QP: Minister Sajjan is very sorry

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On a rainy start to the start of the unofficial spring sitting of the House of Commons, all leaders were present for what was going to be a grumpy QP. Rona Ambrose led off first in French, decrying Harjit Sajjan’s apparent misstatement regarding his role in Afghanistan. Justin Trudeau responded that Sajjan took responsibility an apologised for his mistake, and that he still had full confidence in him. Ambrose asked again in English, and got the same response. Ambrose asked again and again, and then a third time, each adding new sins to the pile, but Trudeau’s response was virtually word-for-word the same every single time. Thomas Mulcair was up next, railing about the plans to change the Standing Orders on the basis of their electoral promise, and turning it into a jab about electoral reform. Trudeau was not baited, and praised their plans to improve the country’s democracy. Mulcair asked again in French, accusing the PM of a power grab, and Trudeau stuck to his points, insisting that they want to have a discussion with all MPs. Mulcair changed topics, insisted that Trudeau missed signs that Donald Trump was going to impose a softwood lumber tariff, and did he raise it with him during their meeting in Washington. Trudeau insisted that he brings it up every time they speak, and when Mulcair railed about the impact on the economy, and Trudeau assured him that they were taking the issue seriously.

https://twitter.com/journo_dale/status/859109871731527680

Round two, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Cheryl Gallant and John Brassard returned to the Sajjan question (Sajjan: I made a mistake and I am truly sorry for it). Mulcair was back up to air his own sanctimony on the Sajjan issue (Sajjan: I’m not here to talk about my service record, I’m here to own up to my mistakes and apologise), and then railed about marijuana decriminalisation (Wilson-Raybould: The current approach isn’t working, so we have introduced Bill C-45). James Bezan and Candice Bergen returned to the Sajjan apology (Sajjan: Ibid.) Mulcair was back up again, returned to marijuana decriminalisation in French (Goodale: This new law will do a better job than the existing law, and we will try to make this transition fair).

Round three saw questions on the influx of border crossers, Saudi Arabia being elected to the UN Women’s Council, Mulcair was up again on the Phoenix pay system (MacKinnon: We are taking it seriously with a ministerial working group), changes to the Standing Orders, the impact on forestry workers of the new tariffs, Mulcair was back up to rail that Trudeau wasn’t answering all of his questions, and a US takeover of a Quebec company.

Overall, this was some of Canadian politics at its worst, with unctuous sanctimony over the Sajjan issue choking out all of the available oxygen in the chamber, and worse, the kinds of rhetoric and framing of questions by the Conservatives of making Sajjan out to still be a soldier when he is in fact a politician. Civilian control of the military is a Thing, and to continually frame the minister of defence as though he we still serving is a problem. For Sajjan’s part, I will note that he did not stand up with a paper in hand to read a prepared apology time after time, as other ministers have done in the past, so I will give him minor credit for that, though he didn’t explain the what or why his mistake was. Meanwhile, Thomas Mulcair made a gambit today of asking all NDP questions himself in order to ensure that Trudeau answered him every time. When Trudeau didn’t outside of the leader’s round, Mulcair began railing about how this was a breach of the rules and tradition, which was eye-rolling and a reflection of a lame tactic. There is nothing to oblige the PM to answer any question he doesn’t want to. That’s partly our role in the media — to point these things out. Being all tactics and no strategy is not going to convince people that the rules of QP are broken.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Matt DeCourcey for a dark three three-piece suit with a light blue shirt and a purple tie, and to Mélanie Joly for a well tailored black suit and crew-neck top. Style citations go out to Cheryl Gallant for a peach-pink leather jacket, and to Robert Sopuck for a khaki-coloured jacket with a medium blue shirt and no tie.

One thought on “QP: Minister Sajjan is very sorry”

  1. I watched what I consider a flogging. The word sanctimonious hardly does justice to the awful spectacle put on by the opposition side. Lets get on with new rules and give Canada a parliament of which we can all be proud. I will be glad to see the door slam on Mulcair and Ambrose. Their act aided and abetted by the their stooges had worn thin.

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