Conservative MPs marked a milestone for Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, presenting a cake to commemorate his 100th missed question period in the House of Commons.
Cake Delivered to Parliament
Conservative MP Eric Duncan, the party's question period coordinator, arrived in the foyer of the House of Commons with a cake bearing the message “Happy 100 Question Periods Missed!” The cake was decorated with vanilla icing and rainbow sprinkles, along with a French translation.
“Today marks a very unfortunate milestone for Mark Carney. Today will be his 100th missed question period. He skipped out on 100 out of 136 question periods. That is completely unacceptable,” said Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer.
Absences While in Ottawa
Carney is currently in France attending the G7 Summit. Scheer noted that while the Conservatives do not object to the prime minister representing Canada at international summits, the majority of Carney's missed question periods occurred while he was in Ottawa.
According to Conservative calculations, Carney was in Ottawa or close enough to attend 64 of those 100 sittings. “There’s no excuse for those absences,” Scheer said. “He was literally in the building, or around the corner. He could have easily showed up and defended his government’s record.”
Comparison to Previous Prime Ministers
This is not the first time Carney's attendance has drawn attention. Global News recently reported that Carney's attendance rate is significantly lower than those of his predecessors Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper during their first year in office.
When asked about his attendance earlier this spring, Carney said, “I answer questions all the time. We have a very strong team in this government, and I believe in the team of ministers, secretaries of state, parliamentary secretaries responding.”
Cake Sent to Liberals
Duncan said he planned to send the cake over to the Liberal side of the aisle to remind them that the prime minister should be present in question period “a lot more.”
