QP: Applauding and chiding Sweden

Posted on by

Despite it being caucus day, none of the major leaders were present in the Commons today, and I find myself at a loss as to why that would be the case. That left Denis Lebel to lead off, wondering if an announcement on softwood lumber was waiting for President Obama’s visit. David Lametti responded with the usual assurances that they are working hard on the file. After another round of the same, Jason Kenney stood up to attempt to shame the government over their decision to vote against their motion on declaring ISIS a genocide. Stéphane Dion noted that Sweden’s parliament defeated a similar irresponsible motion. Kenney tried again, and third time, but Dion wouldn’t bite, instead reading what a responsible motion would look like. Peter Julian led off for the NDP, decrying the delay in the court case between KPMG and the CRA — not that it’s actually the administrative responsibility of the government. Diane Lebouthillier noted that sometimes there are delays in getting evidence, and stated that the CRA is closing in on tax cheats. Julian asked again in English, got the same answer, and then Hélène Laverdière asked about a report on Afghan detainees, demanding a public inquiry. Harjit Sajjan responded that they take human rights seriously, and they would take any new allegations seriously. Laverdière demanded a public inquiry, but Sajjan wouldn’t bite.

Round two, and James Bezan and Pierre Paul-Hus demanded an open competition for new fighter jets (Sajjan: There is a capability gap, and we are making a decision), and Peter Van Loan was outraged that he government wasn’t going to commission commemorative medals for the sesquicentennial (Joly: We will be ensuring there are celebrations in every riding). Tracey Ramsay demanded that there be consultations with First Nations before going ahead with the TPP (Lametti: We are consulting, and more meetings are scheduled), and Charlie Angus worried about Health Canada not accepting prescriptions for First Nations patients on reserves (Khera: The programme covers over $1 billion of claims every year). Scott Reid and Alain Rayes gave the daily howls for a referendum (Monsef: Yay public servants, who we will rely on to help us reach out to Canadians), and Michelle Rempel asked about lifting the visa requirements on Mexico (Virani: We are undertaking the reviews to ensure that it is done properly). Sheila Malcolmson and Brigitte Sansoucy asked about mandatory gender-based analysis (Hajdu: I look forward to reading the report and responding in the House).

Round three saw questions on whether First Nations have a right to resource development vetoes (Carr: They have not been meaningfully consulted), First Nations financial transparency, credit card transaction fees, softwood lumber, appointing judges, outdated privacy laws, and tanker exclusions on the coast.

Overall, it was running on fumes today, which is completely out of character for a Wednesday — perhaps the fact that this is the third week in a row is exhausting them rather than making them feral (as it usually does by this time of year). Suffice to say, there were a lot of lame questions today, and we got to hear many of them twice — once in each official language — because that’s the way they roll, apparently, rather than moving on. That so many key ministers were out on a Wednesday was also a little concerning, considering that it is usually the day where you will find the most number of MPs and ministers present. As for Kenney’s lead questions, much as it was yesterday, the government didn’t really seem to be pushing back very hard on what the Conservatives were doing, and asking tough questions in return like whether they were wanted the government to invoke the 1948 treaty or not. These are things that should be raised, but aren’t, unfortunately.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Arif Virani for a tailored black suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark purple tie and pocket square, and to Kellie Leitch for a fitted black dress with half-sleeves. Style citations (and there were so many today) go out to Cheryl Gallant for a purple dress with a sparkly multicoloured jacket with a geometric pattern, and to Brian Masse for a navy suit with a rust coloured shirt and navy and burnt orange patterned tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Maryam Monsef for a lemon yellow dress with a black jacket and Brigitte Sansoucy for a bright yellow jacket with a orange-pink floral top and black skirt.