Just a couple of hours before news hit the wires that there will be a reduced number of vaccines available last week, Bob Rae stood up in the House and asked whether the government understands whether their delays in ordering and distributing the H1N1 vaccines is costing lives. Tony Clement – no longer the Health Minister, it should be noted – stood up to deliver Leona Aglukkaq’s usual media lines about working with the Chief Pubic Health Officer, and provinces and territories, and so on. Rae tried to get an answer three times, and it was in his final answer that Tony Clement pleaded to the Liberals to “work with us,” and to stop fear mongering. “We’re all in this together.”

David McGuinty followed up to ask about the confusing messages being delivered about H1N1. Aglukkaq stood up this time to tell Canadians that the Conservative government has been providing “real leadership” on the issue. Wow – really? And do you realise that just saying something doesn’t make it true?

Leading off for the Bloc, Pierre Paquette asked about the Suzuki Foundation report on GHG targets. Christian Paradis – who is not the Environment minister – said that the report advocates carbon taxes. But the report says a lot more than that, and there was discussion about it in the Environment committee that morning – including how the newspaper reports weren’t entirely truthful, and the report showed that Alberta’s economy would in fact still grow – possibly still be the fastest growing in Canada under these proposed – just not as fast as they have been lately (though considering that the Alberta economy was actually overheated going into the recession, that may not be such a bad thing either).

When Marcel Proulx asked about more ethical questions raised by Senator Housakos activities, Baird declared that “the Liberal Party was once a party of grand visions, and now it just throws mud.” Um, remind me about any grand visions that your party has ever had. Bonnie Crombie asked about why it was that when she asked for a private meeting with Canada Post (as she was the new critic for crown corporations), a staffer from Baird’s office insisted that the meeting wouldn’t go forward without being present. Baird’s Minister of State said that his office would be happy to speak to Crombie. But Crombie was being clever – in her supplemental, she said that crown corporations were supposed to operate at arm’s length, and this proves that the Conservatives have been micromanaging. So perhaps it’s not such a stretch to suggest that there is indeed a connection between the supposedly “arm’s length” Federal Bridges Corporation and the contract awarded to Senator Housakos’ company. Baird called the accusation “fact free.”

I also learned something new yesterday – apparently MPs can ask a committee chair a question in Question Period – even if it’s an opposition chair and not one from the government. Who knew?

In case you were wondering, the Conservative tough-on-crime meme of the day was auto theft. Bill C-46, however, as been sitting on the Order Paper in the Senate, thanks to the government, so they have no one to blame but themselves that it’s being delayed. What’s that? This is just a distraction from their scandal-of-the-day siege? Of course it is, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t still point out their logical inconsistencies.

On the sartorial front, snaps go out to Hedy Fry for that lovely black top with the white floral embroidery along the sleeves. But there were a lot of missteps. Such as the return of Diane Finley’s WTF jacket. Or how Diane Ablonczy should be reminded that she shouldn’t wear jackets with such high collars because it makes her neck completely disappear. And I’m not a fan of the way that people wear Persian rugs as scarves, like France Bonsant. And Alex Atamanenko was one confusing mess of clashing colours and a tie for which “too busy” doesn’t begin to describe how bad it was. Suits shouldn’t be that hard.

Elsewhere, Harper was in Vancouver to receive an award for all the work he’s doing on behalf of the disabled, especially with the Registered Disability Savings Plan. Meanwhile, John Baird’s minions delivered three boxes of documents to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, apparently figuring that it was just as good to bury him in paper as it was to stonewall him. Meanwhile they still can’t even give ballpark figures as to how much money they’ve actually spent, but hey – they’re the most “transparent” and “accountable” government in all of history, don’t you know!

And finally, Her Excellency begins her state visit to Greece, and here you can see her with the Greek President.

(Photo courtesy of Rideau Hall)

Bill C-25 may have passed, but its ghost still lingers on in the Senate. Specifically, Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette has filed a complaint against Bob Fife at CTV around his reporting of the issue – specifically claims he made about Liberal senators allegedly holding up the bill. Hervieux-Payette cites Senate transcripts, and the Canadian Press story on the issue (which you may remember was one that actually gave the story rather than became another vector for “Ignatieff is a weak leader” talk) – which appeared on CTV’s website – in direct contrast with Fife’s reporting on that same day. And it’s interesting to see how it’s laid out. (I’d personally add Jane Taber to that same complaint for her repeating of government mistruths, but that’s another story).

This is a very interesting development. I mean, CTV is developing quite a history of coverage which isn’t exactly fair and balanced when it comes to the political scene (and witness the incident with Stéphane Dion’s false start interview and Mike Duffy, who wound up in the Senate for his good work). And I’m glad that the Senator is speaking out about it. That said, there is also a very worrying side to this. Is it acceptable for Parliamentarians to complain about unfair coverage? Where does it infringe upon the notions of journalistic independence? Granted, our Broadcast Standards watchdogs don’t usually do much when they do find that coverage has been unfair (witness the mere gentlest of a wrist-slap CTV received for the Dion incident) so it’s not like it’s much of a threat to journalistic independence. But CTV does deserve to be called out for their clearly biased coverage, and good on the Senator for stepping up to do so.

Just before Question Period, Jack Layton stood up to decry the sexist heckling going on in the House – possibly in response to the way that Carolyn Bennett was shouted down during her question on Tuesday.

Ignatieff kicked off Question Period with questions about H1N1 – in relation to partisan advertising – which Harper saw no contradiction between spending on advertising on H1N1 and the Economic Action Plan™. For his final supplemental, Ignatieff raised the heckling Bennett received, which Harper said that he saw it go down and he “didn’t see it that way.” Um, okay.

Bennett was up next, and while not being shouted down, there was still a large degree of heckling. She asked about the lack of vaccine trials in Canada, and how that relates to pregnant women. The Health Minister assured her that both versions of the vaccine were safe. When Bennett asked about the communications plan around the vaccine, Aglukkaq assured her that they were using Facebook and Twitter to get the information out. Facebook and Twitter? Well, then. I guess we the media can pack it in and go home now since they can reduce these complex issues into 140 characters.

When the Bloc asked about the ethical questions surrounding Senator Housakos, John Baird asserted, “We’ve been the most ethical government in terms of political fundraising.” Also, the chocolate ration has been doubled from four grammes to two. Doubleplusgood!

On the subject of partisan advertising, Baird also asserted that it was their job to report back to Canadians on all the good work they were doing. Questions about the suspiciously high amounts of funding that Tony Clement’s riding has been receiving were met with reassurances that it was all done with the support of the government of Ontario. When the Bloc’s Bernard Bigras asked a question of the “Minister of Big Oil,” the Government House Leader stood up to say that there was no Minister of Big Oil in the cabinet.

Sartorially speaking, it was a pretty good day in the House. I was especially a fan of Kirsty Duncan’s blue panelled jacket, and Lisa Raitt’s red top with the plunging neckline under a black leather jacket. Also deserving of snaps was Hedy Fry’s maroon suit paired with a colourful floral collared shirt. But with the good comes the bad – like Chris Charlton’s eyesore of a bright yellow jacket. The Megan Leslie outfit watch reports a nicely tailored black suit, but it was over a bile yellow top that made me cringe. But yay – black heels and not those awful greige ones!

Elsewhere, Harper announced that he’s finally going to take a trip to China and India – only about three years too late. The special Commons committee on Afghanistan will now be investigating those allegations surrounding Afghan detainees. And the Conservatives came up with another useless and generic tough-on-crime measure – obviously because they’re still trying to change the channel from the questions on their own ethical spending habits.

I had an interview with Scott Brison after Question Period today (which should be up in the next day or two), but we also touched base on a couple of other issues.

Q: How’s the fall sitting going, in terms of the work you’ve been doing?
A: I think the government is in a scandal-of-the-day mode, and the Harper approach to white-collar crime seems to be put them away – in the Senate. They’ll put them away for a very long time – in the Senate. The Harper government on ethical issues, these guys look like the patron saints of hypocrisy. This government is less than four years old and they have achieved a sense of arrogance and rot that typically takes governments much longer – so they’re fast learners. The snideness of the government – when I see my colleague Carolyn Bennett ask very serious questions about the H1N1 pandemic and the health risks around the vaccine, and to see them openly mocking her – and frankly the Conservatives openly mock women when they ask questions in the House of Commons, and there is a knee-jerk misogyny in the Conservative party that just won’t quit.

I think that we’re working hard on the issues. The Conservatives are negotiating a deal on Buy American – they’re working on something that will give them a photo op but will not do anything to protect Canadian jobs. We’re doing our work. We’re holding them to account and we’re going to continue to do that.

Q: You’ve been especially busy with the Buy America/Buy American provisions – and I know they’re different. Also on the Colombia bill you’ve been really busy with that. How’s that progressing?
A: It’s at committee now. We’re hearing from witnesses. We’re asking important questions. We’re the party of the Charter of Rights – we’re strong on rights, and we believe in economic engagement and trade. Bringing them together, we need to be sure that trade agreements help improve living standards, labour standards, and environmental standards ultimately. Canadian companies overall have a very good reputation in the world in terms of corporate social responsibility, so Canadian companies playing a greater role, and investing more in developing economies I think is good for those people in those countries, both in terms of labour and environmental progress.

Never mind that it was a disruption-free day in the House today – there’s a shake-up in the Liberal backrooms. Indeed, the Hill is abuzz with news that Peter Donolo, one of Jean Chrétien’s most effective communications directors, is going to be Michael Ignatieff’s new chief of staff. What could this possibly mean? Is Ignatieff learning his lessons that the people who got him the leadership may not get him 24 Sussex? Is he responding to Denis Coderre’s criticisms that his cabal was too Toronto-centric? Could we the media be any more breathless with our speculation?

But back to business. No Ignatieff again in the House, but Harper was there, and he didn’t really answer David McGuinty’s questions about partisan advertising in lieu of productive government spending. Nor would he really answer Gilles Duceppe’s questions around the questionable ethics around Senator Housakos. He didn’t even really answer Jack Layton’s questions about the legal fees for Richard Colvin’s whistle-blowing on the Afghan detainees issue. (They’re totally not singling him out for retribution – really).

Oddly enough, the only time Harper really gave something that resembled an answer was to Layton’s final question, which was about an apology and compensation for members of the Canadian Forces who were discharged before 1992 for being gay or lesbian. Harper stood up to say that his government was not there to correct every mistake of the past, but to learn from it, but he was proud of every single man and woman in uniform. So on the one hand, good to see that he wasn’t entirely dismissive, but you can tell where the queer community ranks on his list of communities to court for votes, given that he was leaping up to apologise to every wronged ethno-cultural community just last year.

Later on, Gerard Kennedy pointed out that Tony Clement’s riding is seeing communities nowhere near the site of next year’s G8 summit get infrastructure funds out of that pool of money. Jim Prentice later accused the yesterday’s flash protest of being an NDP stunt. Carolyn Bennett was visibly shaking when being heckled over her question on H1N1 vaccination for pregnant women – breaking her question to decry that “This is serious!” It took the Speaker a few seconds to restore order so that she could continue.

Elsewhere, the Conservatives came out with some version of a plan on pension reform, but it was quickly panned as being pretty thin gruel, and would do nothing in the short term. Also, the Conservatives look like they might finally be releasing some actual numbers on stimulus spending to the Parliamentary Budget Officer – but I’m sure they have to re-label everything once again first, so that it will make it more difficult for him to do quarter-to-quarter analyses.

There are still questions about yesterday’s flash protest in the Visitor’s Gallery, such as just what was the NDP’s connection to them (many were apparently there on visitors passes provided by the NDP, who claim ignorance) – especially as one of the ringleaders is an NDP activist. There’s also the curious case of one protester whose bloodied face seemed to be less bloody at certain points on the timeline than his televised appearances later on, which still seems suspicious in and amidst his denials of playing it up for the camera.

And finally, Her Excellency wrapped up her state visit to Croatia, and is off to Greece for her final stop. And yes, Senator Housakos is part of the delegation.

Her Excellency with the Prime Minister of Croatia (gg.ca photo).

Disruption in the Visitor’s Gallery! Climate Action Youth Delegates stage a flash protest during Question Period and are removed from the House of Commons by security. (Imagine that read by the narrator from The Clone Wars).

In all seriousness, when Question Period began, I was starting to wonder if there had been a cabinet shuffle that they forgot to send a memo out about. I mean, first of all, Tony Clement was answering Ralph Goodale’s questions about H1N1 vaccines, and not the designated Health Minister. And Lawrence Cannon was answering questions about potential ethical issues with a certain bridge contract in Quebec, and some of the questionable ethics involved with some contacts of a certain Senator Housakos – as though he were responsible for transportation or infrastructure.

It was during Jack Layton’s questions around pension funds that the disruptions happened. It began with one activist standing up, and being ushered out, but as soon as he was gone, another stood up to yell, and then another, many in call-and-response style – a style that betrayed their ignorance of the Parliamentary process. “I say C-311, you say sign it. C-311!” “Sign it!” Sign what? Do you see the Governor General in the House?

That said, the protest was about a hundred people ushered out over about five minutes – it didn’t suspend the House operations very long, contrary to some media assertions. And only one or two refused to go peacefully – the rest were quite cooperative, and most of Commons security didn’t look to be getting too aggressive either. Yes, one of them got bloodied, but from the sounds of it, he was also putting on a show for the cameras – like all good protesters will. (Not that he was at all articulate when he later turned up on CBC). In the end, six were briefly detained, then released and banned from the Hill for a year.

My first question after all of this was just how many of these “youth delegates” actually vote? How many of them have actually joined in the democratic process, joined parties, contributed to policy discussions? While I can’t speak for most of them, it turns out that the ringleader was in fact a delegate at the NDP convention. Interesting. How will this all play out in the days to come? I guess we’ll find out.

The rest of Question Period was fairly dull in comparison. When Martha Hall Findlay asked why she had yet to receive an answer from Treasury Board on the partisan advertising, John Baird accused her of using her MP office to fundraise for her leadership debt. Later questions on Senator Housakos and the partisan distribution of stimulus spending were met with accusations that the Liberals were just so desperate that they had resorted to “throwing mud.” Um, okay.

One government suck-up question from the nosebleed benches was around their new bill to tighten parole requirements, to which a notable heckle was “Supersize our jails!” Indeed – just as with the recently passed C-25, there don’t appear to be any figures attached to how much housing these prisoners for longer will cost the taxpayers, in penitentiaries that are already overcrowded. The government keeps insisting it won’t be much, but one figure I heard on CBC today was that it could really be something like $200 million per year – and that doesn’t count building new facilities to house them. I also have to shake my head at the government’s use of their roll-out strategy for the bill, to have backbenchers making announcements in Montreal, Winnipeg, Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver, trying to capture as much of the regional media as possible. Because they haven’t finished devaluing the Nation’s Capital quite enough just yet.

On the sartorial front, snaps go to Liberal Kirsty Duncan for her sumptuous black velvet jacket (and yay, she appears to be wearing make-up for a change), and Navdeep Bains did it once again with an excellent light blue matching turban and tie combination. The style citation goes out to Martha Hall Findlay for the fuchsia jacket paired with the black top, skirt, tights and heels. That much colour with black looks tacky and cheapens the black. The Megan Leslie outfit watch reports a grey dress and long sweater, which was unfortunately paired with a teal green belt and those awful greige shoes that she really, really needs to burn.

And finally, the saga of Richard Colvin, whistle-blowing diplomat continues. Now he can testify, but the government refuses to pay for his independent legal counsel. Of course. Because they’re not trying to muzzle him. Not at all.