QP: The Wright connection

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Wednesday, caucus day, and everyone was present and ready to go. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking if the prime minister was planning an extension or expansion of the Iraq mission. Stephen Harper responded by first thanking the House for its support of the mission and then said that no decision had been made and he would let them know when it had. Mulcair asked again in French, and got the same response. Mulcair then switched to the topic of the Ethics Commissioner’s report on Diane Finley, and wondered about Nigel Wright’s role in the affair. Harper responded that she used her discretion while acting in good faith, and would take the advice of the Commissioner going forward. Mulcair pressed, but got the same response that she acted in good faith. Mulcair tried to push on the quote about Nigel Wright being asked to “sort out” the issue, but Harper tried to distance himself. Justin Trudeau was up next, and wanted the Prime Minister to explain to the half-million Muslims in the country how he found their faith to be “anti-women.” Harper responded by reading condemnations from Jewish groups about elements in Trudeau’s speech on Monday. Trudeau pointed out that Harper used to oppose Sihk’s wearing turbans in the RCMP, and Trudeau responded by reading some Muslim groups defending the no-niqabs-in-citizenship-ceremonies position. Trudeau then moved to Jason Kenney’s misleading photos on Twitter, to which Kenney doubled down, insisting we were in Iraq to protect women and girls from ISIS. So, no apology then.

Round two, and Ève Péclet and Charlie Angus went after Diane Finley some more (Finley: I take the commissioner’s recommendations), Mathieu Ravignat quoted a Patrick Brazeau tweet saying the government pulled running from his riding because the NDP won the seat (Poilievre: That centre did not merit a grant after an assessment), Irene Mathyssen and Nycole Turmel asked about Pamela Wallin’s expenses (Calandra: She was subject to an independent audit, and you should cut a cheque for your mailings), and Alexandre Boulerice gave some kitchen sink outrage (Calandra: You over over $122,000 for your inappropriate expenses). Judy Foote tried to tie in the Diane Finley situation with Mike Duffy by way of Nigel Wright (Finley: Neither I nor my family benefitted from this project), and John McCallum demanded an apology from John Williamson for his racist comments (Poilievre: He already apologized). Randall Garrison and Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked about more oversight for CSIS (Blaney: We need to keep an eye on terrorists), and Françoise Boivin asked about the serious backlog in the RCMP criminal record database (Blaney: Where were you when we invested $180 million in a criminal records database?)

Round three saw questions on regional development funds being lapsed, rail safety inspections, the ongoing trade deficit, wait times for immigrants’ spouses, regional airports in Quebec, the scourge of an English-only luggage stamp at an airport, community mail boxes, and the disability tax credit.

Overall, the confrontation between Trudeau and Harper was pretty lacklustre as Harper deflected with third-party statements to do his attacking and defending for him, while the NDP’s attempt to tie the PMO into the Diane Finley affair at the expense of her own weak sauce responses made it look like they were firing at the wrong target. Trudeau’s performance was strong today, for what it’s worth. Also, it was great to see Michelle Rempel, always a strong performer, actually get questions for a change. It’s too bad she has such an unexciting portfolio.

https://twitter.com/inklesspw/status/575730488670818304

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Justin Trudeau for a tailored navy suit with a light blue shirt and burgundy striped tie, and Judy Foote for a grey and black plaid jacket and skirt. Style citations go out to Paulina Ayala for a black and grey quasi-paisley patterned jacket with a peach tunic top and black trousers, and to Jean Rousseau for a grey and brown striped suit with a moss green shirt and a brown paisley tie.