For caucus day, all of the leaders were present, and from the gallery at the back of the chamber, former Speaker Peter Milliken was keeping a jovial eye on the place. Rona Ambrose led off, mentioning her time in Fort McMurray and asking that infrastructure funding for the region be fast-tracked to help them get back on their feet. Trudeau thanked her for her leadership on the ground and noted that he formed an ad hoc cabinet committee for the rebuilding, in order to bring the whole of government to help. Ambrose changed topics and demanded a referendum on electoral reform. Trudeau raised the Fair Elections Act, and that people voted for change in the last election. Ambrose asked again in French, got much the same answer, and then Scott Reid took over to ask if the only way the government was going to hold a referendum was if they knew they could win. Trudeau repeated his commitment from the election that it was to have been the last election under First-Past-the-Post. Reid pressed, and Trudeau said that people wanted change after the last government’s behaviour with a majority. Thomas Mulcair got up next, and demanded that the committee allow all of the members to vote. Trudeau insisted that Canadians were clear when they voted for change in the election. Mulcair declared the fix to be in for preferential ballot which he insisted worked in their favour. Trudeau gave his same answer, and Mulcair moved onto a video about Saudi human rights abuses with relation to the LAVs. Trudeau reminded him that he promised not to break the contract, and that Mulcair did too. Mulcair gave a roaring repeat, and got as sharp of a rebuke from Trudeau.

Round two, and Blake Richards, Andrew Scheer and Alain Reyes returned to the demand for a referendum (Monsef: We are delivering on our commitment). Roméo Saganash and Charlie Angus asked about a government denying a new hearing for a Residential Schools victim (Jones: We are committed to procedural fairness). Blaine Calkins and Jacques Gourde returned to rat-packing about the Washington trip (LeBlanc: You apparently don’t know how this works because your government was never invited to a state dinner). Don Davies demanded more tamper-proof opioids (Philpott: This requires a comprehensive approach), and Brigitte Sansoucy asked about extra health fees in Quebec (Philpott: We are working with our partners to strengthen the Canada Health Act).

Round three saw questions on the Minister of Agriculture’s chief of staff’s conflict of interest, Supply Management, a monument to Afghan veterans, military members in Iraq profiled in the media, whether working with Indigenous groups give them a veto on resource development, farmed salmon, the Royal Military College at St. Jean, and free vote on the electoral reform committee.

Overall, it was another day that tested my patience. While the first half of QP being devoted entirely to the issue of the electoral reform committee announcement, it was less the repetition of the questions that got me today than it was the way that Maryam Monsef kept repeating the trite and saccharine pronouncement that it was a great day for democracy. That wasn’t an answer, not a particularly winning sentiment. Also, the continued rat-packing of the Washington trip continues to make no actual sense. There is no reason to keep asking these questions. They have been answered, and are not indicative of some big lapse on the government’s part. Give it a rest, already. You’re flogging a horse that was long ago dead and buried.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Maxime Bernier for a dark grey pinstriped suit with a white shirt and pocket square with a blue tie, and to Joyce Murray for a pink jacket with a white shirt and tan skirt. Style citations go out to Filomena Tassi for a busy floral top with a black pantsuit, and to Stéphane Lauzon for a bright blue jacket with a reddish pink shirt and black tie.