The first hybridized Senate QP having deemed to have been a success, the Upper Chamber was ready for a second round, and this time, the featured guest star would be foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion. When the Senate was called to order, and Dion brought onto the floor, Claude Carignan led off, asking about the relationship with Russia. Dion responded that Russia’s actions in Ukraine are unacceptable, that their assistance to the Assad regime was a problem, and that even at the height of the Cold War, we had diplomatic ties with the USSR to facilitate dialogue. Dion also noted the cooperation on the Arctic Council, and noted that cutting off relations won’t work.

Senator Cowan was up for the Senate Liberals, and asked about retired Senator Roméo Dallaire’s call for a child soldiers strategy to deal with ISIS. Dion said that among their comprehensive plans, education and countering propaganda were part of it, and that capacity building would help with the whole population with Iraq to prevent recruitment.

Senator Frum asked about Iran as a state-sponsor of terror, and the Canadian legislation that allows Canadians to sue them in Canadian court. Dion insisted that Canada will continue to consider Iran a state-sponsor of terror, and they would at the same time sponsor a resolution at the United Nations to call on Iran to improve its human rights, and noted that our not being in Iran now was not helping the situation.

Senator Batters recalled Stephen Harper’s approach to Vladimir Putin as opposed to Trudeau’s, and noted her dismay at the apparent abandonment of support for Ukraine. Dion noted that he was just in Ukraine, and that they supported Canada’s position and that they appreciate our support. He then posed the question about what the world would be like if everyone stopped dialogue.

Senator Jaffer first noted the issue of adoptees stranded in Congo, then asked about Canada’s former position of leadership on women, peace and security, and wondered what his plans were for ensuring that Syrian women were at the peace table. Dion first noted his work on the Congo situation, and then turned to the UN resolution, and promised a full written answer but noted for brevity’s sake that the Prime Minister was committed to gender equity.

Senator McCoy noted the mention in Dion’s mandate letter to prepare for the next North American leaders’ summit and preparation for a clean energy future. Dion noted it was odd that the former government refused to host such a meeting, but that it would happen this year though the location was still being negotiated. McCoy stood on a supplemental to ask on commitments made in Paris around clean tech innovation, but unfortunately rambled a bit in her delivery. Dion recalled the commitments made, and that it was part of the platform.

Senator Ngo asked about defending freedom of religion abroad, and wondered if the Office of Religious Freedom would be shuttered. Dion said that he appreciated the efforts of the current ambassador and hoped that he would continue to serve in the department, but wasn’t sure that the office was the best way to defend freedoms because the international conventions were that all rights were interrelated.

Senator Joyal asked about the sale of armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia and noted the human rights abuses in that country. Dion noted that they couldn’t rescind a contract, but noted that the sale of equipment would not change the human rights situation in that country one way or the other. Joyal pressed, and Dion assured him there would be a review of the guidelines.

Senator Martin asked about the Canadian reverend held in North Korea, and Dion noted the concerns and assured her that they were using all of the tools at their disposal to get him freed.

Senator Tardiff asked about commitment to culture and education in the mandate letter, and wondered about help for Francophone countries in those matters. Dion lamented that cultural diplomacy was dropped by the former government, and that he hoped to work with Minister Joly to re-create some of those programmes.

Senator Ataullahjan worried that dealing with ISIS would leave an opening for a worse group to follow in its wake, and wondered if there were plans to deal with its ideology. Dion agreed that the ideology was a problem, and noted in the plan there were plans to combat that on the ground. Dion added that they removed the CF-18s because the coalition had no shortage of bombers, but they had a huge shortage in training and capacity building, so the new mission would meet the needs in a more optimal way.

Overall, it was a good exchange of questions and answers, and most notably, unlike the Other Place, there was no repetition and far fewer scripts being read out. I still miss the more free-flowing questions and supplementals of Senate QP of old, but there was the opportunity for supplemental questions if necessary (though, as we noted, one of the instances in which it happened was a bit rambling), and hopefully some better use of that will be made in future episodes. That said, Senate QP remains the superior question period in the Parliament of Canada.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Dennis Dawson for a black suit with a light blue shirt and a red striped bow tie, and to Senator Denise Batters for a burgundy half-sleeved dress with a black panel down the right side. Style citations go out to Senator Pamela Wallin for a taupe long-sleeved top with a grey and pink floral shawl, and to Senator Dennis Patterson for a black suit with a white shirt and a brown tie with an overly busy green and white pattern.