For Thursday, neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, nor were most of the the other leaders, save one. Luc Berthold led off, with a script but without a mini-lectern, and in French, he worried about the disinformation circulating about the invasion of Ukraine, but wedged this into a question about expelling the Russian ambassador. Anita Anand rose, not to answer but to recognise the presence of Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in the gallery, which was against the rules—which the Speaker reminded her of—before Anand made a bland statement. Berthold worried about the state of our military’s readiness should Putin carry on, and Anand assured him that of course we are ready and that nothing has been neglected, before she read out what new lethal aid was provided to Ukraine this morning. Raquel Dancho took over in English to again demand to know what meetings she has had to prepare for Russian threats of retaliation. Anand assured her that they were prepared for any eventuality, and mentioned working with American counterparts to modernise NORAD as a priority. Dancho worried that we did not have sufficient military assets in the Arctic, and wanted further reassurances, and Anand repeated her reassurances before saying that we need to be non-provocative and rational in this situation. Berthold took back over to repeat the question about what we are doing about deterrence to keep Russia from invading the Arctic. Anand repeated that we would work with the US, and stated that the Coast Guard would defend us.

During question period in the House of Commons, members of Parliament offer a standing ovation to Andrii Bukvych, chargé d’affaires at the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa, who is present in the gallery.#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/21kLYEMFuD

— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) March 3, 2022

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and worried that the government’s emergency travel documents for Ukrainian refugees would take too long, and Anand read that what was announced today would reduce red tape and would hasten passage for Ukrainians, and there was no limit to how many were would take in. Normandin stated the need for an emergency airlift operation, and Anand spoke about more measures for these refugees but did not commit to an airlift.

Jagmeet Singh led for the NDP, in person, and demanded more sanctions against more Russian oligarchs, to which Anand, after some hesitation, listed those already under sanction and said that they were working with allies to impose yet more sanctions. Singh repeated the question in French, and Anand repeated her response in French.

Round two, and Pierre Paul-Hus worried that there wasn’t progress on modernising NORAD (Anand: We are making the investments and it’s a personal priority for me and I have had many conversations with my American counterpart; We have made key investments and recently granted a multi-million contract to an Inuit company for the maintenance and operation of the system), Bob Zimmer worried that the Russians were making more claims to our continental shelf in the Arctic (Oliphant: We are working hard with the Arctic Council, but won’t attend meetings in Russia), Greg McLean demanded more Canadian energy exports to Europe (Wilkinson: European countries have made it clear they wish to end their dependency on a Russian oil and gas and are accelerating their transition to green alternatives), Pat Kelly demanded the a new NEP—err, an east-west energy corridor (Wilkinson: Same answer).

To displace Russian oil and gas in Europe, Pat Kelly demands a new NEP—err, east-west energy corridor. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 3, 2022

Monique Pauzé took a feminist lens to demand the cancellation of the Baie du Nord project (Duguid: There is a legislated process ongoing), and said the only environmental assessment report they should pay attention to is the latest IPCC report (Duguid: The IPCC report shows all countries must take action, and we have taken action since 2015).

John Barlow worried the invasion of Russia would lead to a world food crisis and made some dubious claims about the current government’s policies (Singh: There is a looming crisis and I have been working with the World Food Programme), Marty Morantz demanded all travel visas be lifted for Ukrainians (Fraser: We have been fast-tracking for a month now), Dominique Vien demanded the same in French (Fraser: Same answer).

Rachel Blaney demanded the GIS clawback payment immediately (Boissonneault: We are making a one-time payment and will look at ways to do more), and Taylor Bachrach demanded the ban on Russian ships be implemented immediately (Alghabra: We took swift and decisive action).

Round three saw questions on banning foreign home buyers (Hussen: You know full well that the amendment at committee was out of order and was unenforceable), tearful stories of increasing carbon prices (Boissonnault: Here are a list of affordability measures we’ve taken that your party voted against), threats of more U.S. protectionism (Ng: Trade is working between our two countries but we need to continue to cultivate this relationship), a ruling on EI ineligibility for women who lose their jobs after maternity leave (Qualtrough: The government is meeting with partners to better understand how to reform EI; the EI Commission is independent and they took the decision to appeal the court ruling), doing away with federal public health measures (Duclos: We have been working with provinces), border measures (Duclos: We have had better outcomes from this pandemic because of the measures we have taken), a possible strike at CP Rail (Alghabra: I want to thank the workers of CP for doing their hard work, and we are monitoring this situation, and I have met with both sides), rising prices for small businesses (Boissonault: We have a robust strategy for households), backlogs at visa processing (Fraser: I have been pushing advancements to boost processing speeds), the strike in the Auditor General’s office (Fortier: We are at the negotiation table, and the office is carrying out their own negotiations), and the Baie du Nord project (Duguid: We are following the legislated process).

Overall, if you excuse the breach of the rules to recognise the Ukrainian chargé d’affairs at the start of Question Period (the proper time to introduce guests is at the end of QP, and pointing out the presence of someone in the galleries is also against the rules), it was a relatively subdued QP for a change, but that may also be because it was largely the B-team in place. Anita Anand, who is capable of giving proper and credible answers, was largely sticking to bland assurances today, and I was particularly thrown by her response about the Coast Guard protecting Arctic sovereignty. They are aging icebreakers that are unarmed, so I’m not sure what that would do against a Russian fleet (though, frankly, it’s unlikely Russia would come via the Arctic route, as it’s a very expensive proposition). The only good answer I felt in the entire exercise was when Ahmed Hussen called out a Conservative question on a rejected amendment at committee, where he essentially called shenanigans on it—that it was out of order and unenforceable, and they are working on a proper solution to the issue. We need more of this, but it’s just so difficult to get reasonable questions and answers that aren’t bland talking points. 

Sartorial speaking, snaps go out to Christine Normandin for a grey patterned jacket with three-quarter sleeves over a white top with a keyhole neckline, and black slacks, and to Blake Richards for a tailored black suit with a white shirt and a light blue tie with white spots. Style citations go out to Gerald Soroka for a dark grey suit with a maroon shirt and a grey, blue and peach striped tie, and to Sonia Sidhu for a long-sleeved maroon top with a tan vest. Dishonourable mention goes out to Martin Shields for a black suit with a bright blue shirt and a yellow tie and pocket square.