Trudeau, O'Toole exchange barbs over hot topics in first question period in months

Facing off for the first question period in five months, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced down a barrage of questions from his opposition counterparts over pressing issues from the ongoing B.C. flooding disaster, Indigenous reconciliation, inflation, and climate change.The other issues dominating the opening week of the new Parliament are the Conservative caucus' position on the vaccine mandate and the ongoing debate over hybrid sittings.

In a series of, at times testy, partisan exchanges, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh questioned where the federal government has been, and what it intends to do, to address issues they said have been simmering over the two months between the 2021 federal election and the opening of the 44th Parliament.

“Monthly grocery bills have already gone up hundreds of dollars. The speech from the throne mentioned inflation once, just once. Is the prime minister having trouble understanding the concerns of Canadian families? Or does he just not care?” asked O’Toole.

“Inflation is a challenge that countries around the world are facing right now because of disrupted supply chains, because of the recovery of our economies after COVID, but we are extremely concerned about the rising cost of living brought to people by inflation,” Trudeau responded.

There was a full house for the first post-election question period, with recently re-elected House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota having to remind the hecklers to be mindful of their colleagues wanting to hear the cross-aisle exchanges.