The Commons was on Wednesday hours to give Conservatives the ability to go to the funeral for Gord Brown earlier in the day. Justin Trudeau was off to Saguenay, Scheer still at the funeral, and even Guy Caron, who is always present Monday to Thursday, was absent. Alain Rayes led off, and demanded that the government hold off on legalising marijuana until all police forces in Canada were equipped and trained to deal with drug-impaired driving. Catherine McKenna got up to reply, and instead brought up Ted Falk’s outburst yesterday about women not having the right to choose, and invited the opposition to recant that position and affirm a woman’s right to choose. Rayes claimed that the words weren’t spoken in the House — not true — and he repeated his question. McKenna repeated her own admonition, and Rayes tried a third time, and this time Ginette Petitpas Taylor responded that they were working with partners to ensure a responsible transition. Diane Finley repeated the question in English, and this time Ralph Goodale got up to remind her that drug-impaired driving is already an issue, not a future one, and that he’s glad they now support Bill C-46 and should encourage the Senate to pass it. Finley tried again, and Goodale elaborated that it’s already in the Criminal Code. Ruth Ellen Brosseau led for the NDP, accusing Kinder Morgan of having privileged access to the government. McKenna retreated to her usual platitudes about the environment and the economy going together, and when Brosseau tried a second time, Marc Garneau assured her that the Trans Mountain pipeline was in the national interest. Nathan Cullen got up to accuse Kinder Morgan lobbyists of attending Liberal fundraisers, to which McKenna reiterated her previous platitudes. When Cullen laid on further sanctimony, McKenna noted that it went through a full review, and it would go ahead.

Round two, and Shannon Stubbs demanded an apology for demanding an answer of Scheer while he was away to Gord Brown’s funeral (McKenna: Stand up for a woman’s right to choose), Blake Richards demanded ministerial travel and government advertising be curtailed in a pre-writ period (Brison: We already mandated no advertising 90-days before a fixed election date), the pre-registration of future voters (Brison: We are engaging future voters, and only the list of actual electors will be share by parties), Gérard Deltell repeated those same two questions in French (Brison: Same answers), and Pat Kelley worried about a statement Al Gore made about the oil sands (Rudd: We will get this pipeline built). Georgina Jolibois and Romeo Saganash asked about families who have not been able to speak to the MMIW inquiry (Bennett: I am discussing the request for an extension with stakeholders). Pierre Paul-Hus and Michelle Rempel worried about border-crossers being targeted by organised criminal gangs looking to exploit loopholes (Goodale: All Canadian laws are enforced and we take threats seriously; Cormier: We respect our international obligations), and Rempel asked for clarity if the PM had raised Uganda’s anti-homosexuality laws during a meeting with him (DeCourcey: We always raise this issue). Don Davies and Brigitte Sansoucy demanded criminal charges for drug companies related to their marketing practices around opioids (Petitpas Taylor: We are looking at all options).

Round three saw questions on the Arctic surf clam fishery (Beech: We included Indigenous communities), the gay blood ban (Petitpas Taylor: Read a response about paid plasma donors), cronyism with the CRA board (Lebouthillier: This was under the previous government, there are no problems now), Anbang’s takeover of BC seniors homes (Lametti: There was a review, and the commitments made are being met), Iran’s attack Israeli forces (DeCourcey: We condemn Iran’s actions), access to abortion (Petitpas Taylor: We are working with provinces to ensure access), Taiwan’s participation in the world health assembly (DeCourcey: We support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in multilateral forums, and are disappointed that they did not get an invitation to participate), legal cannabis as it relates to Quebec (Petitpas Taylor: We await the Senate’s report), and a group being denied charitable status (Lebouthillier: Look at all the good work that Quebec Liberals are doing). 

Overall, nobody covered themselves in glory today, with the Liberals being performative about abortion rights given Ted Falk’s outburst yesterday and the fact that it was March for Life on the Hill today, while the cries that it was unfair to demand that Scheer stand up and denounce Falk’s comments ring hollow considering how many times Scheer and company think they’re clever when they pretend the PM is present and refusing to answer when he’s away. You’re all childish. Meanwhile, we saw more instances of the government retreating to prepared platitudes when they didn’t have answers for questions (McKenna and Petitpas Taylor in particular today), and if the pattern holds, they’ll have actual responses by tomorrow. Or maybe when they get back from the constituency week.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to John Nater for a black suit with a lavender shirt and tie, and to Catherine McKenna for a grey and black wrap dress with a white jacket. Style citations go out to Anju Dhillon for a lavender blouse with a pussy bow and a black vest, and to Ramesh Sangha for a brown, blue and grey checked jacket with a white shirt and blue tie.