Unhealthy

The Cons' excuses for answers in yesterday's Question Period look to have been even more lacking in substance and plausibility than usual - perhaps on the assumption that nobody would notice thanks to Deceivin' Stephen's latest attempt to provoke election speculation. But even with some fierce competition from his colleagues, Tony Clement once again manages to stand out in delivering the most nonsensical responses of all:

Mr. Omar Alghabra (Mississauga—Erindale, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, MDS Nordion testified in committee today that it informed senior natural resources officials of the shortage in nuclear isotopes. Guess when? It was on November 22.

It conveyed a great sense of urgency and it warned of a global shortage of isotopes, yet the Minister of Natural Resources claims he did not know until December 3 and apparently he did not bother telling the Minister of Health until December 5.

Why did the Minister of Natural Resources put Canadian lives at risk because of his incompetence?

Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we have heard everything from all sides from Liberal opposition members. One week they are saying we did not act soon enough and on another week they are saying we should have acted sooner...

Mr. Omar Alghabra (Mississauga—Erindale, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, the more that minister emphasizes the fiasco, the deeper the hole he digs for himself.

We learned today that MDS Nordion knew on November 21. We know now that natural resources knew on November 22, but the minister claims he did not know until December 3.

We also know that the nuclear medicine industry knew on November 27, yet the Minister of Health claims he did not know until December 5. Who is telling the truth? Exactly what level of incompetence is needed before one is kicked out of cabinet?

Hon. Tony Clement (Minister of Health and Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario, CPC):
I guess, Mr. Speaker, that this week the Liberal opposition question is: why did we not act sooner? Last week it was: why did we not act?

The question is this. When is the opposition going to show leadership on that side of the House? One week it is, why do we not act and the next week it is simply, why do we not act sooner?

That's right: the Cons' idea of a "gotcha" is to trap the opposition saying first that the government should have acted sooner, and then...that it should have acted sooner. And even the later correction doesn't make any particular sense, as there's no reason why it would be inconsistent to say both that the Cons acted too late and that they did too little to prevent an isotope shortage.

But let's give Clement some credit for indirectly answering at least one of Alghabra's questions. After all, this is just one more indication that no amount of illogic or incompetence is enough to force Stephen Harper to admit that one of his cabinet ministers isn't up to the job.