OTTAWA RECAP: Poilievre blasts Liberals over taxes and Iran, Liberals mock sexual assault bill, inflation

CPAC / House of Commons

As is the case almost daily, a tense exchange took place between Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. The prime minister himself, Justin Trudeau, was absent, and is set to make a return to Commons on October 5.

This time, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino jumped into the debate, deciding to assist the deputy PM when answering questions regarding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Poilievre pressured both ministers to cancel their planned tax hikes and asked why the Liberals seem so stubborn in their refusal to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

This subject was also touched on during Monday’s question period, when Melissa Lantsman presented a motion to list the IRGC as a terror organization. The motion was subsequently voted down by a Liberal MP. 

The IRGC has been prominent recently, as protests have erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who appears to have been beaten to death at the hands of the Iranian regime's morality police.

Peaceful protests in support of women's rights in Iran have occurred not only in the Islamic republic but across the world, including here in Canada, where one protest saw demonstrators gather last week on Parliament Hill.

Poilievre also pressured Freeland over the Liberals’ upcoming tax hikes.

“Almost half of Canadians are $200 from insolvency,” he began. “They’re about to default on a debt or other legal payment.”

When asked whether or not they planned on cancelling the upcoming tripling of tax hikes, Freeland mentioned she has a solution. 

“The GST tax credit,” she said. Freeland claims it will give “up to $500 to Canadian families.”

The Liberals, meanwhile, continue to refuse to cancel their planned tax hikes. 

Prior to question period Conservative MP for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo Frank Caputo introduced a bill to have more severe penalties for sexual offenders that commit sexual assaults on kids and adults. 

To everyone’s surprise, without even letting the member of Parliament finish his statement, Liberal MPs began heckling him. Conservative MP John Brassard pointed out on Twitter that the two individuals heckling Caputo were Kevin Lamoureux and Mark Gerretsen. 

Liberal MPs heckle Conservative MP Frank Caputo (@FrankCaputoKTC) as he introduces a bill to strengthen criminal sentences for those convicted of sex crimes.

More from the House of Commons: https://t.co/eMbfK61wj7 pic.twitter.com/QCEoq18D6h

— William Diaz-Berthiaume (@wdiazberthiaume) October 4, 2022

Reacting to the behaviour of Liberal MPs, Caputo stated that “it is interesting that [his] colleague from Winnipeg is heckling [him].”

“I am speaking about a bill that should be of interest to everybody in this House,” he continued. “And that is… well now the member of Kingston-And-The-Islands is getting in on the act. This is what we are talking about, sexual offenses against children and adults.” 

The two continued to heckle for a short amount of time, while the tone of the Conservative MP rose. 

“When somebody commits a robbery, in this country, it is the taking of property by force and they are liable to life imprisonment,” Caputo explained. “When you take someone’s consent by force, their dignity by force, when it comes to sexual assaults, the maximum sentence is 10 years in jail.”

Caputo’s bill would augment the maximum sentence a sexual offender could receive. 

In a less intense moment, Michelle Rempel Garner had a slip up in the House of Commons when addressing the Liberals’ policies and virtue signalling. 

While asking why the Liberals won’t lower the carbon tax or cancel their planned tax hikes, Rempel said “enough with the woke s***.”

"Enough with the woke shit." Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner throws down the gauntlet to the Liberals. (Immediately after she swapped it out for "woke stuff," but the sentiment stands). pic.twitter.com/rAylRvYY6Z

— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) October 4, 2022

Rempel immediately retracted her comments, apologizing for the unparliamentary language. 

The Calgary Nose Hill MP was asking Liberal backbenchers who are unsatisfied with the behaviour of the government to stand up during their caucus meeting and put pressure on the cabinet to stop virtue-signalling and lower taxes. 

One Liberal MP echoed that sentiment last week during an interview with Rebel News, stating that he does not agree with everything the Liberal bench does and that taxes should be lowered.

Finally, the House continues its discussions on Bill C-30, the act Liberals call the “Act to amend the Income Tax Act (temporary enhancement to the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax credit)”. Stay tuned, there’s lots more to come in the upcoming days.