Freeland apologizes for saying Poilievre wears more makeup than her

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Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland apologized on Tuesday after she accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of wearing makeup in response to a question about drug decriminalization.

“Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is wearing more makeup than I am,” she said during question period in the House of Commons.

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Speaker Greg Fergus asked Freeland to withdraw the comment. “We do not comment on the appearance of members,” he said. After she withdrew the comment, Freeland instead called Poilievre a phony.

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Read the full exchange, below (her makeup remark appears near the end). Or, watch the video, above.

Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, after nine years, this Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois are not worth the cost of the inflationary taxes and deficits.

Worse still, the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal Party want to radically hike taxes on gas and diesel, even though 25 countries have cut their gas taxes. The western provinces have shown that by cutting taxes, they have been able to lower prices at the pump as well as inflation compared with the other provinces.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing to follow my common-sense plan to axe the tax until Labour Day?

Freeland: Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased that the Conservative leader brought up inflation, because it gives me the opportunity to give Canadians some great news. In April, the inflation rate went down to 2.7%. That is the lowest it has been in three years. It is all thanks to our fiscally responsible plan.

Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, today we learned the terrible news that inflation is 35% above target. Again, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of debt interest.

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They cannot do basic math over there. That 0.7% is actually a third higher than the 2% target. They are patting themselves on the back when they realize that Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat and house themselves.

Why do they not, instead of quadrupling the carbon tax on the backs of Canadians, follow our common-sense plan to suspend all gas and diesel tax until Labour Day?

Freeland: Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader has quite proudly and publicly called for the Governor of the Bank of Canada to be fired. Maybe it is the Conservative leader who should lose his job because he just revealed his astonishing ignorance of the Bank of Canada’s inflation target.

The Bank of Canada has a target of between 1% and 3%. For four months in a row, inflation in Canada has been within that target. That is good news for Canadians.

Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, the minister does not even know that the target is 2%. Maybe that is one of the reasons she is missing the target; she does not know what it is.

The same goes for the interest rates we are paying on the national debt. The Prime Minister says that doubling the national debt is not a problem because the rates were very low. That is why I suggested locking in the rates with 10-year or 30-year bonds, when the rates were low, as it is done with mortgages.

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That incompetent minister did not do that. Now we are going to pay more interest on the $400 billion that is going to be refinanced this year.

Why?

Freeland: Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Conservative leader is the one who is totally incompetent.

The only thing he knows how to do is to criticize Canada, criticize Canadians and criticize our wonderful country.

The fact is that the inflation rate has come down to 2.7%. That is a huge success for our country. Every member should be pleased.

Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, not only does the incompetent finance minister not know the inflation target, she does not know that one locks in low rates when one has the chance.

Do members remember when the Prime Minister was saying to not worry, that we can double the national debt because, as he said, “Interest rates are at historic lows, Glen”?

The problem is that I told him at the time that they should lock in those rates for 10 years, or 30 years, with long-term bonds. It turns out that they did not do that, and now $400 billion of that debt will roll over into these higher rates, forcing Canadians to spend more on interest than on health care.

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Why did he hire the worst mortgage broker in the world to be our finance minister?

Freeland: Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Conservative leader is in a grouchy mood today. I think we all know why. The only thing he knows how to do is talk down Canada. What he just cannot bear is the reality that, thanks to our fiscally responsible economic plan, inflation is at a three-year low.

Inflation has been within the Bank of Canada’s target rate for four months in a row. That is good news for Canada and Canadians.

Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, Liberals think that one pays down debt by borrowing more, that one stops inflation by printing money and that one fights the drug overdose crisis by legalizing hard drugs, so at least they are consistent in their irrationality. Now they have been forced to backtrack right before the election on their legalization of hard drugs because Canadians are revolting against the policy.

Today, we have a motion that will be voted on in the House to permanently ban hard drugs. Will the government vote for that motion, or will it admit that it plans to legalize drugs again after the next election?

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Freeland: Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is wearing more makeup than I am today. Now, I think it is wonderful—

Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

Fergus: Order, please.

I will ask the hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to withdraw that comment. We do not comment on the appearance of members.

Freeland: Mr. Speaker, I am sorry. I withdraw that comment.

The fact is that the Conservative leader is phony all the way through. He is phony when it comes to his concern about the economy. All he can do is talk our country down. He is also phony when he talks about his concern about the opioid crisis. He tries to score cheap partisan points. It is just not right.

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