The Senate was sitting early on a Friday, something they tend to do toward the end of any sitting in order to start passing the glut of legislation the Commons rushed through toward the end. Before things got off, there were a couple of brief tributes to the pending retirement of Senator Marjory LeBreton, as she turns 75 on July 4th.
LeBreton mentions her auto-mechanic husband, and his friends, her "Tim Horton's focus-group." So the "boycott" is going well. #SenCA
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
LeBreton thanks Harper for reaching out to her after the "Conservative family reunited" and inviting her into cabinet and to be Sen Leader.
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
LeBreton says Harper is not prone to "non-prime ministerial phoney photo-ops." Did irony die? #SenCA
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
Now she blames the media for misinterpreting her "lickspittle" comment. Okay then. #SenCA
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
LeBreton blames the Liberals on the internal economy committee when they held the majority for all of the Senate's woes. #SenCA
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
Yes, the government introduced nine separate pieces of legislation to reform the Senate, which were all unconstitutional. #SenCA
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 19, 2015
When Question Period started, Senator Grant Mitchell rose to raise the Prime Minister’s lack of alacrity with it considering that it has real security and defence implications, which Harper likes to tout his respect for. Answering for the government, Government Leader in the Senate, Claude Carignan, gave a bland talking point about the action being taken. Mitchell rose for a supplemental, noting that if the right wing in the U.S. is getting the urgency of the issue, why couldn’t the PM get the urgency either? Carignan said that it was not their intention to get involved in the domestic policy south of the border, and touted the “fair and ambitious” target for 2100. Mitchell rose again, BC’s strong economy with its carbon tax. Carignan noted that the government has reduced greenhouse gasses.
And that was it. Short and sweet.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Dennis Dawson for a navy jacket with a light blue shirt and a red bow tie, and to Senator Lillian Eva Dyck for a white jacket with a white top and off-white trousers. Style citations go out to Senator Rose-May Poirier for a fluorescent pink and grey leopard print overshirt with a black top and trousers, and to Senator Tobias Enverga for a dark brown suit with a dull light blue shirt and a black and blue striped tie.