say, the world of politics. There's no doubt that pierre poilievre has brought a particularly snippy elbows up style to politics in general, but the liberals have a number of ways of showing contempt for parliament procedurally. This is a government that has stonewalled committees, refused to let witnesses appear before them, refused to release documents that parliament has demanded. So procedural contempt and rhetorical smears, I think I know which is worse for parliament, except with the proviso that if poilievre were in power, we'd have both. I'll just close with this point, that when you see people behaving as childishly as M.P.s do, it is usually a signal of their own lack of self-respect. If parliamentarians were a bigger deal, if being a member of parliament was a more dignified decision, I suggest you'd see less of the childish displays that you do, but when people standup and sit down when they're told, that is the behaviour that you get. >> Rosemary: maybe, but social media is a big player, as well. Chantal? >> Except when the liberals invented what's called the rat pack, basically a group of M.P.s whose only role was to make life miserable for the mulroney government, and still, that is the antics that they go to, if that put a spring in their step, the liberals, they're in pretty bad shape. Do you think that chrystia freeland and those around her are proud of her tonight? Do you think it enhances her reputation? It doesn't. If you think it does, god, that kool-aid must be good. >> Does anybody know what that line on earth was trying to get at, other than poilievre was wearing make up. The thing that's interesting with poilievre, talking about the rat pack, it used to be the leader stayed above the fray and you left that to your backbenchers and your extremes and your henchmen. With poilievre, he's the guy that's keeping the people's party people in the tent and he's still the best attack dog, so he's pioneering a new style leadership policy in that regard. >> Rosemary: last quick word to you, althia? >> Well, I think with the comment, she was trying to paint a picture that poilievre is a phony, that who he thinks he is is not who he is. The liberals are going to these lengths is because they don't have any money. They aren't pushing out any ads so they're using politicians to deliver those ads, and I don't think that's a wise strategy. >> Rosemary: okay. We'll leave it there. We covered make up and decorum and everything in that conversation.

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more people start to think again about the P.Q. the quebec city area is now edging away from the P.Q. the other thing is quebec liberals at this point do not have a leader but recent polls have suggested very mildly that the return of this issue might actually be the kiss of life for the quebec liberals. >> Rosemary: interesting. Andrew, what are you thinking when you hear all that from chantal? >> Well, a lot can happen in the next two years, and turning to polarization on that issue that's served the P.Q. and the liberals well over the years. But let's not kid ourselves. If the P.Q. gets in despite their stance on the referendum, they will seize the opportunity and try to provoke confrontations particularly over immigration. I will note that this return to the fray follows several years in which the C.A.Q. government has been launching one constitutional provokation after another and has had no serious response from any preliminary leader in ottawa. When quebec nationals push and nobody pushes back in ottawa, when the leadership acts as if they don't believe the country have a moral foundation, that they don't believe we have a right to exist and exist as a federation, quebecers have the right to withdraw the conclusion that if they don't care, so do we. We ought to learn that doesn't care doesn't work, and we'll learn that in spades if the P.Q. gets back. >> Rosemary: it's not poking a stick into the cage. That's what some political leaders believe works. Over to you, althia? >> It's not ideas held by a sovereigntist in quebec. If you inflame on bill 21, as the liberals have learned, if you inflame on bill 96, which is the language bill, you'll worry about your seat count. If you're the liberal party, that's where a number of your seats come from, is quebec. I think it's really interesting that the P.Q. is advertising in english. I think frankly it's positive because it feels like anglophones in quebec that they're part of a quebec project and not on the sidelines and not included in the idea of what a quebec nation or a country would look like. His argument about the financial incentive to separate to me makes absolutely no sense. It's not even factually accurate, so I don't know why he is choosing that front. I think one legit criticism and concern shared by many quebecers is the immigration question, that not just immigration quebec, not having control over the asylum seekers coming in through roxham road and other places, support has dropped. It used to be 25% of francophones in the country in 1975, and now we're down at 22% or something of the sort, so continuously, every time we have a redistricting of the seats in the house of commons, basically quebec gets an additional seat grandfathered in because their population doesn't justify the wait that they have, and there are concerns that the more immigrants that there are in the province and outside the province the less important quebec becomes and the less important french becomes, so I think it is an important criticism and it's a criticism that federal leaders come the next election that they'll absolutely have to deal with, and if the liberals are leading in the polls, it'll be who can be captain canada, and I think the leaders will be judged on that front. >> Rosemary: chantal? >> I can see things that the current leader and other members could do to make quebecers more interested in the sovereignty issue on matters that have nothing to do with the constitution or even immigration but that have to do with climate change, with the future of radio-canada and other industries. These are things where the consensus does cross the line between the average centrist and quebecers. The moment you say whatever is going on in parliament,

whatever those policies are, we are not -- we are not going there, and that is probably the place -- climate change, I know it doesn't sound sexy like talking about bill 21 and bill 96, but what's missing from the sovereigntist support is the younger generation of quebecers. >> Rosemary: very quickly, andrew. >> Let's suppose we get 100 million by the end of the 21 century, and french falls to 21%. That still means you've got 12 million french speakers in quebec versus 8 million today, so the notion that quebec is going to be drowned by this deluge of immigrants or it's going to lose all of its clout in the federation, after world war ii, it was much less powerful than it is today. It's not a function of a simple share of your population. >> Rosemary: okay. I've got to leave it there. Thank you for your conversation. With that, I'll send things back to adrienne in toronto. >> Adrienne: thanks, rosie. >>> Coming up, a [dramatic] Announcer:What's new? What's breaking? What's really going on? Cbc News Network. Parrots are incredible animals. [Parrot] Another overdue bill! Yeah. They're also extremely intelligent. [Parrot] Forgot to pay again! They also repeat things they hear a lot. The new bmo eclipse rise Visa card rewards you with points for paying your bill on time every month to help build a routine. [Parrot] Rewards you with points! And you get 5x the points on things like groceries, dining and recurring bill payments. [Parrot] For paying your bill! —But also you can... — [Parrot] Every month! —And just remember. —[Parrot] Build a routine! [Parrot squawking] He is a talker. When a bank helps you make real financial progress. That's the bmo Effect. Bmo Summer's on its way... And Wayfair's big Victoria Day Clearance is here now! It's the talk of the town. Right now through May 25th, get up to 70% off everything home. Save on finds for indoors and out. Plus, score surprise flash deals that'll make your day. And get it all with fast shipping straight to your door. Save up to 70% off Wayfair's Victoria Day Clearance now through May 25th, and kickstart your summer with savings! Wayfair every style, every home I I was standing ( ) You were there Two worlds collided And they could never tear us apart ( ) I I was standing You were there Two worlds collided Okay, and root beer to drink? No. [gasping] What? He didn't get root beer? I'm getting frozen root beer. Oh! Try frozen a&w root beer with sweet cream. ( ) Ever wonder what's around the next corner? ( ) ( ) Past the trees. ( ) Over the mountains? ( ) That's where adventure lives... ( ) Take a Nissan suv and go find it. ( ) I'd do anything Welcome to the new PetSmart Treats rewardsTM. Ready go Collect points with every purchase. And save big on their favourite services. Anything for you PetSmart. Anything for Pets. It's odd how in an instant things can transform. Slipping out of balance into freefall. (The stock market is now down 23%). This is happening people. Where there are so few certainties... (laughing) Look around you. You deserve to know. as we navigate a future unknown. I'm glad I found stability amidst it all. Gold. Standing the test of time. >> Adrienne: a family in newfoundland woke up to a pretty unusual guest right at their front door. A moose checking out their house, all, of course, caught on camera. It seems that even wildlife wants to be a prospective buyer. It's our "moment." >> You're used to seeing amazon

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