Every leader was finally present in the House today — promised to be the only day that will happen this week. Go grand inquest of the nation! Thomas Mulcair started off by reading an old Stephen Harper quote about using time allocation on an electoral reform bill. Harper, unfazed, noted that the NDP opposed the bill without reading it. Mulcair wanted to know if Harper still stood by those sentiments of old, but Harper refused to take the bait and insisted that the current elections bill was subject to ongoing debate and that they would all eventually arrive at the conclusion that it was a good bill. Mulcair asked if Harper could yet name any expert who supported the bill. Harper insisted that the NDP had nothing on offer in the next election. Mulcair wondered if Harper stood behind some of Pierre Poilievre’s questionable assertion that the Chief Electoral Officer made false statements. Harper insisted that the NDP were not focused on the substance of the bill, even when pressed on the matter. Justin Trudeau got up for the Liberals, and after denouncing the elections bill and the government’s tactics, demanded that Conservatives be given a free vote on the bill. Harper dodged, and said that 99 percent of Canadians produced ID at the last election and needed far more rigorous forms of ID for the less important activities. Trudeau asked again in French, got the same answer, and in English once again, listed the groups concerned about the changes. Harper stuck to that same answer, and brought back his “secret votes, not secret voters” quip.

Round two, and Mulcair was back up, reminding Harper that they had been listening to Canadians on the bill and they were still opposed (Poilievre: Look at all the forms of ID people can use), Mulcair — off-script — noted that Harper just told Trudeau to listen to Canadians, and would he support national hearings on the bill (Poilievre: It’s reasonable to ask for ID to vote), after some uproar when Muclair called Poilievre a “lightweight,” he brought up the forms of ID that weren’t eligible because they didn’t have an address (Poilievre: Of the 39 forms of ID, 13 have addresses on them), Mulcair noted that those paper bills that Poilievre was saying were acceptable now require people to pay to receive them in hard copy (Poilievre: 39 forms of ID!), Mulcair repeated concerns of provincial electoral officers (Poilievre: 39 forms of ID!), and Niki Ashton brought up Leona Aglukkaq’s wrong statements about being in territorial cabinet in 2001 (Aglukkaq: I was in cabinet in 2004 when we purchased those cameras to provide ID). Stéphane Dion brought up Sheila Fraser’s criticism of the elections bill (Poilievre: 39 options!), Kevin Lamoureux demanded that Poilievre apologise for attacking officers of parliament (Poilievre: 39 options!), and Wayne Easter equated debate with Poilievre on the bill as trying to play chess with a pigeon (Poilievre: You got the wrong game — you’re playing charades). Rosane Doré Lefevre and Murray Rankin asked about cyber security spending (Findlay: We shut down the CRA website as a preventative measure when this came to light), Charlie Angus completely mistook the Heartbleed bug as a hacker attack — it’s a bug, not a hack (Findley: This is an international incident that we’re updating shortly), and Alexandre Boulerice asked about appointments to the Port of Montreal (Calandra: The person you mentioned didn’t get appointed).

Round three saw questions on temporary foreign workers, cuts to CBC affecting its official language obligations, Building Canada Fund cuts, veterans services, shrimp fisheries licences, the Mirabel airport, the future of the postal service, and the right to die with dignity.

Overall, there were encouraging signs today as Thomas Mulcair actually seemed to deviate from his script for a change. That Pierre Poilievre saw fit to respond with variations of “39 options” was not a good thing, however, and if you were playing a drinking game based on that response, you would have suffered liver failure.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Justin Trudeau for a navy suit with a pale pink shirt and blue tie — it being International Day of Pink — and to Lisa Raitt for a fuchsia dress with a black leather jacket. Style citations go out to Sadia Groguhé for her green foliage jacket with orange and red florals and black elbow patches with a bright orange top, and to Rick Dykstra for a dark blue suit with a blue shirt and multicoloured striped tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe for a short-sleeved mustard sweater with black trousers.