QP: Thanks for your pre-arranged meeting

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Tuesday, and it was the first regular QP not attended by the new prime minister. Rona Ambrose led off, reading her thanks for Trudeau taking her advice and meeting with Denis Coderre — you know, the meeting he had already had planned before QP yesterday. Ambrose suggested that if he wanted to create other jobs, the government could permit the extension of the Toronto Island Airport, which would hopefully help Bombardier sell more jets. Marc Garneau responded by saying they took an undertaking to respect Toronto’s waterfront plans. Ambrose then raised the spectre of ISIS, and conflated the AQIM attack in Burkina Faso with the other conflict. Stephane Dion insisted that Canada was part of the fight against ISIS. Ambrose then called ISIS the greatest threat to women and GLBT rights, to which Sajjan insisted that ISIS was a threat that he was taking seriously. Gérard Deltell then repeated Ambrose’s first question with the spin of other Quebec industry, and got a response from Jim Carr about the importance of resource development, and took a a second question on Deltell in the same vein. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and demanded that the government not appeal the Human Rights Tribunal decision on First Nations child welfare, to which Jody Raybould-Wilson assured him that they would reform the child welfare system, but did leave the door open for judicial review. Mulcair then turned to the issue of existing pipeline approval processes, to which Catherine McKenna spoke about rebuilding trust with stakeholders. Mulcair demanded that the assessments be redone, but McKenna’s answer didn’t waver. Mulcair thundered about broken promises before pivoting to his scripted question about EI eligibility, to which MaryAnn Mihychuk assured him that they were conducting a comprehensive review.

Round two, and James Bezan demanded action against ISIS under the Responsibility to Protect (Sajjan: We are determining our mission), Tony Clement repeated Russian media statements and accused that Trudeau was cozying up to Putin (Dion: We support Ukraine and are engaging Russia on it), and asked about reports that Bombardier wants to do business in Iran when sanctions are lifted (Dion: The UN has ensured they are not getting nuclear weapons), Peter Kent demanded the government abandon plans to normalise relations with Iran (Dion: Our not being there is not good for our strategic interests), and Kent howled about not denouncing Hamas (Dion: Canada is a friend of Israel). Romeo Saganash asked about the Tribunal decision (Raybould-Wilson: We are reviewing the decision, but I don’t anticipate a need to review it), and Charlie Angus demanded the President of the Treasury Board start increasing funding (Bennett: We will right these wrongs). Lisa Raitt asked household debt (Champagne: We are taking steps with the housing sector) and demanded committee pre-budget consultations (Champagne: We have been engaging in consultations from coast to coast), Phil McColeman worried about small business tax increases (Champagne: Talking points about election promises), and noted that they left a surplus (Champagne: No, you left a deficit). Guy Caron asked about the Environment Commissioner’s report on the NEB (Carr: I will ensure her recommendations are followed), and Nathan Cullen asked the same (Carr: Same answer).

Round three saw questions on pipeline approvals, home mail delivery, rail safety, Senate reform, electoral reform, the conflict of interest with the Agriculture Minister’s chief-of-staff, a shipwreck status, support for the automotive sector, and opposition to Energy East in Quebec.

Overall, it was a well-behaved day, but some of the Conservative questions early on were incredulous in what they alleged, particularly when they put a particular gloss on their own record that didn’t match reality. I have to say I was a bit put out by the sanctimonious tone of the Speaker in his admonition about “too much noise” in the Chamber, and the same with Elizabeth May’s point of order about heckling at the end. The place was extraordinarily less raucous than it has been much of the time, and honestly, there needs to be some vigour in the debate. Now, if he would do something about the constant ovations, that would be something, but what little heckling there was today was certainly not the gong show that this place can devolve into, so the speech about ideas over applause was a bit much.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Steven MacKinnon for a dark grey suit with a pink shirt and a darker pink patterned tie, and to Melanie Jolie for a well-cut black suit and a cream top. Style citations go out to Anita Vendenbeld for a multi-hued pastel and black striped jacket with three-quarter sleeves, and to Larry Miller for a dark grey suit with a bright red shirt and striped tie.

2 thoughts on “QP: Thanks for your pre-arranged meeting”

  1. Rona Ambrose defender of LGBT rights? That is a new thing. Grasping at straws and hoping something will stick. Pretty sad spectacle.

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