The final Tuesday QP of the year, and all of the leaders were present — even past leader Thomas Mulcair was present, for a change. After each side offered statements of congratulations for their by-election wins, Andrew Scheer led off, mimi-lectern on desk, and he read some condemnation of the PM going to China and his willingness to allow foreign takeovers without security reviews. Trudeau chose instead to offer congratulations to the by-election winners, as well as everyone who put their names forward. Scheer offered his own breathy congratulations, then accused the PM of erratic behaviour and incompetence on the trade file. Trudeau insisted that they worked hard to get deal that “work good” for Canadians, and that things like environmental and labour rights be respected. Scheer sniped that the PM comes home empty handed, and then raised another instance of someone complaining about Kent Hehr’s comments. Trudeau said that the minister took the allegations seriously and apologized. Scheer then moved onto the fighter jet question, and the decision to purchase used interim jets. Trudeau said that the reality was that the military needed new jets years ago but the previous government didn’t deliver, but his government had launched an open process with interim jets to fill capacity gaps. Scheer noted the problems with those jets identified by the Australian Auditor General, and offered Trudeau an old minivan. Trudeau reiterated that the previous government botched their processes. Guy Caron was up next, and was concern trolling about the problems with getting new officers of parliament. Trudeau noted the open, transparent process, and that he had confidence in the nominees put forward. Caron insisted that the process was not transparent, and demanded the names on the selection committees and short lists. Trudeau said that the appointment processes take time, and have put in place processes that people could trust. Nathan Cullen repeated the same question with added sanctimony in English, and Trudeau reiterated that they would continue to consult with the opposition on appointments, and then after another round of the same, and Trudeau said that if they didn’t have confidence in the nominee they should just say so.

Round two, and Lisa Raitt, Alain Rayes, and Pierre Poilievre were concerned about the lack of details on the income sprinkling changes (Morneau: They can plan on a tax reduction and the rest of the details will be released tomorrow, and these taxes won’t have to be paid until April 2019, so that’s plenty of time to plan). Brigitte Sansoucy and Erin Weir railed about the Phoenix pay system (Qualtrough: This is my priority, and we are doing everything we can). Erin O’Toole, Alupa Clarke and Dean Allison railed about what he feels were sectors ignored in NAFTA talks (Freeland: We are defending Canadian interests with fact-based arguments). Alistair MacGregor and Sheri Benson returned to questions about Phoenix (Qualtrough: We are putting in place a number of measures).

Raitt is being forced to change her questions on the fly after Morneau noted that the details on the changes are coming tomorrow. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 12, 2017

So much doom talk about the effect of income sprinkling changes. Morneau keeps repeating that it affects three percent of small businesses. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 12, 2017

Conservatives point to Ed Fast when Freeland says that it was her team that delivered CETA. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 12, 2017

Round three saw questions on the Australian jets being procured (Sajjan: You could have solved this problem a long time ago), more tales of Phoenix woe, Scheer got up to get clarity on comments Hehr made (Trudeau: He responded to her allegations and apologized for previous incidents; Hehr: I’m working hard for Canadians, and also working on improving myself), female genital mutilation, the number of Canadians on the No-Fly List (Goodale: The first step to fix this is the legal authority in Bill C-59), e-commerce, and the lack of tax on Netflix.

Hehr was about to answer, but Trudeau got up instead. Says Hehr responded to allegations and apologized for previous incidents. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 12, 2017

Overall, it was the first truly scattershot day we’ve seen in months, as Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives decided to try and get as many digs on as many files in as possible before the Christmas break. Conversely, it was the NDP’s turn to go hard after a single topic, being the Phoenix pay system, where all of their questions outside of the leaders’ round went on that single topic, recounting the tales of woe for these public servants who have been affected. I will note on that front that Carla Qualtrough’s responses were a bit sharper than they have been in the past, for what it’s worth. As for the Conservatives’ questions on the coming changes to income sprinkling, I note that the words “income sprinkling” were once again never mentioned, and that they painted these apocalyptic tales of doom for all small businesses based on these changes, while Bill Morneau did take the time to lay out some of the actual facts – that these changes affect less than three percent of small businesses, and are about closing the loophole that allows some private corporations to pay dividends to family members who don’t actually work in the business but are getting a tax break because of it. When those facts are on the table, it’s hard to argue against the changes, which is why those facts aren’t put on the table by the Conservatives, who instead spin tales about small businesses being doomed by this government. Because once again, they’re treating us all like idiots.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Scott Brison for a dark grey three-piece suit with a white shirt and a navy tie, and to Kellie Leitch for a greenish long jacket with gold embroidery on the shoulders. Style citations go out to Joyce Murray for a tan suit with a faded red top, and to Wayne Stetski for a black suit with a bright red shirt and Christmas-themed tie. Special citation goes out to those novelty Christmas suits and those MPs who wear them — looking at you, Robert-Falcon Ouellette. Those suits should all be pushed into the sun.