QP: A Multi-Pronged Action Plan™!

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Despite it being a Thursday, the leaders of the two main opposition parties were absent for no apparently reason. Way to show up and do your job guys — especially because the Prime Minister was in attendance. Megan Leslie led off asking about the powers listed in C-51, to which Harper boasted about our existing strong oversight, and accused the NDP of attacking our intelligence agencies. Leslie noted that it has been four years since better oversight was promised and not delivered, but Harper largely repeated his answer. Leslie turned to the topic of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and calling a national inquiry, to which Harper touted their “multi-pronged Action Plan™.” Romeo Saganash asked the same again, to which Kellie Leitch responded about the actions they’re taken, and then Saganash noted that C-51 was unconstitutional because it affects the rights of First Nations to protest. Stephen Blaney stated that peaceful dissent was allowed, and they needed to tackle terrorism. Marc Garneau led off for the Liberals, and noted the poor job market. Harper stood up to insist that their Action Plan™ gets results. Ralph Goodale gave it another go in English, insisting that the government has been a failure when it comes to jobs, to which Harper touted their job creation record. Goodale listed off more damning statements about the job market, but Harper insisted that the vast majority of jobs created were full-time, good paying and in the private sector, while Goodale’s budgets were followed by police investigations.

Round two, and Randall Garrison wondered why the government was trying to ram C-51 through committee (Blaney: Why are you obstructing the process?), and why they weren’t focusing more on counter-radicalisation (Blaney: Our bill will work upstream), Rosane Doré Lefebvre raised the issue of youths heading to Syria and why not have a plan to de-radicalise them (Blaney: The RCMP meets with communities), Nycole Turmel and Jinny Sims asked about the backlog at the Social Security Tribunal (Poilievre: We have a process in place), Nathan Cullen gave some kitchen sink outrage about tax cheats (Findlay: We have zero tolerance for tax cheats), and Pierre Dionne Labelle asked about the lack of staff to deal with tax evasion files (Findlay: Same answer). Carolyn Bennett asked about the roundtable on missing and murdered Aboriginal women (Leitch: These families want action not reports), and Geoff Regan asked a pair of questions on the lack of ability to get Keystone XL approved, especially with a price on carbon (Rickford: This is an internal American dispute). Murray Rankin and Christine Moore asked about cuts to the Public Health Agency budget (Ambrose: Our spending on health security has nearly doubled since 2010), and Moore and Claude Gravelle asked about the mining sector in Canada (Rickford: You vote against our initiatives to help mining).

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Round three saw questions on the Canadian Forces captain not getting medical expenses for a botched operation, Amnesty International’s condemnation about the treatment of Aboriginals, tax evasion, the lack of risk training for young farmers, the possible closure of the Atlantic Treatment Centre for mentally ill offenders, funding for vaccination awareness, Coast Guard closures, why there were no major contracts being awarded to the Davie Shipyard, and changes to Canada Post.

Overall, the only good exchanges were those between Goodale and the PM, though Harper’s final zing was in fact a broad smear. Such is the state of debate these days. It is too bad, however, that neither Trudeau nor Mulcair could be bothered to show up on a Thursday, especially as it was a day that the PM was present (unusual though it was, but he was making up for missing yesterday, and we all know that two days a week seems to be his limit). That neither opposition leader could be bothered to show up to hold him to account is a little bit embarrassing.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Maxime Bernier for a chocolate three-piece suit with a crisp white shirt and a peach tie and pocket square, and to Rona Ambrose for a grey belted dress with a black jacket. Style citations go out to Isabelle Morin for a leopard print jacket with a brown pleated skirt, and to Bal Gosal for a black suit with a custard yellow shirt and tie.