Tuesday in a frigid Ottawa, and all of the leaders were present, ready to take on the day. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking about the role of our forces in Iraq, and the their refusal to turn over figures to the PBO about the costs of the mission. Stephen Harper said that they gave the costs — $122 million — and that the NDP hated any money going to the mission. Mulcair asked again in French, got much the same answer, and for the second supplemental, Mulcair changed topics to the definitions of activities that CSIS could disrupt in the new anti-terror legislation. Harper said that Canadians felt these measures were necessary. Mulcair tried again in English, and Harper accused Mulcair of conspiracy theory and black helicopters. Mulcair changed topics yet again, asking about Harper’s comments about Radio-Canada employees hating conservative values. Harper said that he believed the majority of Quebeckers agreed with him, and that the Orange Wave was over. Justin Trudeau was up, and ramped up the language on the questions, accusing the PM of attacking the ethics of CBC/Radio-Canada, to which Harper gave a non sequitur about high taxes and lax terrorism laws. Trudeau turned to the measles epidemic, and wondered why the government was not running any ads on the benefits of vaccination. Harper insisted that the minister of health was clear on the benefits of vaccines, and that vaccines were great.

Round two, and Rosane Doré Lefebvre wondered why environmentalists were targeted in the new anti-terror bill (Blaney: Peaceful protests are not covered by the bill), Randall Garrison wondered why they needed new powers about glorifying terrorism (Blaney: We are at war with jihadism), Irene Mathyssen asked about job creation (Poilievre: We have lifted thousands of children out of poverty; Bergen: Our plan gives power to parents), Sadia Groguhé asked about childcare (Bergen: You failed to talk to parents), and Peggy Nash and Pierre Dionne Labelle accused the government of protecting tax evaders (Findlay: We are strong on tax evaders, and CRA conducted hundreds of audits on those Swiss accounts). Chrystia Freeland asked about job creation (Sorensen: The future looks bright for young Canadians), Judy Sgro asked about municipal infrastructure (Lebel: Biggest programme in the history of the country!), and Kevin Lamoureux decried the expenditure on political advertising in the face of infrastructure (Lebel: Your leader likes selfies! Sponsorship scandal!). Sylvain Chicoine and John Rafferty asked about the backlog of reservist severance pay (Kenney: The department directed staff to process these and they will do so), Élaine Michaud asked about benefits for soldiers and veterans (Kenney: We increased funds for the Forces! Modern tools! We care!), and Peter Stoffer asked about front-line cuts at Veterans Affairs (O’Toole: There were not cuts).

Round three saw questions on a pulp trade dispute with China, the comments on Radio-Canada, the costs of the Iraq mission not being disclosed to the PBO, ministers who are not respecting bilingualism, compensation for Thalidomide survivors, underfunding Acadians in Nova Scotia, pipeline documents not being translated into French, and the “secret police” powers in the anti-terrorism bill.

Overall, it wasn’t a terribly brilliant day, with no particularly good exchanges, and a number of mystifying non-sequiturs in lieu of answers. I was surprised (but not really) that the opposition didn’t ask more detailed questions about the PBO’s figures, sticking to the transparency issue rather than what was provided. But hey, better to try and paint with a wide brush and try to feed a narrative rather than ask actual questions of accountability, right?

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Maxime Bernier for a chocolate brown suit with a crisp white shirt with a peach tie and pocket square, and to Rona Ambrose for a medium grey jacket and skirt with a light grey top. Style citations go out to Christine Moore for a bubblegum pink bolero jacket over a blue mottled dress over a pink top, and to Jean Rousseau for a chocolate brown suit with a bright yellow shirt and brown striped tie.