On a snowy day in the Nation’s Capital, we had a mere single major leader present for QP, that being Thomas Mulcair. Denis Lebel led off, railing about Chinese billionaires and ethics rules, which got some of the usual points from Dominic LeBlanc about fundraising rules, seeing that he was answering in the place of Bardish Chagger (who is up north on small business and tourism-related work). Lebel wonder if the forestry industry needed to fundraise for the party to get heard, and Lebel assured him that they were working on solutions for that sector. Lebel switched to English to re-ask his first question, got the same answer, and then Candice Bergen took a turn on the same topic. LeBlanc assured her that the rules were followed, and on the second go-around, LeBlanc started listed similar fundraisers held by Conservatives while they were in power. Thomas Mulcair was up next, raising the Canada 2020 story and their sudden attempt to create distance between themselves and the government. LeBlanc listed fundraisers that Mulcair attended, and they went for another round in English. Mulcair then raised the limitations that the new CPP enhancements would have against women raising children, and Scott Brison said that this was an issue that was being raised at the next meeting with provincial and territorial ministers. Mulcair went another round of the same, raising that Pierre Trudeau fixed this 40 years ago, and Brison reiterated his response with some added praise for the Canada Child Benefit.

Mulcair wonders why the Fisheries minister is answering, says it's "fishy." LeBlanc says it's because Mulcair is on a fishing expedition #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) November 24, 2016

Round two saw Sylvie Boucher, Luc Berthoud, Marilyn Gladu, and Blaine Calkins raising the Canada 2020 fundraising (LeBlanc: All rules have been followed and we are open and transparent; and that Trudeau Foundation donation was started talks in 2014; Lamoureux: Here’s some fundraisers that Stephen Harper attended). Guy Caron and Rachel Blaney railed about the planned Infrastructure Bank (Sohi: More than 980 projects have been approved, 600 of which are in communities of less than 100,000 people). John Brassard asked about federal payments to Kathleen Wynne’s trip to Israel (Brison: We consult with Canadians; Dion: Those are funds available to any government official for embassy services), and Pat Kelly worried the PM is travelling too much and ignoring Canadians (Bains: Look at the international investment we got) and changed mortgage rules (Champagne: Look at what we’re investing in). Georgina Jolibois asked about First Nations mental health funds (Philpott: We are tracking those needs), and Shiela Malcolmson asked about re-opening regional status of women offices (Dhillon: We are holding consultations).

Oh noes! The PM has to travel international for meetings.
You know, like it's his job to. Cripes. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) November 24, 2016

Round three saw questions on the fighter jet procurement announcement, the needs of Yazidi refugees, softwood lumber, energy projects, phasing out certain pesticides, regional economic ministers, out UN obligations both green and Indigenous, and the NCC decision on the Ottawa civic hospital.

And there's Pierre Poilievre, railing about the Civic Hospital decision. Joly thanks NCC for hard work, said open process. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) November 24, 2016

Overall, it was a rowdy and repetitive day, and it was So. Very. Tiresome. I also have absolutely no patience for the continued swipes that the PM is out of the country to attend international meetings because that comes with the job, and they can’t say that Stephen Harper never did that either because he did all the time, and his attendance record for QP was far more abysmal than Trudeau’s has been. It’s a cheap dig that makes them look not only petty, but also like rubes. Meanwhile, the heated exchange between Michelle Rempel and John McCallum over Yazidi refugees was also curious as it revolved around this figure of 50 refugees being selected. McCallum insists that the number is wrong, and Rempel says this came from a department official – but this recounting of the exchange where that came from makes it clear that they never got a complete answer regarding that number 50 and what its context was, and furthermore, I am curious about McCallum’s warning that Rempel making a public deal of this would harm their efforts in the region. It’s good to see some passion, but the circumstances here are curious indeed.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Michelle Rempel for a sleeveless black dress with ribbed leather panels along the sides, and to Frank Baylis for a tailored black suit with a pink shirt, tie and pocket square. Style citations go out to James Bezan for a black suit with an unfortunate off-white striped shirt and a brown striped tie and pocket square, and to Anju Dhillon for a very sparkly gold sequinned top with black slacks. Special mention goes out to Michel Picard for a very colourful purple jacket with a pink shirt and pocket square, light purple tie and indigo slacks.