Mere hours after the government took a beating from the Auditor General on the issue of veterans mental health, it was going to a tough day. That said, Thomas Mulcair was absent, and Megan Leslie led off, asking about the wait times posted in the report and tying it veterans suicides and the lapsed funding. Stephen Harper responded by selectively quoting the report about timely access, which conflated the programmes being reported on. Leslie responded with a different quote, and why the PM has not made it a personal priority. Harper reiterated the good portion of the report. Leslie moved onto the topic of the Nutrition North chapter and the lack of tracking of food prices in the North. Harper insisted that the food basket figure for Northerners had dropped by six percent. Peter Julian asked about the chapter on Library and Archives and the boondoggle of a $15 million system, to which Shelly Glover largely blamed issue on the previous head of the agency. Julian changed topics to the CBC story on the privacy breach at CRA, to which Kerry-Lynne Findlay assured him that measures were being taken, including notifying the Privacy Commissioner. Justin Trudeau was up for the Liberals, and returned to the veterans chapter of the report, and that a number of those veterans have waited seven years to see if they can even qualify for benefits. Harper reiterated the selective good portion of the conclusion, and said that the department would implement the recommendations to improve. Trudeau brought up veterans suicides and lapsed funding. Harper insisted that the lapse was because there was not enough uptake from veterans. Trudeau brought up that veteran’s wife who was trying to get more assistance for mental health, to which Harper again reiterated the selective quotes in French.

Round two, and Dennis Bevington and Romeo Sagansh returned to the Nutrition North report (Valcourt: The volume of healthy food being shipped has increased), Peggy Nash asked about the chapter on assistance to the auto sector (Moore: The auto sector is vital to Canada, this saved tens our thousands of jobs), Malcolm Allen demanded an apology to veterans (Nicholson: You never voted for an initiative to help veterans), Charlie Angus and Alexandre Boulerice concern trolled about the privacy breach at CRA (Findlay: Measures are being taken), Libby Davies asked about the thalidomide survivors (Ambrose: This was an incredible tragedy, there was a settlement in the 1990s and I have reached out to the organization). Frank Valeriote returned to the lack of data on veterans mental health as noted in the report (Nicholson: I was pleased with the announcement for the eight new operational stress injury clinics), and Marc Garneau followed up in French on the lack of feedback from veterans to assess the programme (Nicholson: Yay what we’ve announced). Françoise Boivin asked about the lack of announcement on the process to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court (MacKay: We are consulting our colleagues in Quebec), and the refusal of the minister to answer on the constitutionality of the CSIS bill at committee (MacKay: This bill is about protecting Canadians), Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked about the short timelines and refusal to hear from the Privacy Commissioner on the bill (Blaney: The bill is only seven pages long), and Randall Garrison returned to the constitutionality of the bill (Blaney: It’s constitutional! Really!)

Round three saw questions on child poverty, MasterCard moving into the debit card market with the fears of new merchant fees, the “neglect and deception” toward serving soldiers and veterans, the Francophonie summit and choice for the new chair, the lack of action on Nutrition North, oil tankers on the Atlantic coast, youth skills projects not getting off the ground, and the lack of support for seniors across the country.

Overall, it was a punchier day, but Mulcair’s absence was certainly noted on a day where he could have landed a few blows against the government. As it was, nobody really called out Harper very well on his selective use of quotes, or any other government minister’s general refusal to take any kind of responsibility for the problems outlined in the report. Instead, we got a bunch of pre-scripted questions and answers, and no real debate on what was in the report. One longs to have MPs take this exercise more seriously, and that we could get some real questions. (Bob Rae, come back!)

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Rona Ambrose for a snow leopard print dress with a black jacket, and to Bernard Trottier for a tailored navy suit with a white shirt and lavender tie. Style citations go out to habitual good dresser James Bezan for the unfortunate choice of a dark grey suit with an orange shirt, orange and blue tie, and bright blue pocket square, and to Cathy McLeod for a tan jacket with a black pattern across it with a black turtleneck.