Thomas Mulcair’s speech to the Economic Club of Canada wasn’t full of a lot of details, but it raised a lot of questions – especially when he started to contradict himself. While Mulcair spoke about an “alternate vision” of development, with particular attention paid to a cap-and-trade system (which he has not yet outlined), and to resurrecting the home energy refit programme. But he also said that he would remove Cabinet’s ability to override a National Energy Board decision, while in the same breath saying that he would never have allowed the Keystone XL pipeline to go for regulatory approval – even though the NEB approved it. In other words, keep cabinet out of the decisions, but arbitrarily empower cabinet to keep it from being allowed to see a decision. Logic! He reiterated that he wants to increase refining capacity in Canada, grossly inflating the number of jobs that would create and ignoring the infrastructure costs (let alone the GHG footprint), but would have denied any way for that refined product to get to market, since he wouldn’t have allowed new pipelines to get approval. Logic. And then he also claimed that he was leader in 2011, by which point the plot was lost.

In Reform Act response today, Chris Selley finds the bill lacking, mostly because MPs already don’t have the gonads to use the powers they already have. Paul Wells is uncertain that much would change upon passage of the bill given the “grand bargain” that government MPs make in order to keep winning. Andrew Coyne, however, has little time for the naysayers and their hysterics. Here is a list of parliamentarians who have tweeted their support. Aaron Wherry has thirty questions that should be asked before proceeding with the bill, as well as rounds up yet more reaction.

In the Senate’s Banking and Trade committee, deputy chair Senator Herveiux-Payette attempted to challenge Senator Gerstein’s validity as chair so long as a cloud of suspicion hangs over him. Gerstein, however, reminded the committee that he was elected chair and ruled it out of order. A few hours later, the full Senate voted on the motion to call Michael Runia and Gerstein to committee to account for their actions in the audit, but it did not pass thanks to the Conservative senators voting against it.

Laura Payton has three more questions about the Benjamin Perrin emails.

After Thomas Mulcair personally attacked Senate Speaker Kinsella and Senator Ringuette in QP, Senator Kinsella wrote a letter bashing back at Mulcair and cautioned him not to throw rocks from glass houses. Mulcair’s attack was scurrilous and without a basis in fact, and Kinsella has proved that he’s not going to let it slide.

There are questions as to the capacity of the Canadian Forces to deal with mentally ill soldiers after what appears to be a fourth soldier suicide within a week. The military ombudsman blames undestaffing, as they have not yet met their targets for new hires of mental health workers, and the fact that a countdown toward dismissal starts once PTSD is identified becomes an impediment to seeking treatment.

The RCMP has spent $1.1 million so far in litigation as provinces have fought the destruction of long-gun registry data.

Mayors from across the country are concerned about their infrastructure funding for the upcoming year because of the confusing new system that the government has put into place to replace the Building Canada Fund.

And Dean Del Mastro’s trial is set for two weeks in June.

Up today: Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is in town to talk to Stephen Harper about the Ring of Fire and pension reform.