The excesses of Monday’s question period
nonsense were curtailed in light of adult supervision – the presence of Harper –
and we got a few slightly different talking points than before. Nycole Turmel
again kicked off with questions about robo-calls and the recently passed
(non-binding) motion about changing the Elections Act to give the chief electoral officer more powers. Harper calmly told her that Elections Canada was
carrying on with its investigation, and oh, the opposition made their own
illegal robo-calls, so there. Charlie Angus demanded the scripts for the
Conservative calls and to know who paid for what calls. In response, Dean Del
Mastro offered today’s talking points, which were about how the NDP ran afoul
with Elections Canada’s financing rules by using Broadbent Institute donations (which
is true, but irrelevant to the topic at hand). Bob Rae once again demanded a
Royal commission into the election, to which Harper insinuated that they were
only coming forward with allegations to cover their own electoral misdeeds,
like that one call they admitted to in Guelph that they may or may not have
actually been able to legally do. Regardless, misdirection remained the
Conservative tactic of the day.
Round two kicked off with Alexandre
Boulerice and Chris Charlton asking more about Robocon (Poilievre: Broadbent
Institute! Del Mastro: Pat Martin was forced to apologize to RMG!); David
Christopherson asked about when those Elections Act changes are coming (Uppal: We’ll act on them); Libby Davies and Anne Minh-Thu Quach asked about the drug
shortages (Aglukkaq: It’s provincial jurisdiction and we’re working on
approving other international drugs); and Yvon Godin asked about the
back-to-work legislation for Air Canada – even though they’re still on the job
(Raitt: We need to ensure certainty with air service). Judy Foote asked again
about the allegations of financial impropriety in Vaughan (Van Loan again
reminded her that this isn’t government business, even though the Speaker was
going to do that for him), and Hedy Fry and Geoff Regan asked about the drug
shortage (Aglukkaq: You seemed confused as to what is and is not the federal
role). Malcolm Allen and Guy Caron asked about Vitera possibly being taken over (Ritz: This is all speculation), while Andrew Cash and Pierre
Nantel asked about digital locks in the copyright bill (James Moore: We’re
going to be on the leading edge of IP law, and you wanted an iPod tax!).
Round three saw questions on the moderation
of Julian Fantino’s F-35 talking points (Julian: Our position has not changed);
fleet separation policies with the fisheries; clarifications to the Investment Canada
Act around “strategic resources” and “net benefit”; Hélène Laverdière asked why
she didn’t get a proper answer to her order paper question (Baird: Nothing to
tell you); acquisitions policies at Library and Archives Canada; dispute-resolution mechanisms with banks; patronage appointments; and uranium sales to
China.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to John
McKay for his charcoal suit with a lavender shirt and light-purple tie, and to Rosane Doré Lefebvre for her white dress with the brown square patterns and a
black jacket. Style citations go out to Rathika Sitsabaiesan for her
brownish/greyish tunic with the quasi-peacock patterning and the appliquéd
sparklies along the neckline, with a terra cotta top underneath, and to both Jacques Gourde and Jean Rousseau for fluorescent-blue shirt/grey suit
violations. Seriously, guys – this is getting repetitive. Knock it off.
Why you can trust Xtra
