QP: Triumphalism and playing catch-up

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In the wake of the Alberta election, there was a giddiness among the NDP benches — never mind that they had nothing to do with what happened there. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking about the Deschamps Report and the lack of action on eight of the 10 recommendations. Jason Kenney refuted the questions, and said they were working on implementation. Mulcair brought up a recent case of an Inuk soldier who was in the media, and Kenney insisted that they were taking action. Mulcair then changed to Mike Duffy’s appointment and the declaration Duffy allegedly signed before being sworn in. Paul Calandra turned it around on the satellite offices that the NDP owe for. Mulcair demanded the document, and Calandra offered the same response. Mulcair tried once more in French, bringing in the Nigel Wright “good to go” claim. Calandra was undaunted in his talking point. Justin Trudeau stood up for the Liberals, asking about tax breaks for the wealthy and asked if they would cancel those tax breaks. Pierre Poilievre insisted that Trudeau was going to raise taxes. Trudeau rephrased it, and Poilievre insisted that Trudeau’s platform won’t balance, and insisted Trudeau would raise taxes. One last round in French was no more edifying.

Round two, and Peggy Nash and Guy Caron denounced income splitting (Poilievre: Yay our child tax plan), Nathan Cullen asked some roundabout question about resource development (Rickford: Yay our Responsible Resource Development™ plan), Niki Ashton invoked Rachel Notley to insist the government sign a private member’s bill on Indigneous Rights (Valcourt: Why do you want legislation that’s less than the Charter?), and Rosane Doré Lefebvre and Randall Garrison demanded C-51 be defeated (Blaney: Terrorists!). Emmanuel Dubourg wondered if the government agreed with a new upper tax bracket (Poilievre: You want to raise taxes), and Ralph Goodale again offered boosterism for their platform (Poilievre: Tax hikes!). Élaine Michaud and Jack Harris asked about this special forces images being released (Kenney: We took down the images when we were alerted), and then Harris and Mylène Freeman returned to scripted questions on the Dechamps Report (Kenney: They are committed to implementing all ten recommendations).

Round three saw questions on the EI Fund, the Quebec City bridge — which Mulcair himself added his voice to (Lebel: Your plan will never reach a vote before the election), seniors using food banks, the special forces images, the CETA deal stalling, Coast Guard services, Canadians in Nepal, and an athlete with Autism.

Overall, it wasn’t an edifying day, as Mulcair played catch-up with issues from a week ago, and most of the second round was eaten up with his MPs trying to wedge in Alberta politics to their questions, which became tortured and nonsensical. They explicitly had nothing to do with that election, but want all of the reflected glory, it seems. The Liberals were little better, spending the first two rounds bolstering their party platform rather than doing their actual job of holding the government to account. It’s their job. They should do it.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Justin Trudeau for a dark grey tailored suit with a crisp white shirt and a silver-grey tie, and to Judy Foote for a dark grey jacket and skirt. Style citations go out to Patricia Davidson for a green, yellow and blue plaid top, and to Christian Paradis for a black suit with a red checked shirt and a black, red and orange diamond patterned tie.