As yet another Rob Ford video hit the media and drew out all of the oxygen of the news cycle, Question Period got underway, the benches in the Commons a little emptier than usual for a Thursday. Thomas Mulcair started off back in prosecutorial mode, and asked who in the PMO was interviewed by the RCMP. Harper assured him that the PMO wasn’t under investigation — Mike Duffy was. Mulcair wondered what documents the RCMP were requesting, but Harper would only say that they were cooperating. Mulcair asked if Harper personally knew about requests for the party to pay for Duffy’s expenses. Harper insisted that he’s been clear, and that he told Duffy to repay his expenses. Mulcair brought up the contradictions in the story to date, but Harper insisted that the facts were clear, that Duffy made inappropriate claims and took a cheque he wasn’t supposed to. When Mulcair brought up Harper’s quote from the days of the sponsorship scandal, Harper said that the $40 million in taxpayer dollars from sponsorship was completely different from the Duffy situation. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, and asked if any documents from Chris Woodcock were turned over to the RCMP. Paul Calandra took the hit for this one, and said that they were cooperating and then accused the Liberals in the Senate of fighting for the status quo. Ralph Goodale picked it up, and asked if Woodcock was ever asked about his participation in events. Calandra simply insisted that the Liberals were awful.

Mulcair was back up for round two, and asked if anyone was in contact with Nigel Wright these days (Harper: He’s now a private citizen and we understand that he’s cooperating), Muclair asked if any staffers involved said that versions of events were untrue (Harper: The sole responsibility rests with Duffy and Wright), who told the PM that Wright didn’t use a personal cheque and made him change his story (Harper: Wright used his personal resources), was Duffy briefed by anyone in PMO for his media appearances (Harper: You’re back to treating him like a victim), who did Senator Tkachuk meet with in PMO (Harper: The committee took responsibility for its report), why is Senator Gerstein still in your caucus if he knew what was going on (Harper: It’s the responsibility of Wright and Duffy), and why did you name Wallin, Duffy and Stewart-Olsen to the Senate if you knew that they didn’t live in the provinces you appointed them to represent (Harper: It’s a great honour to serve and we expect people to follow the rules). Joyce Murray raised the comparison to Watergate, and wondered when Harper would start telling the truth (Calandra: That member is a disgrace and that question doesn’t deserve an answer), Marc Garneau wondered why Harper was unwilling to testify under oath before a committee (Harper: The Senate took decisive action, except for those awful Liberal senators), and wondered why staffers like Woodcock still had jobs (Calandra: The Prime Minister told Duffy he was to repay his expenses). Jack Harris and Élaine Michaud disputed that the soldiers who were let go before they qualified for a pension did so voluntarily (Nicholson: These soldiers get the best possible support before they are eligible for release), and Brian Masse and Peter Stoffer asked about the closures of veterans service offices (Gill: There are 600 new additional points of service and they can even get those services in their own home).

Round three saw questions on EI changes affecting people in the regions that force then to move, the Language Commissioner’s report and cuts to language training, the soaring wait times for family reunification claims, tolls on the proposed Champlain Bridge replacement, the destruction of medical records by Veterans Affairs which has affected the claims of some veterans, mould contamination in a First Nations school, the commitment at the upcoming Global Fund replenishment conference, and forced marriages.

Overall, Mulcair was still reaching today, but did manage to keep his questions a bit more focused on the PMO and not party business, which is just as well. I’m also curious why the Liberals have maintained such a focus on Chris Woodcock, the former PMO staffer and now chief of staff to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. If they have more to say about it, or if they’re just trying to find a different line of questioning than the NDP, I’ll be curious to see how it plays out.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Blake Richards for a dark grey suit with a lavender shirt and purple tie, and to Lois Brown for a tailored purple jacket with a black dress. Style citations go out to Cheryl Gallant for a Buck Rogers-esque silver lamé jacket with a purple dress, and to John Rafferty for a dark tan jacket with a blue shirt, brown tie and black trousers.