While the prime minister was off meeting with big city mayors before heading off to Ethiopia, Andrew Scheer was indeed present, and he led off and he read a bunch of complete lies about the supposed plan to “license” media, to which Steven Guilbeault, who reminded him that the panel recommendations specifically excluded news media and the government would not regulate news media. Scheer insisted that wasn’t good enough and the report somehow would impact free speech, and Guilbeault repeated his answer in English. Scheer tried again, and Guilbeault said that he would be happy to sit down with the opposition when they tabled a bill. Scheer then moved onto UNDRIP, and claimed it was an effective veto on energy projects, to which David Lametti said that they were moving ahead with legislation that would be co-developed with Indigenous people. Scheer tried to use the scare tactics of veto powers, and Lametti suggested that Scheer look at BC’s UNDRIP legislation and see that it is not a veto. Alain Therrien led off for the Bloc, and he railed about the Court Challenges Programme funding a challenge against Quebec’s “secularism” bill, for which Guilbeault said that the government doesn’t have any control over that funding, and that they Bloc should understand the notion of independence. Therrien asked if the government supported the challenge, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that the legislation is being challenged by Quebeckers and that the government was following with interest. Jagmeet Singh was up next for the NDP, and demanded changes to the federal bankruptcy laws to prioritise workers, to which Navdeep Bains said that they had made some commitments in the last budget. Singh then demanded to know how much had been spent on legal fees for the challenge around the First Nations compensation, to which David Lametti said that reports of legal fees are calculated according to a set formula.

Round two, and Alain Rayes asked after two Canadians with the novel coronavirus aboard a Japanese cruise ship (Champagne: Our officials are in contact), Garnett Genuis asked about a consular case in China regarding a dual national (Champagne: We provide all Canadians consular services), Bob Benzen, Steven Blaney and Glen Motz asked about seizure of fire arms legislation (Blair: Red flag laws save lives, and I have used them in the past; The current laws are of very little practical application). Alain Therrien and Marie-Hélène Gaudreau returned to the Court Challenges Programme funding (Guilbeault: Here are some past quotes from the Bloc in favour of the programme; Rodriguez: What you’re saying is incorrect and I’m as much of a Quebecker as you are). Michael Barrett railed a former Liberal MP having been found to be behind of ethics disclosures (Rodriguez: He’s no longer a member, so what does this have to do with the affairs of government?), Eric Duncan asked about local infrastructure spending (Monsef: We support rural projects), and Philip Lawrence asked about Saputo getting funding while making layoffs (Bibeau: We are looking into the situation). Heather McPherson asked about foreign aid (Gould: Hooray our feminist foreign policy), and Niki Ashton asked of a CP rail derailment in Saskatchewan (Garneau: I am aware of the situation, and I have put in a ministerial order to reduce the speed of trains carrying dangerous goods for the next 30 days until we can get an answer as to these recent derailments).

Round three saw questions on a New Brunswick smelter (Wilkinson: The project in question is provincial jurisdiction), the softwood lumber crisis in British Columbia (Freeland: I spoke with premier Horgan about a trip I’m taking to Washington tomorrow where softwood lumber will come up; the New NAFTA does give us access on softwood lumber), the Teck Frontier Mine (Wilkinson: We are going through the environmental assessment), the Court Challenges Programme (Rodriguez: We are following the case with interest), federal buildings being infested with bedbugs (Anand: We collaborated with the owners to attenuate the issues), Canada Post raising the price of stamps (Anand: We put a new vision for Canada a Post forward which puts service first), delays to work at CFB Esquimault (Anand: Our procurement plans are working), the global corruption index and suppliers on the integrity regime (Anand: We are modernising procurement processes), a ransomware attack for a defence supplier (Sajjan: We take this seriously, we look at cyber-protection and CSE is on the case), compassion fatigue and burnout among first responders as it regards opioids (Hajdu: I share the concern about the crisis, and I will work with all members to get measures, and I am proud of our record on harm reduction), and the RCMP enforcement action against Indigenous protesters in BC (Blair: We are committed to reconciliation, and we will protect the constitutional rights to protest).

Overall, Andrew Scheer’s descent into complete conspiracy theorism — with the heady whiff of bullshit to carry it along — continues apace, while the Bloc losing their minds over the Court Challenges Programme is nearly identical to the arguments made by the Conservatives before they killed the programme in 2006 (before they had to walk back on it two years later to continue funding some minority language rights challenges). Le plus ça change, and all of that. It seems that today the Conservatives decided to focus on Anita Anand as the minister they will pepper with for random questions, and Anand, still a rookie on the job, didn’t acquit herself very well. That said, given her impressive CV, I am holding out hope that her performance will improve immeasurably in the future. I would also give props to Marc Garneau for having a proper response to the CP derailment question and actions he has taken already, and not just a platitude.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to David Lametti for a navy suit and bow tie with a crisp white shirt, and to Marie-Hélène Gaudreau for a tailored black leather jacket over a black top and slacks. Style citations go out to Marie-Claude Bibeau for a pink jacket with large gold florals over a black mock-turtleneck, and to Marc Serré for a medium grey windowpane jacket with black slacks, a green shirt and no tie. Dishonourable mentions go out to Ginette Petitpas Taylor for a yellow jacket with a black turtleneck.