After yesterday’s terrible QP performance
all around, it remained to be seen if things could be improved today. Nycole
Turmel kicked it off by asking about Quebec, Ontario and BC’s objections to
paying for the prison costs resulting from the omnibus crime bill, and it was
Christian Paradis’s turn to be backup prime minister. His response? That they
had a strong mandate to get tough on crime. Jack Harris asked pretty much the
very same questions, but Vic Toews got to respond by talking about how they were
targeting criminals and not law-abiding farmers and duck hunters. Bob Rae used
his three questions to ask once more about the Conservative ideological
resistance to doing simple fixes like halting an increase in EI premiums, offering
refundable tax credits (Paradis: The path we’re on is working), and finished
off with another question about the new auditor general (Paradis: He was hired
based on merit!).
Round two started off much like yesterday:
Sylvain Chicoine was back to the issue of prison costs and Quebec’s refusal,
followed by Jasbir Sandhu on BC and Joe Comartin on Ontario. Vic Toews, klassy
fellow that he is, ridiculed Sandhu, saying that it made no sense that
they were calling for more police funds but didn’t want to throw people in jail once
they were charted, and then implying that Comartin was soft on crime because
he used to be a criminal defence attorney. (Do you know who else was a criminal
defence attorney? John Diefenbaker, whose legacy the Conservatives have been
touting of late.) Dennis Bevington asked about the privacy commissioner
dismissing the government lines on the long-gun registry records (Toews: You
failed your constituents); Françoise Boivin accused the government of ignoring
victims in pressing ahead for the omnibus crime bill (Toews: The NDP government
in Manitoba supports us); and Christine Moore and Matthew Kellway were back to
the usual F-35 questions (MacKay: If you oppose us, you’re ignoring the wishes
of the aerospace industry – seriously). Denis Coderre asked about the Champlain
Bridge’s safety (Paradis and Poilievre: We’ve made investments in maintenance
of the bridge), and Kirsty Duncan asked about ozone science (Kent: We’re
continuing to monitor in a cost-effective manner). Yvon Godin went back to the auditor general issue and the headhunters who were staffing the position
(Clement: He’s qualified and learning French), and Andrew Cash asked about the revelations
on the G20 detention centre (Toews: If you have specific complaints, take them
to the relevant authorities).
Round three saw a number of questions on
food-bank use, the prison agenda, long-gun registry data, the fact that the
hearings into the CBC have gone behind closed doors, contracts for dismantling
ships, and First Nations housing near James Bay.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Candice Hoeppner for a fitted grey top and the requisite string of pearls, and to Ted Menzies for a black jacket with a crisp white shirt and purple tie. Style
citations go out to Michelle Rempel for draping herself in what looked like a
campfire blanket the whole of QP (it’s seriously not that cold in the House), and
to Bal Gosal for a rather dull brown suit and tan shirt and tie. Dishonourable
mention goes to Kelly Block for a gold jacket with black trousers – gold, of
course, being a darker shade of yellow, and we all know how we feel about
yellow and black, right?
Why you can trust Xtra
