The day was already off to a shaky start, where Peter Van Loan spent the NDP’s supply date motion on amending the Standing Orders to have the relevancy rules apply to QP, by arguing that QP shouldn’t be a one-way street and that the NDP should answer the questions they pose back to them. It really was mystifying. No major leader was present in the Commons for QP, where Megan Leslie asked about plans to send CF-18s to Iraq to conduct airstrikes. John Baird said that they were dealing with humanitarian operations over there, but no further decisions had been taken. Leslie demanded a vote on increasing participation, to which Baird insisted that they would hold one on a combat mission. (Wait — it’s a trap!) Hélène Laverdière picked up the same questions I’m French, and asked how many of the planned 69 special forces were on the ground. Baird said that he would get back to her on the number, and reiterated the threat posed by ISIS. Leslie got back up for the final question, and trawled for support for the supply day motion, to which Van Loan assured her that our Parliament has the most accountable Question Period in the world, and that the government should be able to pose questions too. And then my head exploded. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, and cited media leaks on extending the Iraq deployment, and wanted more details on the parameters that cabinet was considering. Baird replied that cabinet had not yet weighed in on it. Joyce Murray asked about the time period that they were considering for an extended deployment. Baird spoke with exaggerated slowness to insist that no decision had not yet been made.

Round two, and Paul Dewar railed about why there wasn’t more support for refuge in the region (Baird: We are helping out in the region), Elaine Michaud asked about the status of the Special Forces deployed to Iraq (Nicholson: They are there by invitation and have diplomatic status), and again demanded a vote (Baird: We have had debates and we will vote if it’s a combat mission), Jinny Sims and Sadia Groguhé asked about inspections for cases of abuse of temporary foreign workers (Kenney: This incident was outrageous and CBSA has a watch out for the perpetrators), Linda Duncan asked about a report by the Alberta Federation of Labour about underpaying temporary foreign workers (Kenney: There is an obligation for them to pay at the prevailing wage rate under the new system), and Chris Charlton decried the S&P downgrading of growth figures (Sorenson: Our economy is envied by most of the world!). Arnold Chan asked about flying the European delegation back aboard a government Airbus (Fast: Yay our trade agreement with Europe), and Scott Brison asked about the flaws in the EI tax credit (Kenney: You just want to increase benefits and premiums). Nathan Cullen and Guy Caron asked about opposition in Germany to the investor state dispute mechanism in CETA (Fast: It’s a good agreement), and Ève Péclet and Charlie Angus returned to the European delegation (Fast: You’re just anti-trade).

Round three saw questions on missing and murdered Aboriginal women, a SIRC member in a possible conflict of interest in investigating CSIS activities around environmental groups, Beluga habitats off the Quebec coast, changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers programme, tolls on the Champlain Bridge replacement, the problems with the forestry industry in Quebec, the Northern Greenhouse Initiative, an abandoned drydock project that wasn’t given adequate time to file paperwork, a Quebec tax credit, and immigration changes needed for Alberta.

Overall, it was actually a pretty good day as far as QP goes, the stilted recitation of scripted questions aside. John Baird acquitted himself rather well when it comes to actually answering questions, despite how repetitive they got because he answered them and the NDP in particular kept asking the same questions on their scripts rather than building on the responses. Nevertheless, the fact that it wasn’t a sideshow like we saw last week is an encouraging sign that hopefully we can build on.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Lisa Raitt for an eggplant dress and long sweater, and to Bernard Trottier for a black suit with a crisp white shirt and lavender tie. Style citations go out to James Bezan for a grey suit and shirt with a fluorescent blue striped tie and pocket square, and to Christine Moore for a grey dress with a boat neck and three-quarter sleeves. Dishonourable mention goes out to Cheryl Gallant for a bright lemon yellow dress with a black leather jacket, and to Gail Shea for a bright yellow top with a black lace-like smock overtop.