Back from Washington, but only briefly before he heads off for Europe, Justin Trudeau was present for QP, but not all leaders were. Rona Ambrose led off, worried about the cancellation of tax credits hurting families. Trudeau responded by reminding her that they lowered taxes and were giving bigger child benefit cheques, tax free, to those who need it. Ambrose listed a bunch of taxes (of dubious veracity), and Trudeau reiterated his tax cuts to date. Ambrose raised the issue of a cancelled tax break for troops in Kuwait, to which listed the many sins of the past government when it came to the military. Ambrose reiterated the question, but Trudeau didn’t change his answer. Ambrose finished off demanding transparency for the true costs of the carbon tax — as though it were a federal thing — and Trudeau reminded her that it was revenue neutral federally. Jenny Kwan led off for the NDP, decrying the fact that Trudeau hasn’t condemned Trump’s racist policies. Trudeau didn’t take the bait, talking about jobs and trade, and when Hélène Laverdière tried again in French, Trudeau said that they need to be respectful in their disagreement, but the focus was on jobs and trade. Alexandre Boulerice worried that Trudeau made university students cynical over electoral reform, but Trudeau didn’t apologize, saying that he was acting responsibly and making voting easier. Nathan Cullen demanded an apology in English, and Trudeau reminded him of the other issues in the last election other than electoral reform.

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The Conservatives apparently are in the midst of a sugar high, unable to keep quiet. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 14, 2017

Round two and Denis Lebel asked about balancing the budget (Morneau: The previous government had the lowest level of growth in eight decades) and that carbon tax report (McKenna: That was created in 2015), John Brassard called user fees taxes (Brison: We need transparency and oversight over user fees and the services they pay for) and tax credits for volunteer firefighters (Morneau: We are looking at all measures), and Gérard Deltell worried about tax credits for seniors and students (Morneau: Our plan to help families continues). Daniel Blakie asked about a PMO staffer returning to the lobbying sector (Chagger: The rules are clear and I have no doubt they’ll be respected), and Karine Trudel asked about the PM’s holiday (Chagger: He will answer all questions posed by the Ethics Commissioner). Karen Vecchio asked about carbon taxes (McKenna: Provinces working with that best for them), Bernard Généreux worried about regional offices (Bains: We are working for all Canadians), Shannon Stubbs asked about the relocation of the immigration processing centre in Edmonton (Hussen: My door is open but relocating to Edmonton will mean more jobs in Alberta). Romeo Saganash asked about the Sixties Scoop decision (Bennett: We will not appeal the judgment), and Sheila Malcolmson wanted faster action on missing and murdered Indigenous women (Bennett: We need to act on reforms to the system, and aren’t waiting or the report of the commission).

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Round three saw questions on the Ethics Commissioner’s investigation, “tweaks” to NAFTA, softwood lumber, mandatory minimum sentences, judicial vacancies, drinking water quality aboard Coast Guard vessels, a veteran’s disability benefits, and supply management.

Overall, it was a bit more of a boisterous day, and one suspects that the opposition benches were operating on a sugar high from scarfing back Valentines chocolates in the lobbies before they headed into the Commons. The Conservative tactics of asking about tax credits continued apace, but many of their questions came from a pretty dubious premise around the cancellation of credits as “raising taxes” on a number of things, while obviously not framing the questions to mention the offsets of the loss of those credits with the higher benefit payments. Why ask questions clearly when you can come from a disingenuous premise in order to make things sound more sinister than they are? There’s no breeding cynicism with those tactics…

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Arif Virani for a light grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and medium blue tie, and to and to Patty Hajdu for a well cut dark grey patterned jacket with a black top. Style citations go out to Anju Dhillon for a medium pink blouse with black lace shoulder panels, and to Jim Eglinski for a dark grey suit with a burnt sienna shirt and tie.