QP: Wondering about fighter jet reports

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With the Prime Minister of Australia visiting, Stephen Harper was busy elsewhere and not in the House. Likewise, Thomas Mulcair was off in Alberta, campaigning for the coming by-elections, while Justin Trudeau was, well, we’re not sure. Megan Leslie led off for the NDP, decrying the fighter jet procurement process and demanding that the report be tabled before the House rises. Diane Finley responded that no decision had been made, but that they were studying the report. Leslie moved onto the prostitution bill, to which Bob Dechert insisted that it was all about protecting women, children and the vulnerable. Françoise Boivin carried on about the bill and it’s dubious constitutionality, but Dechert had his talking points memorized. Boivin wanted to know about the legal opinions regarding its constitutionality, to which Dechert insisted that it was, and that he looked forward to the debate. Ralph Goodale led off for the Liberals, demanding a growth agenda and that higher EI premiums be rolled back. Joe Oliver insisted that the government was on track to achieve surplus and that they would responsibly advocate for tax cuts — not that it really answered the question. Goodale noted that the Building Canada Fund was not being made available in the current year, but Denis Lebel responded by praising all of the infrastructure investments that his government had made. Stéphane Dion picked up the topic in French, and harangued Lebel for the lack of signed agreements from the Fund, but Lebel was not swayed from his effusive praise.

Round two, and Jack Harris and Élaine Michaud returned to the figure jet procurement and the rumours of a sole-source F-35 contract (Finley: That’s just plain nonsense, we had a Seven-Point Plan™), Guy Caron and Nathan Cullen decried the jobless rate (Oliver: We have achieved more in job creation than other G7 countries), and Paul Dewar and Hélène Laverdière noted that Australia had ratified the arms trade treaty and wondered if Canada would follow suit (Obhrai: Canada already has strong export controls and this treaty brings them up to our level and we are consulting). John McCallum asked why the government was doing nothing on Temporary Foreign Worker programme enforcement (Kenney: Look at all of the people we put on the new blacklist), and Joyce Murray asked about the forthcoming decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline (Block: Projects will only be approved if they are safe, a decision is forthcoming). Charmaine Borg and Charlie Angus asked about reports of lost census questionnaires (Moore: Support our digital privacy bill!), and Ruth Ellen Brosseau and Malcolm Allen asked about the problems of the rail grain bill (Lemieux: This bill was well received by stakeholders).

Round three saw questions on the oil spill response plan including banned chemicals (Raitt: We struck a panel that came up with recommendations, and one response was that one size does not fit all), the lack of oil and gas regulations, the government’s conservation plan, Syrian refugees, whether Downsview Park was being opened up to developers, tourism cuts, and telecom information being turned over to police, and Service Canada “attacking” workers at a Quebec plant.

Overall, it was a fairly sleepy day in the Commons, a few outbursts on the Conservative benches aside, with no leaders and not a lot of cabinet ministers in either. In other words, Mondays are pretty much the new Fridays.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Emmanuel Dubourg for a tailored charcoal suit with a crisp white shirt and a steel blue tie, and to Lisa Raitt for a blue and white patterned v-necked top with a black suit with white piping. Style citations go out to Christine Moore for a grey panelled housecoat-cut dress with orange stripes throughout and an orange top beneath, and to Mark Warawa for a Nanaimo bar combination of chocolate brown suit and yellow shirt with a brown and butterscotch striped tie.