Caucus day, and all of the leaders were finally in the Chamber. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking for an update on last week’s events and what new measures were being taken to protect Canadian Forces members at home. Stephen Harper said that investigations were underway, and that he had nothing to add to their public statements. Mulcair noted the concerns of privacy commissioners, both federal and provincial, on new security laws. Harper said that they were interested in the views of various players in issues, and that they didn’t think there was a contradiction between safety and rights. Mulcair noted the need for civilian oversight and the two vacant chairs at SIRC. Harper assured him that things were great at SIRC, and we need to thank CSIS for their hard work protecting Canadians. Mulcair asked about funding cuts to security agencies, to which Harper said that they have adequate resources, then repeated in English the need to thank CSIS for their dedication to the protection of Canadians. Mulcair noted their differences in debating whether the attack was terrorism, but said that they wanted to work together to keep Canadians safe. Harper kept on with the praise for security agencies. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the need for a parliamentary oversight for national security agencies. Harper insisted that the current system works and “we will continue moving forward.” Trudeau pressed again for the need in French, to which Harper repeated his answer in English and got in a dig that police weren’t automatically a threat to Canadians’ rights. Trudeau noted the recommendations for oversight from the Arar Inquiry, wondering when the government would finally act on those recommendations. Harper insisted that they had acted, and repeated that CSIS works hard.

Round two, and Randall Garrison and Rosane Doré Lefebvre returned to the Privacy Commissioners’ meeting and the need for oversight (Blaney: We have a bill that’s balanced), Hoang Mai asked about rail self-regulation (Raitt: We have increased the number of inspectors and put $100 million into this), Matthew Kellway was unsatisfied with Raitt’s response (Raitt: Our Safety Management System is world renowned), Peggy Nash decried the loss of manufacturing jobs (Moore: We went from 6th to 2nd in Bloomberg’s ranking of best places to manufacture), Anne Quach decried the lack of a jobs strategy for manufacturing (Moore: We have taken measures to ensure the sector is ready for the future), Guy Caron lamented the EI tax credit (Oliver: Our plan will create 25,000 person years of employment), and Nathan Cullen condemned the omnibudget bill (Oliver: Look at all the wonderful things in the bill!) Chrystia Freeland returned to the EI tax credit problem (Oliver: Your back-of-the-envelope plan would cost jobs), John McCallum asked about the social assistance for refugee claimant portion of the omnibudget bill (Alexander: Why don’t you support our budget), and Scott Brison pointed out the number of mistakes in the previous budget bills that are being corrected in the current one, and used it as a frame for their EI tax holiday proposal (Oliver: Look at how great our bill is). Sadia Groguhé and Jinny Sims bemoaned the Temporary Foreign Workers Programme’s lapses (Kenney: Our reforms are working), and Megan Leslie and Alexandre Boulerice denounced the problems with the Canada Post superboxes rollout (Raitt: Fewer pieces of mail every year, and Canada Post is rolling out their plan).

Round three saw questions on credit card merchant fees, poorly written letters sent out by CRA, inaction on fixing the New Veterans’ Charter, taxes for seniors, homelessness and affordable housing units, spending on outside consultants, supertankers on the St. Lawrence, CP Rail new level crossings in Montreal, and the need for a minimum distance between railways and new building construction.

Overall, it was a bit of an odd day, where Mulcair tiptoed around the tougher questions on national security, while once again the Liberals cut to the chase around the questions of oversight. The rest of the day, however, started sliding back to some old bad habits — repetitive questions in both languages without really pressing on poor responses, and soliloquies instead of questions, which only leave the government room to deliver praise instead of an answer.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rona Ambrose for a v-necked snow leopard print dress with a black jacket, and to Greg Rickford for a dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and pocket square, and a black and grey striped tie. Style citations go out to LaVar Payne for a black jacket with a peach shirt and darker peach patterned tie, and to Ève Péclet for a red top with a sewn on bow at the collar with a black skirt.