Possibly the last QP of the year — one can hope — and tempers continued to fray throughout the Precinct. None of the main leaders were present, which wasn’t going to improve the mood either. Peter Julian led things off, where he blustered about Northern Gateway decision, and Kelly Block was the sacrificial lamb sent up to read her talking points about how projects only move forward if they are proven to be safe after a rigorous, scientific review process, and that the proponent has more work to do. When Julian noted that consulting with First Nations was the government’s job, Block read that the government was working with First Nations. Nathan Cullen followed on to carry on the sanctimonious bluster, and Block read yet more of the same talking points. Chrystia Freeland led off for the Liberals, denouncing the justice minister’s sexist comments about female judges, to which Peter MacKay accused her of mischaracterizing his comments and that they only made judicial appointments made on merit. Carolyn Bennett and Scott Brison followed along, Brison characterising it as the Conservatives’ war on modernity, and after MacKay gave another embarrassing qualification, Leitch answered Brison by claiming that the number of female Governor-in-Council appointments is on the rise.

Round two, and Rosane Doré Lefebvre and Megan Leslie asked about the criticisms about the “cyberbullying” bill (MacKay: Selectively read the Supreme Court decision to make it sound like the opposite of what it was; The RCMP made a big child porn bust!), Leslie returned to the issue of MacKay’s comments about the lack of women on the bench (MacKay: We are encouraging more women to apply), Alexandre Boulerice and Charlie Angus asked about Mark Adler’s questionable fundraising activities — not government business (Calandra: You have no room to talk for illegal donations), and Irene Mathyssen and Sylvain Choquette accused the government of disrespecting injured veterans by overstating their benefits (Fantino: You voted against helping veterans). John McKay demanded proper equalisation for Ontario (Sorensen: Federal support for Ontario has increased since we came to office), David McGuinty demanded infrastructure investments per David Dodge’s comments (Braid: Our investments have tripled since 2006), and Joyce Murray brought up the lack of conditions being met for Northern Gateway and yet it was approved (Block: Independent review panel talking points). Linda Duncan demanded action for Alberta First Nations under flooding advisories (Valcourt: We are working with the province and First Nations), Jean Crowder asked about a housing problem on another First Nation (Valcourt: We are working with this First Nation), and Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Sadia Groguhé asked about problems with the Temporary Foreign Workers (Kenney: We want to mend, not end, the programme).

Round three saw more questions on infrastructure spending, equalisation for Ontario, the GM recall, the lack of new funds for the Roadmap for Official Languages, the payouts for injured veterans, maternal health for First Nations, the Central African Republic, WiFi signal studies, the government’s supposed to contempt for public servants, and more demands to rescind approval for the Northern Gateway pipeline.

Overall, it was scrappier and Conservatives tried on a couple of occasions to start chanting heckles, but fortunately, it didn’t catch on. Meanwhile, the leader’s round was dominated by sanctimonious bluster met by scripted talking points, which made pretty much anyone watching want to scream. Also, all of the “as a mother/father/parent” qualifiers being thrown around today were enough to make one gag. It’s official — time to send them home for the summer.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Lisa Raitt for a black top and trousers with a greyish striped jacket, and to Kennedy Stewart for a tailored dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a terra cotta tie. Style citations go out to Jonathan Genest-Jourdain for a light grey jacket, powder blue trousers, a purple and white checked shirt and a tri-coloured blue tie, and to Kelly Block for a black dress with a white checked pilgrim collar and trim.