For the first time in a couple of weeks, both Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair were in the House at the same time for QP, and had the chance to face-off. Mulcair led-off by reading a question about random Breathalyzer testing legislation, to which Harper assured him that the government had brought in measures and would be doing more as they went along. Rob Nicholson asked two follow-ups by hectoring the NDP for not being tough on all kinds of crime. Mulcair carried on with the leader’s round, taking all five questions, with a pro forma question on the economy, which Harper shrugged off with a pro forma answer, and the final question was on the First Nations Residential Schools apology, to which Harper assured him that they were cooperating, but that some of the documents now under contention were personal records that were outside of the scope of the commission. Bob Rae was then up, asking about the need for consultation with the Northern Gateway project, with respect to First Nations. Harper assured him that they were consulting, but Rae challenged him on this, saying that the government downloaded that consultation to the National Energy Board.
Round two started off with Jean Crowder asking again about the First Nations Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents (Duncan: We’ve turned over a million documents and we have a disagreement about which documents are relevant), Jack Harris, Philip Toone and Ryan Cleary asked about the contracting out of marine medical calls (Shea: There was an interruption in service which has been rectified), Christine Moore and Matthew Kellway asked about the previous F-35 procurement process (Ambrose: We’ve hit the reset button on this, and all options are on the table), and Matthew Ravignat asked about postponed hearings on Chapter Five of the AG’s report (Christopherson: It remains on the work plan, hopefully we can get to it soon). Dominic LeBlanc asked about cuts to front-line services (Clement: We’re protecting core services), and Kirsty Duncan asked about environment cuts (Rempel: We’ve increased parklands, cleaned up lakes and are reducing carbon emissions). Linda Duncan and Alexandre Boulerice asked about retroactive accountability measures on SNC-Lavalin contracts (Ambrose: When allegations were made, we brought in an auditor and acted on those regulations), and Rosane Doré Lefebvre and Charlie Angus humourlessly asked about Bernier jokingly leaving his car keys on his tire in a film segment (Bernier: I don’t carry government documents in my personal vehicle).
Round three saw questions on the plans for the Arctic Council, maintaining the fleet separation policy, the closure of the Kitsilano Coast Guard station, privatising records management storage, Julian Fantino’s competence as CIDA minister, port authorities not paying municipal taxes, and the government’s silence on settlement construction in Israel.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Michelle Rempel for a royal blue skirt and matching three-quarter sleeved top, and to Maxime Bernier for a chocolate suit with a light blue shirt and pocket square and a yellow tie. Style citations go out to Robert Goguen for a black suit with a fluorescent blue shirt and striped tie, and to Megan Leslie for an oddly structured light grey dress with maroon tights. Dishonourable mention goes out to Kerry-Lynne Findlay for a black pantsuit with a yellow top.