QP: Childcare spaces across governments past

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The day after the by-election, but the Commons was on the more subdued side. All three major leaders were present today, and Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about failed childcare plans from previous governments, and wondered how many spaces the current government delivered. Stephen Harper noted that NDP plans would benefit a mere ten percent of Canadians, while the measures his government announced would benefit all families with children. Mulcair poked about the government giving money for the rich, while Harper accused him of looking to take money away from families. Mulcair wondered why Harper was borrowing money to pay for the tax cuts he announced, but Harper continued to insist that their plans would put money in the pockets of “real working Canadians.” Mulcair veered into money being “stolen” from the EI fund, but Harper retorted that the EI would raise EI premiums. For his final question, Mulcair asked if the government would agree with their proposals for dealing with harassment on the Hill. Harper responded that their government has policies in place and would be happy to share them with the Board of Internal Economy. Justin Trudeau rose to ask if the government would support on his bill on increasing transparency. Harper retorted that it was rich for the Liberals to talk about transparency given that they voted against all kinds of bills that claimed to be about transparency (but most really weren’t). Trudeau asked about the government’s commitment to GHG reductions for the Copenhagen targets, to which Harper said it was rich for the Liberals to talk about emissions when they went up under their government. When Trudeau brought up the deal between the U.S. and China on emissions, Harper bashed back about the lack of Liberal action on Kyoto targets.

Round two, and Élaine Michaud and Jack Harris asked about the reports that Canada was committing to buy F-35 fighters (Trottier: Those Pentagon reports are false), Charlie Angus and Mathieu Ravignat asked about the ads on the income splitting tax cut (Kenney: Only could you refer to a tax benefit for families as a binge), Andrew Cash, Sadia Groguhé and Peter Julian accused the minister of misleading Canadians on Syrian refugee resettlements (Alexander: We have over-fulfilled our promise). Chrystia Freeland asked about the “lost generation” of unemployed youth (Kenney: Our youth unemployment rate is lower than other developed countries and hey, apprenticeships!), Scott Brison asked a pair of questions about the reverse incentives for the EI tax credit (Kenney: We’re providing apprenticeship grants!) François Choquette and Megan Leslie asked about the protection of endangered species (Aglukkaq: We are addressing the backlog of years of Liberal inaction), and Leslie asked if the GHG emissions levels were just the department’s “opinion” (Aglukkaq: All major emitters must do their part), and Guy Caron asked about the a project approval (Rickford: We will only approve projects deemed safe for Canadians).

Round three saw questions on CBC Board of Director appointments, help for veterans, cuts to CBC’s French services in New Brunswick, meeting 2020 Copenhagen targets, home care for seniors, the Residential Schools issue in Labrador, Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations threatening Supply Management, underspending on embassy security, and the vacancies on SIRC.

Overall, it was a bit of a strange day in the House, and Harper was especially punchy in his responses to Justin Trudeau. While Harper could jibe and poke at Mulcair, he took swings at Trudeau and delivered non sequiturs about the Liberal record rather than answering questions. The difference was marked. As well, Jason Kenney continued to answer questions on income splitting on Joe Oliver’s behalf, despite Oliver being present, which is again curious.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Rickford for a dark grey tailored suit with a crisp white shirt and a purple tie and pocket square, and to Kellie Leitch for a dark grey pinstriped suit and skirt with a crisp white collared shirt. Style citations to out to Sadia Groguhé for a cream jacket with a brown and black splattered pattern with a brown turtleneck and dark grey trousers, and to Jonathan Genet-Jourdain for a taupe and grey windowpane suit with a white shirt, light grey sweater and a yellow tie.