Parliament in Review: November 16, 2011

Wednesday, November 16 saw plenty of direct clash between the Cons and the NDP on an issue that's been in the news again today. And lest there be any doubt, while the Cons have raised their level of inflammatory rhetoric, they've been less than convincing when it comes to anything of substance.

The Big Issue

In the wake of several days of criticism over Keystone XL, the NDP brought plenty of challenges to both the Cons' actions and their selective memory. Brian Masse and Kennedy Stewart responded to the Cons' criticisms of the NDP's work in Washington by pointing out who's actually taken a strong stand against Canada on the international stage. And Eve Peclet noted that refinery jobs are being lost in Canada while tar sands operators work on shipping raw bitumen out of the country for processing.

Say Anything

Meanwhile, the Libs had their own area of contention, as Geoff Regan repeatedly challenged the Cons' assertion that his party had voted against an extension of time for converting RRSPs to RRIFs. But Ted Menzies offered as reasonable an explanation as is ever forthcoming from the Cons:

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals vote against so much that it is hard to keep track of what they vote for and what they vote against.

So if the Cons lie about a competitor's actions, it's the subject's own fault. Just one more way in which the Cons keep themselves to a high standard of honesty and competence. (And no, Menzies' line wasn't an accident, as he repeated it a second time.)

And that was only the second most outrageous point raised by the Libs. Of course, Irwin Cotler's point of order has received plenty of coverage already - despite Peter Van Loan's remarkable admission that Cotler does in fact exist.

In Brief

Andrew Cash highlighted the Occupy protests as part of a proud tradition of activism in the name of greater rights and equality. Rodger Cuzner invoked Stephen Harper's past interventions in departmental issues to ask why he isn't doing anything to ensure that EI is available to Canadians who need it. Nycole Turmel challenged Stephen Harper to listen to the movement's message, while criticizing the Cons' fondness for casino capitalism. Con MP Costas Menegakis declared that he considers home retrofitting funding to be his party's housing program. Mathieu Ravignat challenged the Cons to repay the money they've now admitted they wrongly claimed through Conadscam. Charlie Angus again asked whether the Cons stood behind Dean Del Mastro's attacks on judicial independence and the CBC, and James Moore again confirmed that they do. Kirsty Duncan and Elizabeth May questioned the Cons' decision to exclude all opposition parties from the Durban climate change conference. Brian Storseth made it clear that his private member's bill to eliminate human rights legislation against hate speech has the government's full support. Linda Duncan asked when the Cons will take action based on the revelation that the Fort McKay First Nation's drinking water has been contaminated with trihalomethane 87% of the time, only to be met with John Duncan's self-congratulation for having bothered to measure anything. Masse introduced four private members' bills, including one to restore the long-form census and provide for the independence of the Chief Statistician, one to increase the tax credits available for charitable donations, one to address psychological harassment in the workplace, and finally one to provide for the labelling of products containing cat or dog fur. The Cons' bill on military judges passed with unanimous consent - which of course meant it was time for them to limit debate on their omnibus budget bill. Van Loan confirmed that he's even worse at math than Jim Flaherty. And finally, Charmaine Borg questioned the Cons on pervasive poverty and inequality in the day's adjournment proceedings.