It was rather stunning, and certainly unexpected, when Paul Calandra got up after Question Period and choked back tears as he apologised for his behaviour on Tuesday, and offered direct apologies to both Mulcair and the House as a whole. He also insisted that the answers were his, and not the “kids in short pants” – even though he later said that he was given the information on that former NDP staffer by a member of the PMO. That said, the fact that he also equivocated, refused to promise to never do it again, and tried to rationalize it as being angry by that NDP fundraiser’s Facebook rant, really took away from the sincerity of the tears and the moment itself. It certainly does raise the question about what changed between now and Tuesday – especially after he doubled down on Wednesday (which led to the Paul Dewar facepalm meme that hit the Internet all day Thursday). I will say that it’s an awfully big coincidence that he suddenly got tearful and apologised on the very same morning that Stephen Harper got back to town after being away since the initial incident happened. Sure, Calandra was pilloried and publicly shamed by the media and the pundit class, but it’s not for the first time either. Paul Wells gives his take on the dynamics at play, while Andrew Coyne takes particular issue with Calandra’s equivocating during the apology, and how it continues to make a mockery of parliament.
The NDP have decided to use their next supply day to move a motion that would amend the Standing Orders so that the relevancy rule would apply to Question Period as well as regular debate – perhaps in some effort to crack down on non sequiturs. It has the danger of starting to drag the Speaker into the fray on questions of what does and does not count as being relevant, but perhaps it is a first step to introducing some genuine reform. As I wrote in my column, however, I don’t think the problem is that the Speaker alone – it’s a broader problem of MPs who don’t know what their jobs are and who simply take direction to their detriment (and yes, the NDP are especially guilty of that).
The presidents of both the European Council and the European Commission were in Ottawa for the release of the final text of the Canada-EU trade agreement, before it heads for final votes in the European Parliament as well as among member countries, and by both the federal Parliament and the various provincial legislatures across Canada. The NDP will likely release their position on Wednesday.
Harper, meanwhile, is reasserting that it was the US who asked us for help in Iraq, and that we don’t want to sit idly by – hence the contemplation of deploying CF-18s to the region as part of an international air strike campaign, as well as refuelling and surveillance operations. This on top of our other non-combat operations including military advisors and transport planes flying in weapons donated by other countries and relief supplies.
A number of federal websites, including the Federal Court and the Tax Court of Canada, are currently offline while they wait for patches to the Shellshock bug.
John Geddes takes a closer look at some of the salaries paid to First Nations chiefs now that they’re being reported online.
Joan Bryden takes the Canadian Press’ Baloney Meter™ to the different EI premium schemes that the parties are championing to help create jobs, and finds all three parties get ratings of “a lot of baloney.”
Late in the game, the government has joined in the search for proof of Sir John A Macdonald’s birthplace in Glasgow, Scotland. Recent evidence uncovered points to a dilapidated building slated for demolition known as Brunswick Place, but with the countdown to the bicentennial of Macdonald’s birth coming soon, the government is finally getting on board.
And here’s a look at the Jaimie Anderson Parliamentary Internship programme fundraiser held last night.