Less than two hours before QP got underway, embattled Senator Mike Duffy’s lawyer called a press conference and lobbed a few grenades into the laps of the government, alleging a great many things about how much the PMO was involved in the affairs with Duffy. Thomas Mulcair, however, was not in the House, as he was off giving a speech to a labour group in Quebec City. In his absence, Megan Leslie led off for the NDP, asking about those very allegations dropped by Duffy’s lawyer. Harper replied that they expected all parliamentarians to follow both the letter and the spirit of the law and if they didn’t, then they would suffer the consequences. While he was up, pointed to the somewhat fictitious opposition of the NDP to the EU free trade agreement and said that they were only asking questions like those about Duffy because they couldn’t do so on the big issues. Leslie kept at it, but Harper kept insisting that they had cooperated with investigators. Eventually, Paul Calandra took over answering for Harper, and touted the reforms to the Senate that they’ve proposed (not that they would have done anything about this issue). For the Liberals, Ralph Goodale got up and named the names in the PMO that the lawyer dropped. Harper got up and insisted that he answered all of these questions before, and he was focused on the biggest trade deal in a generation.

Round two started off with Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and Charlie Angus carried on with the ClusterDuff questions (Calandra: We’re focusing on jobs, growth and economic prosperity!), Olivia Chow and Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet pointed to the lack of actions from the minister in light of another train derailment (Raitt: We issued emergency directives this summer and protective measures, and we continue to work with the Canadian Federation of Municipalities to get them the information they need), and Linda Duncan pointed out that a previous derailment happened near the current one (Raitt: We are working to increase rail safety and getting the job done). Marc Garneau and Carolyn Bennett returned to the “sordid scandal” of the ClusterDuff affair (Calandra: The PM has answered this question but you are fighting for the status quo in the Senate; your Toronto Centre candidate said “amen to higher taxes”). Guy Caron and Don Davies demanded the full text of the Canada-EU trade deal (Fast: This is a historic agreement! Harper: You have long opposed trade and everyone else in Canada supports this agreement), and Matthew Dubé and Glenn Thibeault got up to demand action on credit card merchant fees (Flaherty: We have a voluntary code of conduct, and if credit card companies persist we will make it mandatory).

Round three saw questions on the duty to consult with First Nations over resource development as what happened in New Brunswick (Blaney: Fracking is a provincial jurisdiction, but there is no place for guns and shrapnel bombs in peaceful protests), the lack of measures for veterans in the Speech From the Throne, yet more questions on the ClusterDuff revelations and what staffers were involved, unpaid internships, rail safety regulations, the need for a disaster mitigation programme, changes coming at the Bagotville military base, the court challenge on Bill 99 in Quebec, and the vulnerability of Aboriginal women to violence.

Overall, the Charlie Angus/Paul exchange is the new daily sideshow, where nothing of constructive consequence happens other than gratuitous slagging from both sides of the aisle. The Liberals continue to drop the names of the ridings in which by-elections are being held during their questions, as thought to bring their concerns to the Commons (even though they are the very same questions that everyone else is asking).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Paul Calandra for a charcoal suit with a grey shirt and lavender tie, and to Olivia Chow for a near-black suit jacket with a fuchsia top. Style citations to out to Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe for a loose three-quarter sleeved leopard-print tunic with black leggings, and to Dennis Bevington for a dark grey suit with an off-white shirt and pastel printed tie.