The final caucus day of the sitting, and Rib Fest taking place a block away, MPs were itching to head back to their ridings. All of the major leaders were in the Chamber today for a second day in a row (amazing!) while Elizabeth May was absent for a change, off campaigning in Toronto for the forthcoming by-elections. Thomas Mulcair led off, wondering where all those Conservatives were to tout the Northern Gateway after three years of doing so previously. Stephen Harper said that the NDP were opposed to all resource development, considered it a “disease,” and it was up to Enbridge to fulfil the 209 conditions imposed by the NEB. Mulcair said that BC Conservative MPs were “in the witness programme” about the pipeline, while Harper shot back that Mulcair himself was in the programme when it came to answering for their improper mailings and satellite offices. Mulcair insisted that with the removal of Navigable Waters Act protections, the deck was stacked in favour of the pipeline, to which Harper reminded him of the 180 days of hearing and thousands of pages of evidence, and that there were 209 conditions. Mulcair brought up Enbridge’s record in the US, Harper returning to the scientific panel, and when Mulcair declared that Harper could not “subcontract the Honour of the Crown” to Enbridge with consulting First Nations, Harper listed the number of hearings they held with First Nations groups as part of the regulatory process. Justin Trudeau brought up that the BC government still opposes the pipeline, and wondered why the Prime Minister still said yes. Harper repeated that it was up to the proponent to meet their conditions. Trudeau brought up the government’s previous statements about the importance of the integrity of the Great Bear rainforest, but Harper reiterated about the scientific process of the regulator. Trudeau asked one last time to reverse the approval, but Harper kept repeating about the 209 conditions, and concluded that the Liberals don’t practice evidence-based decision making.

Round two, and Megan Leslie and Murray Rankin kept asking about the oil spill response plan (Rickford: The approval hinges on meeting the 209 conditions), Jean Crowder brought up the government’s constitutional duty to consult with First Nations (Rickford: The proponent obviously has more work to do), Libby Davies and Nathan Cullen accused BC Conservatives of ignoring their constituents, over and over again (Rickford: 209 conditions!). Scott Brison finally changed topics and asked about job stats and stagnant wages, demanding infrastructure spending (Braid: You’re misleading the House), Wayne Easter noted wasn’t signing on with the provinces for Building Canada funds (Braid: We’re funding that LRT line in Edmonton!), and Irwin Cotler noted that a plan to appoint Justice Mainville to the Supreme Court would mean one less female judge on the bench (MacKay: Look forward to the future with optimism). Charmaine Borg and Charlie Angus asked about problems with the “cyberbullying” bill in light of the Supreme Court decision last week (MacKay: We want police to have the tools to do their job), and Françoise Boivin brought up a number of other bills that the Court would likely strike down (MacKay: What part of the decision aren’t you understanding — as he selectively reads it).

Round three saw questions on the Social Security Tribunal backlogs, CBSA giving unfair treatment to a transgender individual as a question relating to World Pride, Marine Atlantic operations, the status of the preparations for the Canada 150 celebrations, CBC cuts affecting Canadian athletes, drinking water conditions for several First Nations, the pyrrhotite issue in Quebec, a cleanup off the coast of Hamilton, and a destructive caterpillar outbreak affecting the forestry sector.

Overall, it could have been a good day at holding the government to account over their tepid conditional approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline, but instead it was an interminable number of repetitive, grandstanding questions that had less to do with the issue at hand than trying to electioneer for BC seats in 2015. Asking the same questions over and over without actually dealing with what the government actually said — yet another symptom of over-reliance on scripts than actually debating — was certainly not edifying in the least. Peter MacKay also astounded people for a second day in a row by selectively quoting from the Supreme Court decision last Friday to make it sound like it was saying the exact opposite of what it actually did – not that any of us should be surprised by such a move any more.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Shelly Glover for a black dress with a melon front panel and a black jacket, and to José Nunez-Melo for a natty white suit with black shirt and tie, and a straw-coloured fedora sitting on the desk next to him to accessorise it. Style citations go out to Jonathan Tremblay for a linen jacket with a pale teal shirt and cream and teal tie, and to Niki Ashton for a greenish yellow jacket over a black dress.