QP: Taking Paul Martin’s name in vain

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In the wake of the Auditor General’s report, and with all of the leaders present, it looked like we might have a decent Question Period for a change. One could hope, anyway. Thomas Mulcair led off, saying that the AG considered the government bad managers, particularly around tax expenditures. Stephen Harper disputed the interpretation of the report, said they would report more, and then slammed the NDP regarding their own high tax plans. Mulcair tied those into the budget and the “giveaways to the wealthy few,” and wondered if Harper thought he was Paul Martin. Harper hit back, saying that if he was Paul Martin, the NDP would be supporting him, before giving praise to his budget measures. Mulcair mumbled something else about Paul Martin before changing the topping to a declaration Mike Duffy may or may not have signed before he was appointed. Harper ignored the question, and praised the TFSA changes. Mulcair quipped “Mike who?” before asking about the appointment of Caroyln Stewart Olsen to the Senate, to which Harper insisted that the Duffy issues were before the court. Mulcair then brought up the Senate invoking privilege to block the release of an internal audit — something the PM has nothing to do with. Harper repeated the response about the matter being before the courts. Justin Trudeau was up next, asking about the money spent on advertising rather than on young entrepreneurs. Harper insisted that an entrepreneurial group was pleased with measures in the budget, and said that the Liberals would take them away. Trudeau repeated it in French, with the twist of job creation for youth, and Harper asserted that the Liberals hate benefits and tax cuts. For his final question, Trudeau accused Harper had changed with his decision to pour so much money into advertising. Harper listed things he claimed the Liberals opposed (but not really).

Round two, and Hélène Laverdière and Wayne Marston asked about poor consular service offered to Canadians trapped in Nepal (Nicholson: It’s not the case and we don’t have an embassy there), Niki Ashton and Carol Hughes asked about the AG report on First Nations healthcare (Ambrose: That’s not what he said and we have increased funding), Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked about the AG report on offender release (Blaney: We share his perspective, and we have made a balance between punishment and access to rehabilitation), Jack Harris asked about the AG report on the Canadian Forces Ombudsman’s office (Kenney: We want to thank him for getting to the bottom of the abuse of this office), Robert Aubin asked about billions being taken out of the EI fund in the budget (Poilievre: The EI fund will balance in the medium term), and Nathan Cullen gave some kitchen sink outrage about the AG reports (Sorenson: Yay the budget). Arnold Chan asked about the lack of spending on advertising Canada as a tourism destination (Holder: We got returns from the investments we made in tourism), Kevin Lamoureux decried partisan advertising (Poilievre: Adscam!), and Scott Brison asked about raiding the contingency reserve to create an illusory surplus (Sorenson: The housing market is strong). Hoang Mai asked about budget cuts for transportation safety (Raitt: TSB found that airline to not be following the rules, and we have a Civil Aviation Action Plan™), Chris Charlton asked about Dean Del Mastro — and got rebuked by the Speaker, and Alexandre Boulerice tried again, and the Speaker called the next person on the list instead.

Round three saw questions on the lack of details on the Thalidomide victims compensation fund, the lack of standards for oil spill response, Mulcair got up to decry closure of the Kitislano Coast Guard station — his voice breaking from the animation (Raitt: We increased Coast Guard funding by 20 percent), the AG report on First Nations nursing stations, prisoner releases before rehabilitation was completed, the tax filing deadline confusion,  Canadians trapped in Nepal, marine safety, the lack of funding to combat extremism, and the forecast of the price of oil in the budget.

Overall, it was actually a good day, my optimism rewarded. There were some decent exchanges between Harper and Mulcair, and most of the government ministers were actually answering questions and not just delivering rote talking points (with some exceptions, of course). I was also happy to see the Speaker cracking down on out-for-bounds questions, which does not happen nearly often enough. We could certainly use far more QPs like this one, however by tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be back to the usual nonsense.

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Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Ed Fast for a dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a pink tie, and to Jinny Sims for a short-sleeved black dress with white and blue geometric patterning. Style citations go out to Isabelle Morin for a black short-sleeved top with a very busy multicoloured print across it, and to Jean Rousseau for a black suit with a navy shirt with small red polka dots, and an peach and silver paisley tie.