QP: Waiting for harmonized regulations

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The last Wednesday QP of the year is one without any leaders present. The three main leaders were in Montreal for the Jean Béliveau funeral, while Elizabeth May remains at the climate conference in Lima, Peru. Megan Leslie led off, pointing out that Harper calling oil and gas regulations “crazy” flies in the face of his previous promises and wanted an apology for the government not doing their job. Colin Carrie responded by reading that the PM said that we wouldn’t take unilateral action but that we want to work collaboratively with the Americans. Leslie pressed about previous ministerial stats, and got another recitation of talking points about unilateral regulations. Leslie wondered when Harper had last spoken to President Obama about harmonised regulations, but Carrie instead read a talking point about how reckless the NDP are. Peter Julian was up next, and wondered if the government abandon their court case against veterans. Parm Gill said that he wouldn’t comment on a court case, and instead listed all of their recent initiatives. Julian noted Harper calling the New Veterans Charter a “Liberal programme” before reading his indictments against Julian Fantino. Gill insisted that the NDP were simply trying to protect “big government union jobs.” Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and noted the lapsed spending and cuts at Veterans Affairs, but noted the increase in ministerial staff and bonuses to managers. Gill read praise for their new initiatives. Goodale noted Rick Hillier’s call for a public inquiry into the treatment of veterans, but Gill insisted that they were following the recommendations of the Auditor General. Marc Garneau gave one last kick on the “back office” cuts, to which Gill insisted that they would make no apologies for eliminating bureaucracy.

Round two, and François Choquette, Mylène Freeman and Libby Davies asked about GHGs and air quality regulations in the States (Carrie: We reduced emissions!), Charlie Angus and Alexandre Boulerice concern trolled about “shadowy” ministerial staffers (Gill: More benefits and points of services than ever before!), Sylvain Chicoine and Irene Mathyssen asked about individual veterans cases (Gill: We brought in real services! You voted against them!), and Peter Stoffer asked about the social contract to veterans (Gill: We can’t comment on court cases). Judy Foote and Frank Valeriote listed the ills of Julian Fantino and demanded his resignation (Gill: We voted for these things, you voted against them), and Emmanuel Dubourg asked about the missing GHG regulations for oil and gas (Carrie: You want a carbon tax!) Andrew Cash and Sadia Groguhé asked about resettling Syrian refugees (Alexander: You don’t understand the difference between a resettled refugee and an asylum claimant), and Alain Giguère and Nathan Cullen asked about the EI tax credit (Oliver: Small business indicated that payroll taxes were most harmful for job creation).

Round three saw questions on prison deaths by those with mental health issues, the lack of action on the recommendations from the Ashley Smith report, the lack of action for women in the North on violence prevention programmes, the ballooning price tag for replacing the CF-18s, the CETA compensation programme for Newfoundland and Labrador, P-3 projects, work stopping at an Acadian heritage site, CRA going after an elderly man with dementia, and more veterans issues. The last could of usual questions were lost because of previous disruptions.

Overall, things were quite boisterous today, but it really was the Colin Carrie and Parm Gill show until the last third. Why have ministers answer questions, apparently? Meanwhile, one of the most egregious episodes of script adherence came from Peggy Nash who had to restart her question after it caused an uproar across the way. But rather than move on past her initial line, she repeated it. After another uproar, the Speaker warned her not to repeat it. But she did again. And then a fourth time. Seriously. Move on. Ask your question, don’t just start at the beginning of your script every time.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Rickford for a tailored black suit with a crisp white shirt and pocket square and a navy tie, and to Michelle Rempel for a half-sleeved black dress with brown panels on said sleeves. Style citations go out to Christine Moore for a light pink top, burgundy skirt and hot pink bolero jacket, and to Greg Kerr for a dark grey suit with a cranberry shirt and red tie.