QP: Questions on back office cuts

The last Monday of the year, and it was a bitterly cold one in Ottawa. Like many a Monday, none of the leaders were there, and even Elizabeth May was gone, off to the climate summit in Lima, Peru. Megan Leslie led off, and asked about cuts to services at Veterans Affairs that were more than just “back office” cuts. Julian Fantino insisted that the story was false, and read about reducing bureaucratic expense. Leslie twice asked about the reduction in staff for rail safety, to which Jeff Watson insisted that the number of inspectors was up, as was the number of auditors. David Christopherson shouted the veterans cuts question again, got the same robotic answer from Fantino, before a hollered demand for resignation, earning another robotic recitation. Dominic LeBlanc led for the Liberals, and asked about the government’s court arguments that there was no fundamental obligation to wounded veterans. Fantino robotically insisted that they were uploading services for veterans. Frank Valeriote listed off a litany of other cuts to veterans, but Fantino read a talking point about increases to front-line services. Valeriote asked a last question about VA managers getting bonuses in the light of cuts to services, but Fantino assured him that the decisions were always taken for the right reasons.

Round two, and Charlie Angus and Charmaine Borg asked about the comments made about increasing ATIP fees for journalists (Clement: The ATIP law is for all Canadians, and look at how many more requests have been filled), Mathieu Ravignat noted the PBO’s criticism of a lack of transparency from the government (Clement: We have published all of the estimates and public accounts online!), Robert Chisholm asked about some women on maternity leave being denied benefits (Kenney: You are mistaken about the nature of the case, it doesn’t deal with maternity benefits but parental benefits which are different), Jinny Sims and Sadia Groguhé asked about pay for Social Security Tribunal members who didn’t do any case work (Kenney: They are undertaking a complex training programme), and Sylvain Chicoine and Irene Mathyssen returned to the question of back office cuts at Veterans Affairs (Fantino: Look at our new programmes!) and Peter Stoffer asked about the obligation to veterans (Fantino: I shouldn’t infuse myself into this argument before the courts). Marc Garneau and Chrystia Freeland asked about the status of CETA (Fast: It was sad that the NDP leader was in France trying to torpedo the agreement), and Yvonne Jones asked about the government’s evasiveness over a CETA compensation package for Newfoundland and Labrador (Keddy: Yay CETA!) Peggy Nash and Élaine Michaud asked about the legal case for air strikes in Syria (Bezan: The operations in Iraq are well defined by the motion passed here), and Hélène Laverdière asked about taking in more Syrian refugees (Alexander: We have already made the biggest per capita commitment for Syrian and Iraqi refugees).

Round three saw questions on avoidable prison deaths, the constitutional questions of a private member’s bill, why the 80 individuals returned to Canada after suspected terrorist acts abroad haven’t been arrested, EI sick benefits during parental leave, the standards for brakes on trains, forcing scientists to find matching private funds for basic research, the NEB not requiring all documents to be in French, H5N2 Avian flu in the Fraser Valley, the Energy East pipeline, and funding for addictions.

Overall, it was a fairly quiet day — David Christopherson’s shouting aside — but we we again plagued by repetitive questions that didn’t actually drill down into the non-answers being given. We had yet more examples of full answers being given by the minister — in this case Jason Kenney — and yet duplicate questions were asked again. Way to go with the mindless recitation of scripts and the inability to think on your feet, MPs! Also, note Tony Clement’s “big numbers” approach to answering questions, rather than giving any numbers in context.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Megan Leslie for a black short-sleeved dress with grey and white panels, and to Blake Richards for a tailored black suit with a lavender checked shirt and a purple tie. Style citations go out to José Nunez-Melo for a tan suit with a cranberry shirt and a silver floral patterned tie, and to Lois Brown for a very eighties structured golden yellow and black top with wide shoulders and a chunky wooden necklace. Dishonourable mention goes out to Bal Gosal for a black suit with a medium yellow shirt and a black and yellow tie.