While Justin Trudeau was in town, he did not show up for QP today, but Andrew Scheer was present, and he led off, reading some wounded lines about the prime minister’s decision to sue him for libel, and demanded to know when the court action would begin — as though it were up to them to set a court date. Bardish Chagger reminded him that his defamatory words have consequences, and noted that he didn’t repeat those same statements in his press conference, and wondered if he deleted any of his tweets. Scheer said he hasn’t, proclaimed that he stands behind his words, and then in French, repeated his question. Chagger, in French, pointed out that he did delete defamatory tweets and reposted edited versions on a number of occasions. Scheer listed times when he claimed the prime minister didn’t tell the truth, and Chagger again pointed out to his tendency to delete and editing misleading statements over Twitter. Scheer tried one last time, and this time, Chagger pulled out the fact that Scheer didn’t delete any tweets from the rally he attended with Faith Goldy. Scheer called it a despicable attempt at deflecting from the scandal, and said they denounce hateful ideologies while standing up for energy workers. (Err, except they haven’t, and haven’t explicitly called out the rhetoric at that rally, and he’s personally contributed to pushing the UN conspiracy theories that fester in that movement. But hey, he says he’s denounced it). Chagger repeated that Scheer changed statements when he was served notice, but wouldn’t denounce Goldy. Jagmeet Singh was up next, and demanded that the government promise not to interfere with the decisions of the top prosecutor, and Chagger reminded him that the committee looked into this, and there was no possibility of political interference. Singh listed the demands from the legal community for investigations and demanded a public inquiry, and Chagger reminded him that the committee did its work. Singh then demanded action against plastic pollution in French, and Catherine McKenna listed actions that they have taken to date. Singh repeated the question in English, and got the same response.

Round two, and Shannon Stubbs, Alain Rayes, and Mark Strahl demanded the court date (Chagger: We won’t stand idly by when you mislead Canadians; The first step is putting you on notice, and the process has begun). Charlie Angus raised the leak of the Supreme Court applicants (Lametti: The process is solid and merit-based, and we are troubled by the leak and will ensure it won’t happen again). Pierre Paul-Hus and Peter Kent continued to gather media clips about the libel suit notice (Chagger: Everything has been public with the committee, but you continue to mislead people deliberately; You deleted and edited tweets when were served notice and yet you won’t delete your tweets about the rally with Faith Goldy). Karine Trudel and Tracey Ramsey demanded action on steel and aluminium tariffs (Freeland: These tariffs are unjustified, and both Democrats and Republicans have been calling on their removal; Bains: We announced safeguards as well as millions of dollars in compensation).

Round three saw yet more questions on the libel suit (Chagger: All the facts are public, and when notice was served, he deleted and edited tweets; Bibeau: I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to say that we’re working hard on the canola file), the National Arts Centre not getting funding for Indigenous theatre programming (Anandasangaree: We’re investing in the arts!), emergency measures to protect Canadian culture (Fillmore: We are funding the arts, and created a panel to modernise the Broadcasting Act), veterans not being able to split some income with Therrien spouses (Lauzon: We are taking this file seriously and will fairly compensate all veterans), Quebec’s “secularism” bill (Lametti: It is not up to the state to tell people what they can’t wear), and Canadian veterans from Rwanda going unrecognised and requiring a medal (Sajjan: The work that they did was very important, and recognition is part of our defence policy).

Overall, it was a hugely repetitive day as the Conservatives were concerned with gathering clips of them looking tough and defiant in the face of a libel suit so that they could post them all over social media, over and over, and it was so boring. That said, it was a bit unusual for Bardish Chagger to lay a trap for Andrew Scheer and then repeatedly call him out on it, which doesn’t often happen, and the fact that she went hard after him for the Faith Goldy appearance was a preview of the kind of issue that the Liberals will undoubtedly want to fight the election over. Regardless, For those of us who have repeatedly pointed out Scheer’s record of dishonest rhetoric, it was interesting to see that catching up with him a bit today with Chagger pointing out the times he deleted and reposted edited tweets after he insisted that he hadn’t and that he stood by his words. I suspect we’ll see variations of this exchange over and over, and over again over the coming week(s).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Bardish Chagger for an orange and gold salwar kameez (to celebrate Khala), and to Frank Baylis for a dark grey suit with a light pink shirt and a dark pink tie. Style citations go out to Marc Serré for a black suit with a pale green shirt and a yellow tie, and to Mélanie Joly for a beige blouse with black trim and embroidered patterns, with black slacks and a forest green jacket. Dishonourable mention goes out to Sukh Dhaliwal for a black suit with a white shirt and a yellow turban, pocket square and tie, and go Jagmeet Singh for a black three-piece suit and tie with a white shirt and yellow turban.