With the election called in Quebec, which will no doubt consume the news cycle for the next six weeks, things carried on here in the Nation’s Capital unabated, despite the added media attention to Quebec MPs and any role that they’ll play. When QP got underway, Thomas Mulcair led off by asking whether Canada would be sending observers to Ukraine along with the Americans and others, to which Harper said that we were, as well as freezing some Russian assets and suspending more bilateral operations. Mulcair asked if Harper had reached out to the IMF, to which Harper said that they had. Mulcair changed topics, and asked about the consultations on the elections bill. Harper expressed his disappointment in the NDP’s opposition to the bill (err, kind of their job, you know). Mulcair said that the partisan tactics around the bill were unprecedented (um, not sure about that), to which Harper reminded him that they opposed the bill without reading it. For his last question, Mulcair asked about the lack of sanctions against Brad Butt for his “mis-speaking,” but Harper shrugged it off, saying that Butt had apologised of his own volition. Dominic LeBlanc led for the Liberals, and asked if elections observers would, be sent to Ukraine, and Baird indicated that we would be. LeBlanc turned to the decrease in funding from the Building Canada Fund, to which Denis Lebel insisted that the fund was $70 billion over ten years.

Round two, and Mulcair demanded to know if the authors of the elections bill consulted with the Conservative Party during the drafting process (Harper: I won’t indulge your conspiracy theories), how many people have been charged for illegal voting (Harper: The bill is about ensuring that qualified voters can vote), do you really think that tens of thousands of people committing fraud when they leave their names and addresses as they vouch for someone (Harper: There are 39 valid forms of ID), what about that Wright-Duffy meeting in your private board room (Harper: The RCMP has throughly examined the matter and said I had no knowledge), why did PCO tell Library and Archives not to speak to journalists (Harper: The question should be directed to the independent Library and Archives). Ralph Goodale asked about the grain backup in the prairies (Ritz: You say we’re friends with the railways, but you should look in the mirror), and John McKay pointed to Brad Wall and Jim Prentice’s calls for GHG regulations (Aglukkaq: We’re world leaders on emissions reductions). Linda Duncan and Malcolm Allen returned to the question of rail regulations for grain (Ritz: We’re working on all options), Élaine Michaud asked about the slow pace of hiring mental health professionals in the Canadian Forces (Nicholson: We have increased their health spending and we are hiring), and Jack Harris asked about what actions were taken for the mother of the dead soldier who got a one-cent cheque (Nicholson: I got assurances from the department to ensure it would not happen again, and we have a call scheduled with the mother tomorrow).

Round three saw questions on the lack of EI spending in the Main Estimates, government ad spending, more demands for an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women, the cancellation of a Corrections programme that was proven successful, healthcare cuts for refugees, cuts to Canada Post, and a call for renewing the labour market development agreement with Quebec.

Overall, the back-and-forth between Mulcair and Harper over “conspiracy theories” wasn’t terribly helpful to the debate. Granted, it wasn’t really a conspiracy theory, but Mulcair wasn’t exactly right in saying that governments have used their majority for partisan ends in elections before either — it’s why the Chief Electoral Officer was created, after all. Trying to impart sinister motives isn’t really asking about specific problems. Meanwhile, there were some really good exchanges about the Estimates I round three. More of this, please.

Sartorially speaking, snaps to out to Pierre Poilievre for a black suit with a crisp white shirt and a brilliant purple tie, and to Kellie Leitch for a cream jacket with a white collared shirt. Style citations go out to Sadia Groguhé for a garish floral print jacket with an orange top, and to Maxime Bernier for his Nanaimo bar-esque chocolate suit and tie with a bright yellow shirt and pocket square. Dishonourable mention goes out to Cheryl Gallant for a purple dress with a sparkly multi-coloured striped jacket, and Rathika Sitsabaiesan for a mustard sweater with a leopard print top.