Tuesday in the Commons, and all of the leaders were present, making it a question of whether everyone would be tiptoeing around the friendly fire question again. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking why Kurdish forces weren’t aware of the presence of Canadian troops on the front lines. Stephen Harper responded that it was not a combat situation but friendly fire, and that the spoke with the Iraqi prime minister about it, while investigations were ongoing. Mulcair pointed out that previous friendly fire deaths on a training mission were counted as combat deaths, and why not this incident. Harper noted that there are risks but they were not expecting to come under fire, and noted that it was better we fight them over there than over here. Mulcair tried to insist in a pair of questions why Canadian soldiers were on the front line, which wasn’t was voted on in Parliament, and Harper retorted that Parliament voted for it because it was the right thing to do. Mulcair repeated words that Harper said prior to the vote to prove his point, but Harper claimed there were “falsehoods” in that question and noted that the forces were acting according to their guidelines. Justin Trudeau was up next, and noted some of Jason Kenney’s many Twitter gaffes of late — including when he tweeted about the death of Nathan Cirillo — and wondered if he had been repremanded. Harper insisted that Kenney had taken over a difficult portfolio, and was doing well. Trudeau retorted about the recent statements by Chris Alexander and John Williamson dividing Canadians when they should be dealing with the economy — and when would the budget be tabled. Harper noted that Trudeau was playing games of his own with division. Trudeau repeated the question in French, and Harper went after him for pandering to the “anti-woman” culture that gives rise to the niqab.

Round two, and Mulcair was back up, asking about Senator Pamela Wallin’s expenses (Harper: Everything was going to be examined, we kicked her out of caucus and she is going to face the consequences), and the finding by the Ethics Commissioner about Diane Finley breaking the rules (Harper: There are no charges that the Conservative Party took money from Pamela Wallin unlike you guys; Finley acted in good faith but we will act on the recommendations in the report), and Ève Péclet and Charlie Angus asked repeatedly about Finley’s actions (Finley: I believed this project was a in the public interst, and I accept the findings of the Commissioner). Emmanuel Dubourg and Chrystia Freeland asked about the lack of data needed to adjust the housing market (Oliver: We have taken steps to stabilize the housing market over the long term), and Adam Vaughan about the possibility of a housing collapse in places like Calgary (Oliver: We continue to monitor the market very closely). Jack Harris and Élaine Michaud asked about the scathing report into the death of Cpl Langridge (Bezan: We thank the Commision for their work, and the department is reviewing the recommendations), and Sylvian Chicoine and Peter Stoffer asked about the changes to disabled veterans pensions (O’Toole: They will keep their allowances and I am looking to streamline the system).

Round three saw questions on the rights of indigenous women, recent train derailments, the Langridge report, the government’s targeting of Muslim women, a Newfoundland ferry trapped in the ice, shipping delays at the Port of Halifax, the report about Finley, asbestos in government buildings, protecting the auto industry from tougher GHG emissions, and income splitting.

Overall, it was good to see some actual exchanges between Harper and Mulcair of some substance, but when Mulcair started asking questions about Pamela Wallin, he veered outside of the domain of government business, and when the NDP tried to hammer Diane Finley on the Ethics Commissioner’s report, they focused on building a case about a PMO conspiracy rather than hammering her on her inadequate response. That was up to the Liberal ethics critic, Scott Simms, who pointed out the discrepancies. It shows just how ridiculous the scripting is between the NDP and Conservatives, and that there are at least a couple of Liberals capable of thinking on their feet.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Michelle Rempel for a black leather jacket over a grey dress, and to Blaine Calkins for a grey suit and white shirt with a pink tie. Style citation goes out to Mike Sullivan for a dark grey suit with a bright teal shirt and a teal paisley tie, and to Diane Finley for a black blouse with white polka dots and a bow at the neckline, with a black suit and skirt.