After Question Period yesterday, I also caught up with MP Mario Silva, and asked him about this weekend's convention in Vancouver.

Q: What are you looking forward to most for the convention?
A: It’s a great opportunity for us to get together with Liberals from across the country to hear, to share our experiences, to reinvigorate the party, as we face the possible coming elections as well. It’s a great opportunity to also demonstrate our new leader and his vision for the country.

Q: Is there anything policy-related that you could give me a hint about what’s going to be talked about?
A: I think a lot of the policies that we’re going to be focusing on are how to get our party into the twenty-first century. There’s a lot of policy resolutions that I think our party should adopt including one-member one-vote, which I’m very supportive of, and that will put us in good footing for us to pick a new leader [the next time] and put our party forward. It’s a method that’s been used by other parties, I think it’s a really good idea and I’m very supportive of it, and hopefully they’ll adopt it as well.

Q: I’ve heard hints that the gay organ donor ban may be coming up on the floor. Have you heard that as well?
A: No I haven’t, but certainly it would be great to talk to some of them and figure out what the issues are going to be, and how we can help them and work with them as well.

Despite the absence of Michael Ignatieff from the front bench, the Liberals were in a feisty mood, and Ralph Goodale gave the House quite a show as lead questioner for the day. He used his three questions to bring up the dismal unemployment figures, but then to suggest that an economic statement was necessary by September, and that it should fix the EI system.

Harper gave a mumbling response about the fact that there would be a statement come autumn but that it was too soon to talk about specific measures, and on it went.

There is a certain amount of significance to this question-and-answer, but it’s all related to certain things brewing behind the scenes, and those things boil down to the next election. After whisperings that have been going on for the better part of a couple of weeks now, there was a report out yesterday that the Conservatives are going to be reaching out more to the Bloc and the NDP in order to prolong their hold on power until after the Olympics in 2010 – confirmed by their announcing their plans to delay next year’s budget until mid-to-late March, when a defeat on it would still leave them in the hopeful afterglow of the games.

And why not? The Olympics are a perfect venue for them to basically spend the whole time campaigning, pointing out to Canadians how much they’ve invested in the venues and the athletes (where do you think all those missing arts funding dollars have gone?) and there will be endless photo ops of the Prime Minister cheering on our athletes, and maybe looking statesmanlike with other world leaders in attendance. Bear in mind I said looking statesmanlike, rather than acting the part, since Harper governs by photo op and not by actual substantive policy. Plus, if the economy has started to rebound by then, they can totally try to take credit for it.

So what does that mean in terms of Conservative policy? Just days after Diane Finely declared that now was not the time to overhaul EI, it looks like they may be preparing to do just that in order to placate the NDP and the Bloc. They’ve also put legislation in the budget that will allow the government to regulate the credit card industry, which they may also pull out for the NDP (as credit card fees have been a hobby horse of theirs for a while now). The NDP also lists pension protection for issues they want addressed, so who knows – that too may come up.

As for the dealings with the Bloc, it already started. After Question Period, the Conservatives voted for the Bloc’s opposition day motion regarding the harmonisation of the GST & QST, despite their condescending answers about the topic in Question Period daily. (That motion passed unanimously in a standing vote, which is almost unheard of). Granted, loan guarantees for the forestry sector is the Bloc’s other big hobbyhorse right now, and that seems to be an issue under scrutiny in a London trade tribunal, so we’ll see if that happens.

The rest of Question Period, while entertaining to observe, wasn’t terribly profound. The swine flu outbreak got some additional mention. Stéphane Dion briefly stepped out from obscurity to ask about Omar Khadr, the NDP’s Charlie Angus made it day four of the great Flag Pin Fiasco (to which the Heritage Minister accused him of breaking his word on the long-gun registry).

Of the three votes after Question Period, there was another oddity aside from the unanimous vote on the Bloc Motion. Second Reading on Bill C-241, about eliminating the two-week waiting period for EI, resulted in a 138-138 tie vote, meaning that the Speaker had to break the tie. As has become precedent, the Speaker voted for the bill, thus sending it to committee.

Sartorially speaking, I was again impressed with Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan, who has been stepping up her game of late. This time, it was a beige silk jacket with Asian-esque prints across it, and while it was a good fit for her, I wasn’t crazy about the belt over it. Also Conservative backbencher Rob Clarke wore a rather bold red shirt with white cuffs and collar, along with a pink tie, so he deserves snaps for taking such a chance. On the citation side, I really wasn’t crazy about Judy Wasylycia-Leis’ salmon-coloured jacket, and that goes double for Chris Charleton’s fluorescent green one. Megan Leslie outfit watch reports an acceptable floral-embroidered grey dress, which was unfortunately covered by the same hideous mustard sweater she wore on Monday. That sweater should be burned for the good of mankind.

Elsewhere, that very interesting interview with Jason Kenney is now up on the Maclean’s site, and former Prime Minister Kim Campbell was on the witness stand at the Oliphant Inquiry, looking into the business dealings between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber.

After the votes today in the Commons, and just before rushing off to open a venue for the BC Scene, I managed to quickly talk to the Hill's fabulous honourary drag queen, Hedy Fry, about this weekend's convention.

Q: Convention is your weekend. It’s your host city. What are you looking forward to for that?
A: I’m the co-chair of the host committee. We are looking at making sure that we do the work we are set out to do, which is about renewing the party, making it change, making it more responsive to and involved with the grassroots. The second thing is that we’re going to be looking at some strong policy, which is going to feed into whatever it is we do with our platform down the road. Thirdly, we’re going to have fun. I mean, Vancouverites know how to have fun, so we’re going to be turning it on for the people there, so it’s just going to be a great time. And another thing we’re going to do is a lot of Liberals are going to go out into the community from around the country, and do things like picking up garbage and doing community work. So those are the four big things we’re going to do to make our presence felt, and that is what we’re looking forward to. It’s going to be fun.

Q: I’ve heard from a couple of gay delegates who are going that they’re going to make a bee-line for your people once they get there because you know where all the places to go are.
A: Of course I do! But we’re also having as part of our entertainment on the Saturday night, we’re having drag queens in burlesque as well as Spirit of the West and some serious stuff. It’s going to be fun.

I also wanted to tell you – we’re launching a website. We launched it on Monday.

Q: Liberal Pride?
A: Liberal Pride – it’s going to be at the convention. It’s a first in Canada.

Q: I’m already on it. Cheers!

I caught up with Liberal MP Rob Oliphant after Question Period today - right before he had to rush off to a committee meeting - and asked him about this weekend's Liberal party convention in Vancouver.

Q: The convention – looking forward to it?
A: Absolutely – it’s a convention and it’s in Vancouver. What could be better?

Q: What are things you’re looking forward to most?
A: Probably seeing friends, frankly. I mean, policy and leadership is all great, but this is when the family gets together, and I’ve lived all over the country – I’ve lived out west, I’ve lived in the East, I’ve lived in Ontario, I’ve lived in Quebec, so this is where I get to see people that I’ve worked with and that I’ve been friends with for 30 years.

Q: I don’t suppose you can give me any hints for what’s going to be talked about for policy?
A: I’ve looked through the policy resolutions – there’s a whole group of them on all the usual suspects, both international and domestic, social policy, economic policy. I think the economy is going to reign, and people are going to be talking a lot about what our economic policies are. I think the party has some interesting international issues coming up, but I can’t pre-judge. I don’t know what’s going to take prominence. You go through an event like this, and suddenly issues like swine flu are the dominant media issue, so it’s going to get talked about, and I think we can’t predict it. I don’t know what’s going to rise. I suspect the internal party renewal issues like one-member one-vote will get a lot of attention as well.

Q: I’ve heard the gay organ donor ban may be coming up on the floor as well. Have you heard that?
A: No, I haven’t. I would always like it to be discussed – I am constantly appalled at things like blood donor and organ donation bans for men. It’s ridiculous.

The flags were at half-mast, and the NDP were mostly all wearing black armbands to mark the National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job. And with the desks in the Commons officially two-and-a-half sword-lengths apart, I have little doubt that it’s helped to reduce workplace fatalities among MPs.

It was the dismal new EI figures that had Ignatieff leading off Question Period, and for a change, Harper was there as well for the face-off. Not that he had anything new to say, mind you, other than just another tired line about Ignatieff musing about raising taxes.

There was a little more about the swine flu outbreak again, but unfortunately today, Leona Aglukkaq’s answers didn’t make a lot of coherent sense, other than the fact that she wasn’t banging on the “at least we won’t raise taxes” drum like her colleagues were.

Bob Rae inquired about the government’s “policy” of selectively assisting Canadians accused of crimes abroad, only to have Deepak Obhrai remind the House that this government has made human rights a priority. Really? Huh – I’ll have to double-check that. And I mean, it’s not like they’re ignoring the rule of law in their own country, right? Oh, wait…

There were a few other issues – Thomas Mulcair wanting to ensure that the CPP investment board didn’t get bonuses this year, Mark Holland asking about the imminent closure of prison farms, Charlie Angus’ outrage over made-in-China Canada Flag Pins continuing to day three, and Keith Martin inquiring about Insite. None of it, however, was particularly explosive.

Sartorial snaps go out to Kirsty Duncan for the blue and black panelled tailored jacket she was wearing, which was possibly her best look to date. Keep it up! I was also a fan of Liberal Alexandra Mendes’ red-leaf patterned black top, and Carolyn Bennett’s navy suit and above-the-knee skirt. The style citation goes out to Liberal frontbencher Albina Guarnieri for her big, boxy fuchsia jacket. It needed to be tailored at the very least, and perhaps toned down with a complimentary colour elsewhere. And Megan Leslie outfit watch today reports a great medium-grey pantsuit with a fuchsia top – ruined by the shiny teal-green shoes that have no business being worn by an adult.

A second vacancy has opened up in the Commons, as long-time Nova Scotia (and current Independent) MP Bill Casey resigned today to take up a post as a senior liaison between his province’s government in Ottawa. Casey had previously announced that he wasn’t going to seek re-election, and this job may not be very long-lasting, as the premier who appointed him is due to head into an election within weeks – possibly even days. But Casey, who stood up to the Conservatives over their broken promises over the Atlantic accords and was kicked out for it, was an MP who broke the mode in the current “Sheeple” tendency, and that’s a good thing. The resignation may also be a good thing for Elizabeth May – Casey’s riding was right next door to May’s Central Nova, and in the event that a by-election is called before a general election (the Prime Minister has six months to do so), then she’ll very likely run there.

Immigration minister Jason Kenney wants new guidebooks drawn up for new Canadians, because the current ones were written in 1997, and he feels they’re “indicative of a completely insipid view of Canada.” I’m sure he also feels that they’re far too big-L Liberal too for his taste and the new ones will likely be full of Conservative blue. (There was a very revealing interview with Kenney in the current issue of Maclean’s, where he also seems to have a hard time not sounding like he’s looking to tinker with a multiculturalism system that is currently functioning very well).

And while it’s not federal news, it should be noted that Alberta is finally putting sexual orientation into its human rights legislation. They’re still the last province to do so, and oh look – the new law also says that parents can pull their children out of class to protect them from any material they may find objectionable. Like sexual orientation, or evolution. Thanks, Alberta, for proving that we’re still not a fully progressive country just yet!