Wednesday, caucus day, and the benches were mostly full for the second day in a row that all leaders were present. It shouldn’t be noteworthy to say so, but apparently this is the way of things now. Thomas Mulcair led off, wondering about the role of Ray Novak in the Duffy Audit conspiracy — because we’re still on about that. Stephen Harper said that Mulcair’s reading of the court documents was creative, and retreated to the shield of the courts. Mulcair then demanded the statement that Mike Duffy allegedly signed to indicate he was a resident of PEI before he was sworn in. Harper said it was Duffy’s actions who were on trial, and it was before the courts. Mulair then moved to the issue of the slow response to the Deschamps Report on military sexual harassment, but Harper stated that the quote came from a letter written two months before the report was issued. Mulcair demanded action on the items in the report, and Harper insisted that the Chief of Defence Staff was acting on the recommendations, including an independent centre for reporting assault. Mulcair pivoted again, and demanded amendments to the budget to end the tax on feminine hygiene products. Harper insisted that Mulcair’s true purpose was to offer that tiny tax cut while planning to raise the GST. Justin Trudeau was up next, and immediately started plugging his plan, and wondered why the government wasn’t investing in the middle class. Harper responded by misconstruing Trudeau’s “fairness” comment from yesterday, and insisting that the Liberal plan doesn’t balance. Trudeau indicated he looked forward to raising that in the debate, and Harper continued to insist the Linerals want to raise taxes. Trudeau responded by insisting that fairness was helping those who need it, and asked his same question again in French. Harper repeated his talking points about what he claimed the Liberals would take away.

Round two, and Hélène Laverdière and Jack Harris asked if an agreement on forces had been reached with Iraq (Kenney: We work closely with our Iraqi counterparts), Harris and Élaine Michaud returned to the Deschamps Report (Kenney: They will implement all of the recommendations), Sadia Groguhé and Jinny Sims demanded more childcare spaces (Bergen: We give benefits to all families), and Mylène Freeman and Irene Mathyssen returned to the tax on feminine hygiene products (Leitch: We are focused on lowering taxes). Judy Foote and Scott Brison asked about partisan ads instead of funding student jobs (Poilievre: We need to make sure people sign up for income splitting), and Rodger Cuzner asked about the negotiation over public service sick pay (Clement: We have made fair and reasonable offers). Randall Garrison and Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked about the RCMP’s concerns about the timing of the release of the Ottawa shooter video (Blaney: We respect the operational independence of the RCMP), and Sylvain Chicoine and Peter Stoffer accused the government of burying a veterans bill (O’Toole: Get behind the budget implementation bill).

Round three saw questions on an agreement with a particular First Nation, support for a private member’s bill, demands for an apology for internal RCMP comments, the Deschamps Report, public service negotiations, vacancies on the copyright board, compensating military members when they lose money selling homes when reassigned, community gardens, and the under-staffing of the federally-appointed Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.

Overall, not a great day with plenty of more repetition, and boosterism of party platforms instead of holding the government to account. Thanks to the fixed election date, this is the way of things — leaders campaigning instead of showing up, and platform promises instead of accountability. It’s a degradation of Westminster-style democracy, and an insult to parliament. MPs need to grow up and take their jobs seriously.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Justin Trudeau for a tailored black suit with a crisp white shirt and a fuchsia patterned tie, and to Michelle Rempel for a black dress with white and red patterned panels with a black leather jacket. Style citations go out to Roxanne James for a busy blue, green and white patterned top, and to Randall Garrison for a tan suit jacket with black trousers, a pale yellow shirt and brown tie.