With Parliament Hill still reeling from last night’s ClusterDuff bombshell, and all leaders were in the House, waiting for the big show. It got started with Mulcair asking if Harper threatened Duffy with expulsion on February 13th. Harper said that he didn’t threaten him with expulsion, but he did think the expenses were inappropriate and ordered them repaid or he’d be thrown out of caucus. Mulcair asked if Harper had said that it wasn’t about the rules, but the perception. Harper denied saying that, and gave another rousing defence of following the rules made before the entire expenses. Mulcair pushed, and asked if Wright was present for that discussion. Harper, getting punchy, said that it was a statement before the entire caucus, and did not order Wright to write the cheque, and because that action was wrong, Wright was no longer in his office. When Mulcair asked if Ray Novak was party to those discussions, Harper insisted that Novak was not one of the people that Wright named as being involved, and he obviously wasn’t involved as he never would have approved it. Justin Trudeau began by pointing out that leaders take responsibility, and named the people that Harper hired or appointed at the centre of the scandal. Harper rejected the premise, and hit back at Duffy, saying that since Duffy felt he hadn’t done anything wrong, it was why he was no longer in caucus. Trudeau demanded that Harper answer questions under oath around the affair, but Harper hit back, saying that Trudeau was too willing to let Senator Harb back into caucus (which is not exactly true).

Round two brought Mulcair back up, demanding to know who the 13 Conservatives in the know were (Harper: It wasn’t 13 people and Wright took full responsibility), did the PM take part in any way with the motion to have those three senators expelled from the Senate (Harper: This was a decision of the Senate caucus but I support it because I don’t think they should be on the public payroll), would he repeat that Benjamin Perrin didn’t play a role in this in any way (Harper: I repeated Perrin’s statement, and Wright took full responsibility). Megan Leslie demanded that all documents around the scandal be made public (Harper: We are cooperating with the appropriate authorities), did Harper say he would publicly affirm that Duffy was eligible to sit as a PEI Senator (Harper: The rules are in the constitution but has nothing to do with improper housing claims), was Harper sitting down yesterday because he didn’t know how to respond (Harper: Duffy is now playing the victim, but you’re darn right I told him to repay his expenses), and Nathan Cullen gave a bout of moral outrage (Harper: Canadians expect public figures to treat taxpayer’s money with respect). Ralph Goodale asked if Harper was in his office when Mike Duffy went to the Langevin Block in February (Harper: I spoke to him at one point only and told him to repay the money, which he should have done with his own funds), there was a photo of you at your desk that day and if not, were you debriefed on the meeting (Harper: The allegation is that we were in Ottawa on the same day, and I only met with him after caucus that one day). Jean Crowder and Jonathan Genest-Jourdain turned to the “costly” draft legislation on First Nations education (Valcourt: There is no final decision, we are encouraging input), and Charlie Angus and Charmaine Borg asked about Bell’s questionable new tracking policies (Moore: We have raised these concerns and I’ve met with the Privacy Commissioner about it).

Round three saw questions on Flaherty’s comments around Quantitative Easing, the health and safety provisions in the omnibus budget bill, the provisions in the aforementioned bill around the Supreme Court, whether the PMO asked the minister of natural resources to hire Chris Woodcock after his involvement in the Wright-Duffy affair, policies for the mining industry as they conduct international operations, the government’s proposed balanced budget legislation, the public health scourge of nickel dust, concerns by those applying to the new EI appeal process, and the challenge against Bill 99 in Quebec.

Overall, it was a very good day today, with Harper on his feet for nearly two rounds today, which almost never happens, but not only that, he brought his fight with him. Not only did he pretty much brush off Duffy’s allegations, but he hit back against Duffy as well as Mulcair, and tried to really project that sense that he too had been betrayed by Wright and Duffy in all of this, and that Duffy was still in the wrong over his expenses. Whether anyone believes him or not is another question, but he did make a forceful defence, and I would be very happy to see more Question Periods like these in the future.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Blake Richards for a dark grey suit with a light purple shirt and dark purple tie, and to Nycole Turmel for a fitted brown leather jacket with a tan top and brown trousers. Style citations go out to Charmaine Borg for a cream jacket with a gold sequinned collar with an off-white top and dark grey skirt, and to Jonathan Tremblay for a black suit with a fluorescent blue shirt with white cuffs and collar, and a white tie.