For the first time this week, all three leaders were in the House and ready to go. Without adieu, Thomas Mulcair got to the point and ask if Benjamin Perrin was dismissed or if he resigned. Harper said that Perrin left of his own accord nine months ago. Mulcair brought up the guidelines around email retention and asked why they were broken. Harper said that they are expected to follow the rules and they found them. Mulcair changed topics and asked about Jim Love, the chair of the Royal Canadian Mint for his involvement in a tax avoidance scheme. Harper assured him that the matter was a private dispute and his minister has a record for closing tax loopholes. Mulcair changed topics again and asked about the recent rash of military suicides and what was being done. Harper said that their thoughts and prayers went out to their families, and that their support systems were available when they needed them. Mulcair closed the round by asking if they would reverse the closures of the nine veterans offices — to cries of “shame on you!” from the government benches. Harper assured him that the services were still available. Justin Trudeau kept up with asking about the services for those soldiers, to which Harper added that they all understood how these soldiers were suffering and encouraged them to get help. Trudeau changed topics and asked why Senator Gerstein still enjoyed the confidence of the prime minister if he offered an inducement to a sitting legislator. Harper insisted that it wasn’t the case and left it at that. Trudeau pressed, and wondered why he said that Gerstein was not under investigation but the Senate was blocking his testimony to avoid interfering with an investigation. Harper insisted that only Duffy and Wright were under investigation.

Muclair was back up and asked why Senators Kinsella and Ringuette were still sitting Senators if they were guilty of the same conduct as Duffy — false, and not government business (Calandra: We want to change the status quo in the senate), who did the PM ask to find the emails (Harper: That is the issue of the bureaucracy), why was the law firm Bennett Jones copied on the letter to the RCMP as they are representing PMO staff under question (Harper: Those officials are responsible for their communications), do you want to correct the claim that there was no agreement between Wright and Perrin (Harper: These records weren’t held in PMO), do you not understand that this is your ministry that you’re responsible for (Harper: obfuscation), did you know that there was a provision in the Wright-Duffy deal for him to endorse the legality of Duffy’s residency (Harper: Duffy was abusing his claims). Judy Foote asked about the Senate leadership blocking the Gerstein testimony — again not Government business (Calandra: The three auditors appeared before committee and assured us there was no interference), and Scott Andrews wondered about the missing emails (Calandra: PCO took full responsibility). Jack Harris, Élaine Michaud, Irene Mathyssen and Peter Stoffer asked about the soldier suicides (Nicholson: We encourage those who are suffering to seek help).

Round three saw questions on the report on tanker liability, rail safety incidents, the rumoured cancellation of the close combat vehicle procurement, the lagging oil and gas regulations that industry are demanding, the lack of an air passenger bill of rights, a Crown Corporation’s responsibility being downloaded to a municipality, a local airport not getting a screening facility, a different local airport project, and cheese imports from Europe.

Overall, it was a rather perfunctory QP with little excitement, other than the accusations from the government benches that the opposition were playing politics with soldier suicides. The proliferation of questions about Senate business were not cautioned today, which was disappointing because it just encourages more of them. Most bizarre was Mulcair wondering why two senators had not been kicked out for scurrilous accusations — as though the PM has the power to expel senators. In fact, the system is explicitly designed so high at he can’t do that — not that the NDP has much use for facts where the Senate is concerned.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Michelle Rempel for a black leather dress with an asymmetrical zipper down the front, and to Peter MacKay for a dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a brilliant purple tie. Style citations go out to LaVar Payne for a dark grey suit with a blue shirt and a mottled blue tie, and to Christine Moore for a black dress with a rather garish floral pattern. Dishonourable mention goes out to Niki Ashton for a fuzzy yellow jacket with a black skirt.