With things having calmed down on the Hill somewhat after yesterday’s excitement, and only one major leader in the House, it was certainly a much more sedate day in the Chamber. Mulcair opened with a series of questions about the closures of veteran service centres, and wanted to know if the Conservatives would be allowed a free vote on their opposition day motion. Julian Fantino, in his robotic monotone, insisted that there were over 600 points of service that were nearby these veterans, even when it was pointed out that one the nearest Service Canada centre to one the closed veterans centre in Newfoundland is eight hours away. Stéphane Dion led off for the Liberals, and asked about the recent job numbers. Andrew Saxton touted the government’s job creation record. Scott Brison got up to demand a real plan for jobs, but Saxton disputed his figures, and on the supplemental, Saxton read off a list of programmes the government brought in.

Round two started off with Megan Leslie asking about how the PM could know that Senator Gerstein wasn’t under investigation (Calandra: Only two people are under investigation), why a PMO staffer is getting legal assistance for his role in the ClusterDuff affair (Calandra: It’s long-standing practice to offer legal assistance for employees), Ève Péclet tried to press about that staffer’s role (Calandra: this policy predates our government), Rosane Doré Lefebvre and Jack Harris asked about National Defence being under Treasury Board supervision around their spending (Nicholson: We have spent unprecedented amounts to support our men and women in uniform), and Sylvain Chicoine and Peter Stoffer decried Fantino’s union-bashing instead of helping veterans (Fantino: The union is fear-mongering). Lise St-Denis asked about younger workers leaving her region because of EI changes (Kenney: Our changes are to ensure that people actively seek work and if they have to leave it’s because there are no jobs), Wayne Easter noticed how the changes were distorting the seasonal economy in PEI (Kenney: You want a 45-day work year), and Dominic LeBlanc returned to the National Defence spending supervision (Nicholson: The military was never a priority under your government). Brian Masse and Irene Mathyssen returned once more to the issue of veterans centres closing (Fantino: You can find all kinds of services in your area for veterans), and Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and Charlie Angus asked about the increased spending in ministers’ offices (Finley: We believe all Canadians should have reasonable access to government ministers’ offices).

Round three saw questions on youth unemployment, credit card fees, visa processing times (in the theme of Chinese New Year), pesticides affecting bees, humanitarian assistance for the Central African Republic, a conservation area for grasslands, a rail bridge in Quebec, and the loss of rural passenger rail service.

Overall, there wasn’t anything too egregious today, but the Speaker should have cautioned the questions around Senator Gerstein, as there was nothing in there that had to do with government business. As for Fantino and his bizarre non-sequitur comebacks like “At least I know who I am,” one wonders if he doesn’t need to have his duotronic databanks defragged.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to James Bezan for a chocolate brown suit with a pink shirt and pocket square and a brown and pink striped tie, and to Leona Aglukkaq for her seal and fur jacket — worn on the occasion of Seal Day on the Hill — as it was pretty badass. Style citations go out to Christine Moore for a black, white and purple striped dress with a light grey bolero jacket, and to Pierre-Luc Dusseault for a navy jacket with khaki trousers, a light blue shirt and a bright blue and grey striped tie.