With Stephen Harper entertaining the president of South Korea just down the hall, and Justin Trudeau, well, elsewhere, Thomas Mulcair was once again the only major leader in the Commons, not that this is uncommon for a Monday any longer. Mulcair began QP with a short question about why the PM is boycotting the UN climate conference this week. Colin Carrie responded by praising the government’s action on GHGs in a ridiculous prepared statement. Mulcair decried the embarrassment of the government withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, and wondered if the government believed in a healthy environment, to which Carrie read another lengthy statement. Mulcair referenced his time as Quebec environment minister, and wondered if the government would include a right to clean air and water in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Carrie noted that Mulcair once had a smog day named after himself — and read another statement. Megan Leslie was up next, and spoke about the climate March in New York, and asked about regulations on oil and gas emissions. Carrie, undaunted, read yet another prepared statement. Leslie tried one last time to persuade the PM to head to the climate summit, but Carrie reminded her that the environment minister was attending. Rising for the Liberals, John McKay tried to keep up the pressure on the climate summit file, to which Carrie — once again — read a statement prefaced by the fact that the former Liberal leader named his dog Kyoto. Marc Garneau asked again in French, to which Carrie read a statement in French. Scott Brison closed the round asking about the problems with the EI tax credit, and Kevin Sorensen gave Carrie a break by reciting that the Liberals didn’t understand small business.

Round two, and Matthew Kellway noted his attendance at the NYC climate March (Carrie: We announced new vehicle emission standards), François Choquette noted the lack of effort on oil and gas emissions regulations (Carrie: We have seen significant reductions), Chris Charlton asked about coal regulations (Carrie: We have banned construction of traditional plants), Murray Rankin asked about the plans to cut senior experts in going after international fraud (Findlay: CRA is not reducing the number of auditors, this realignment will give us 10 more) and he and Nycole Turmel brought up the audits of charities (Findlay: There is nothing nefarious about these audits), before Turmel and Wayne Marston brought up the attempts to revive C-377 in the Senate — even though such a question is not government business (Sorensen: We support this bill to move ahead). Judy Foote and Ralph Goodale asked about the cuts to the infrastructure fund (Sorensen: The Liberals don’t understand how small business works; Braid: You need to brush up on your math skills). Romeo Saganash and Carole Hughes demanded a national inquiry on missing and murdered Aboriginal women (Leitch: Support our action plan like families have asked for), and Don Davies and Ève Péclet wondered about the deleted comments opposing the Canada-China FIPA from their Facebook page — which is party and not government business (O’Toole: The P in FIPA is for protection, and we want to protect our investments in China).

Round three saw questions on the Iraq deployment, taking in Syrian refugees, Canadian Forces members hiding their health conditions lest they be fired, Ebola and Enterovirus, railway on Cape Breton Island, income supports for refugee claimants, a partial penitentiary closure, a crude oil tanker in the St. Lawrence, and one following up on questionable numbers that Colin Carrie delivered (to which Carrie just re-read his same numbers).

Overall, it was a fairly mediocre day, and poor Colin Carrie for having to read endless rah-rah statements about the government’s environmental plans, which did nothing to give any sense of sincerity to the answers given how obviously scripted they were. It really does debase the debate, and we need to pressure MPs to knock it off.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Judy Foote for a grey and black tartan jacket and skirt with a black top, and to Michael Chong for a navy suit with a lavender checked shirt and purple tie. Style citations to out to habitual offender Jean Rousseau for a brown striped suit with a fluorescent yellow shirt and grey and burgundy striped tie, and to Isabelle Morin for a melon pink sweater with three-quarter sleeves over a multicoloured floral-themed top and black trousers.