QP: Ebola and Syria

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It was curious how many empty seats there were in the Commons on a Wednesday, given that it’s caucus day, but all of the leaders were present, so it should at least be interesting. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about increasing aid to west Africa to deal with Ebola. Harper reminded him that Canada just dispatched a second mobile lab and more supplies were on the way. Mulcair asked about the experimental vaccine that was still not delivered, but Harper responded that they were waiting for the World Health Organisation to determine where it would be used. Mulcair insisted the delay was because of an intellectual property issue, and Harper assured him that he looked into it and was told that is not the reason it has been held up. Mulcair changed topics to Syria, going from Harper’s former denunciations of Assad to the caveat that he would permit bombing in the region if given permission by that government. Harper responded that this as a military operation but not going to war against any government in the region. Mulcair closed the round by asking where our fighter jets would be based in the Middle East, to which Harper told him that it wasn’t yet determined. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked if the government planned to offer more than the $10 million recently announced for the refugee crisis in Turkey. Harper gave bland assurances about aid being delivered, and said that they also needed to stem the flow, which meant stopping ISIS. Trudeau asked the same again in French, got the same answer, and asked about the the targets for resettled Syrian refugees not being met. Harper assured him that the minister had already answered that, and hit Trudeau once again, saying that stopping ISIS was more than a refugee response.

Round two, and Paul Dewar asked conditions of victory against ISIS (Nicholson: We are going to degrade them but this is a mission that should have had everyone’s support last night), why the door was opened to combat in Syria (Nicholson: We have been clear this mission is in Iraq), Hélène Laverdière asked about the cuts to international development funds (Lois Brown: Our government has a global reputation for paying what we pledge), Hoang Mai asked about the coroner’s report on Lac Mégantic (Raitt: We have taken great strides to implement every recommendation of the TSB), Matthew Kellway asked more in relation to the derailment in Saskatchewan (Raitt: Someone has been charged with criminal negligence), Peggy Nash asked about the GM recall on ignition switches (Raitt: We haven’t seen any evidence that they withheld information once they knew of the problem), and asked about the loss of manufacturing jobs (Moore: Manufacturing sales have bounced back and on the way up). Ralph Goodale asked about the Saskatchewan derailment (Raitt: CN is responsible for clean-up, and you should ask them about what kinds of tanker cars were involved), about the issue of freight operator fatigue regulations for trains (Raitt: Transport Canada has the requirement that rail companies submit plans and there are rules that we expect companies to follow), and Hedy Fry asked about Canadian plans for Ebola (Ambrose: We have a good public health system for prevention, awareness and treatment). Megan Leslie asked about emissions regulations for oil and gas (Aglukkaq: We need a North American solution), and the report that 80 percent of oil sands projects don’t have environmental assessments (Aglukkaq: Here’s a completely separate criticism of the Environment Commissioner’s report), François Lapointe asked about the environmental assessment at the Cacouna oil terminal (Shea: No project has even been applied for), and Guy Caron asked about the risk to beluga whales in that region (Shea: This is only exploratory work carefully examined by marine scientists).

Round three saw questions on muzzled scientists, naval resupply vessels, oil and gas emissions regulations, the problems of EI in PEI, concrete building standards, suicides related to PTSD for veterans and RCMP officers, delays in immigration file processing, private companies delivering mail, and supertankers along the St. Lawrence.

Overall, Mulcair was all over the map, more concerned with getting enough clips on the news rather than picking a topic to hold the government to account on any one topic, and considering the intellectual property issue around the Ebola vaccine had been dealt with days ago, it was a bit of a wasted question. Meanwhile, teasing one another about talking points would be adorable if the problem wasn’t so endemic on all sides and being an affront to parliament. That said, Leona Agukkaq walked right into John McKay’s jibe, and deserved what ribbing she got.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Megan Leslie for a short-sleeved black velvet dress and to James Bezan for a black suit with a crisp white shirt and a pink and red striped tie and matching pocket square. Style citations go out to Jonathan Genest-Jourdain for a brownish-grey windowpane patterned suit more suitable on an old Chesterfield, with a grey shirt and dark blue tie, and to Rathika Sitsabaiesan for a fluorescent orange jacket with a black top and trousers. Dishonourable mention goes out to Gail Shea for a yellow jacket with three-quarter sleeves with a black top.