QP: Referenda and farm protests

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After the machinations around the government’s climb down on their electoral reform committee and the subsequent Conservative apoplexy, it was likely to be a more tense day in QP. Here was my prediction:

Rona Ambrose led off by quoting Trudeau from a press conference earlier this morning in saying that referenda are often used to stop things, and declared it arrogant. Maryam Monsef said the time was to move past process and get onto the actual debate. Ambrose said that the NDP and the Liberals were taking the right to determine their voting system away from Canadians. Monsef praised their cooperation and doing politics differently. Ambrose repeated the question, and Monsef praised the work of the committee in engaging Canadians and bringing recommendations back to the Commons. Alain Rayes was up next, decrying the “backroom deal” with the NDP (which doesn’t appear to have been a deal considering the NDP seemed genuinely surprised that the government climbed down), and got the same lines from Monsef. Rayes gave one more demand for a referendum, and got much the same answer. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet noted the farm protest happening outside, and demanded action on the issue of diafiltered milk. Jean-Claude Poissant noted that the government supported Supply Management and would protect it. After another identical round from Boutin-Sweet, Tracey Ramsay decried the TPP while asking the very same questions about diafiltered milk. Poissant gave the same assurances of support for Supply Management.

Round two started with yet more howls for a referendum by Phil McColeman and Mike Lake objecting to the use of people with disabilities as an excuse not to hold one (Monsef: We have heard that the very act of voting is a barrier), while Blake Richards and Scott Reid bellyached some more (Monsef: Listening to Canadians!) Anne Quach and Karine Trudel repeated their condemnation of diafiltered milk imports (Poissant: We support Supply Management). Shannon Stubbs and Blaine Calkins rat-packed about the infrastructure minister’s office renovations (Rodriguez: There was no ministry office, so we had to set it up), and Peter Kent worried about the Chinese foreign minister chastising a journalist (Goldsmith-Jones: We raise human rights issues with China; Alghabra: You tell us not to China then say we’re not talking enough to China). Hélène Laverdière then repeated the same question (Goldsmith-Jones: We are engaging on all areas including human rights), before asking about human rights violations in Saudi Arabia (Goldsmith-Jones: We have some of the strongest export controls in the world).

Round three saw questions on any potential conflicts of interest with Dominic LeBlanc and Irving given his new role with the Coast Guard, the disaster mitigation programme, infrastructure funding, lawsuits against veterans, interprovincial trade, Coast Guard vessels, containing a pig virus, and yet more questions on diafiltered milk.

Overall, the lack of applause on the Liberal side carried forward (with odd slips here and there), and it continued with turning the tone into something a little more serious, and made the opposition applause – and constant ovations – much more self-congratulatory and hollow when not all of the parties engaged in it. While it seems that some Liberals need a little more time in getting the hang of not clapping constantly, this is a very good start and I remain hopeful that this will catch on. Otherwise, my prediction was right, that the first half of the questions from the Conservatives were exactly on the referendum issue, but that the NDP kept repeating the diafilitered milk questions was a bit unexpected until one remembered that there was the farmer protest outside the Hill. Suffice to say, the constantly repeated questions – and especially repeated preambles – continues to waste questions, and drag down QP when there seem to be tangible efforts to make it more serious.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Julia Dzerowicz for a pink collared shirt with rolled sleeves and black trousers, and to Bill Morneau for a nicely tailored navy suit with a crisp white shirt and a purple tie. Style citations go out to Mark Holland for a black suit with a pink shirt and a white to with fluorescent blue stripes, and to Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet for a dark slate grey jacket with a bright orange top and black trousers.