QP: Shoehorning in the Duffy issue

Posted on by

Despite it being a Tuesday, only two leaders were present — Thomas Mulcair, and Elizabeth May. Alas. Mulcair led off, asking about the destruction of records on the long-gun registry despite the Access to Information requests. Stephen Blaney insisted that the RCMP respects all laws and the will of parliament — which, you know, hadn’t been recorded because it was simply a bill at the time. Mulcair demanded to know who ordered the records deleted, and Blaney didn’t deviate. Mulcair tried to stretch it to the audit on Senate residencies, and Blaney insisted the NDP should be given a free vote on an upcoming gun bill. Mulcair insisted that the PM release the statement that Duffy apparently signed about his residency, to which Paul Calandra stood up and reminded the NDP about their satellite offices. Mulcair kept trying to tie the Duffy affair into things, and Calandra repeated his demanded that the NDP pay back the money from those offices. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, decrying the focus on TFSAs instead of focusing on those who need help. Pierre Poilievre listed a couple of scenarios where seniors use the accounts. Scott Brison hammered on the TFSAs and the PBO’s statements on them, and Joe Oliver actually answered, listing some figures about them as a kind of non sequitur. Brison noted the GIS payments affected by TFSAs, but Oliver quoted some people who support their moves.

Round two, and Ève Péclet and Charlie Angus concern trolled about PMO involvement in Senate audits (Calandra: You need to pay back for your satellite offices), Angus wondered about the state of Access to Information (Clement: We have responded to a record number of requests), Randall Garrison and Rosane Doré Lefebvre asked about SIRC being unable to oversee shared information (Blaney: Look at the budget increase for SIRC in the budget), Ruth Ellen Brosseau asked about protecting Supply Managment (Gill: We will protect Supply Management), and Laurin Liu and Don Davies asked about trade talks with Japan (Gill: We are negotiating a deal for TPP). Ted Hsu asked about muzzled government scientists (Clement: We are bargains fairly and reasonably), and Joyce Murray and Marc Garneau asked about the Deschamps Report and the harassment incident at RMC (Kenney: Command says there is zero tolerance, which is why they ordered the report). Élaine Michaud and Jack Harris asked about the lack of commitment to implement the Deschamps Report (Kenney: They are committed to implementing it), Mike Sullivan asked about an immigrant being disqualified for being deaf (Menegaskis: The mother was given an opportunity to respond to officials), and Lysane Blanchette-Lamote asked for a stay for Haitians seeking permanent residency in Quebec (Menegakis: We have a fair and generous system!)

Round three saw questions on the state of the Champlain Bridge — including a follow-up by Mulcair, Canada Post protests in Hamilton, the deaf immigration case, the “rigged” rules for the Canada 150 Infrastructure fund, the Port of Quebec expansion, closed border crossings, the deletion of those RCMP records, housing funding for Quebec, the NEB not translating pipeline documents into French, and limiting cabinet size.

Overall, it was a half-decent day, but it only took the NDP nearly two weeks to actually address the issue of those deleted records and the retroactive legisation. Where it broke down was Mulcair trying to shoehorn it into the ongoing ClusterDuff issue, as though they had anything to do with one another. It didn’t, and their attempts to try and make everything about the Senate and Duffy is tiresome when there are far more pressing issues that demand accountability.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Michelle Rempel for a white half-sleeved dress with black and grey patterns, and to Hoang Mai for a dark grey suit with a white shirt with a subtle striped pattern with a brown tie. Style citations go out to LaVar Payne for a tan suit with a medium blue shirt and a Dijon mustard tie, and to Chris Charlton for a fluorescent green jacket with a black top and trousers. Dishonourable mention goes out to Joyce Bateman for a lemon yellow jacket with a black top and trousers.