QP: What about those Syrian refugees?

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Despite it only being Thursday, and with the debate on the Iraq going on throughout the day, it was perhaps strange for none of the major leaders to be present. Sadly, it’s no longer surprising. That meant that Megan Leslie led off for the NDP, to which she asked about the inaction on asylum requests from Iraq and Syria. Chris Alexander insisted that they have hosted the largest number of resettled refugees from Iraq and Syria. Leslie pointed that the government only met their 2013 promises for Syrian refugees, and wanted the plans to ensure that the current promises will be kept on time. Alexander responded with bluster about goals having been fulfilled and promises made. Leslie asked why the mission extension motion doesn’t have any new money for refugees, but Alexander’s bluster in response increased in volume and exasperation. Jack Harris was up next, and noted that the government has admitted that the mission will likely take years, and that the one-year extension was only a first step. Jason Kenney insisted that the terms of the motion were clear based on the current number of forces deployed. When Harris asked about the legal justifications given, Rob Nicholson raised Iraq asking for international help. Stéphane Dion led for the Liberals, asking about the huge job cuts at CBC. Rick Dykstra responded that CBC was responsible for their own operations, and to put on programming that people want to watch. Ralph Goodale noted that the Alberta and Saskatchewan were able to table budgets despite oil price uncertainty, and wondered when the federal government would do. Andrew Saxton responded with some pro forma talking points about the low-tax agenda. When pressed, Saxton read praise for the government’s plans.

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Round two, and Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked if the government would support their motion to expand the debate on C-51 (Blaney: Your are behind the ball on the fight on terrorism), and the opposition of the Canadian Bar Association (MacKay: Judges arlready examine warrant applications every day), Randall Garrison raised the lack of a national de-radicalisation strategy (Blaney: Our witnesses say the bill is needed), Peggy Nash decried the audits of charities (Keddy: There is no political interference), and Guy Caron and Nathan Cullen asked when the budget would come (Lebel: Our priority is to create jobs and prosperity; Poilievre: You want to raise taxes). Emmanuel Dubourg and Scott Brison also asked when then budget would arrive (Poilievre: Budgets don’t balance themselves!) Christine Moore and Murray Rankin asked about Roy Romanov’s concerns about the healthcare system (Ambrose: We are working with the provinces on innovation), and Robert Chisholm and Robert Aubin asked about EI wait times (Poilievre: Most claims are processed in 28 days).

Round three saw questions on why the government won’t issue a new passport for Mohamed Fahmy (Yelich: We have a travel document ready for him when he can travel), the Asian Infrastructure Fund, CBC job cuts, unspent funds to help Ontario’s manufacturing sector, delayed infrastructure funding, a plane running off the runway at a regional airport, a needed airstrip for a remote First Nation, the humanitarian crisis in the region of Syria, the lack of federal contracts for Davie Shipyard, and credit card merchant fees.

Overall, it was a pretty baffling day. While the NDP had a strong start, the Liberals led with cuts to CBC — no doubt trying to appeal to their Quebec base, but still odd given the other, bigger issues on the table. Chris Alexander was huffy, while Stephen Blaney’s responses were increasingly disjointed from reality. The number of questions on the lack of a budget were also mounting, all of them met with non sequiturs from Pierre Poilievre. There are days why one wonders why we even bother, but it bears reminding that the government’s lack of adequate responses is something that people should bear in mind when it comes to holding them to account at the ballot box.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to James Bezan for a dark grey suit with a lavender shirt, a dark purple pocket square, and a lavender and dark purple striped tie, and to Rona Ambrose for a black suit with a white v-necked top. Style citations go out to Anne Quach for a black-with-white-striped turtleneck stitched into a purple long-sleeved top, and to  Rick Dykstra for a medium grey suit with a white blue shirt and a mottled blue and yellowish tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Hélène LeBlanc for a black suit and skirt with a bright yellow satin blouse.