The scrums: food security, PBO, Liberal leadership

Four highlights from this afternoon’s post-Question Period scrums:

1. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair on the UN right-to-food rapporteur’s report on Canada: He knew what he was talking about, he did a very good job.  We should take whatever information we can and therein apply the lessons of that to the policies that we’re going to be putting forward.  It’s a really simple proposition. 

2. Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae on rumours Senator Anne Cools is part of a Conservative scheme to discredit Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page: Knowing Anne Cools as I do, I find it hard to believe that she’d be part of anything that’s orchestrated. I’m sure she’s just doing it on the basis of her own personal opinion. Senator Cools is very independent minded.

3. Liberal leadership contender Joyce Murray on her supporters: The people that I’m attracting are people that are very clear that we have to stop vote-splitting in order to defeat Stephen Harper and change our electoral system and fix our democracy. So I think those are people who will be very committed to continuing on and being part of the 2015 election.

4. Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner on the Conservative approach to EI reform: There’s that crew out there, said, ‘Oh, you know, kick the lazy buggers off EI, off the dole and you send them all to Fort Mac.’  Hey, listen, I love Fort Mac. I was there for nine years. But I’ll tell you this goes way beyond not wanting to go to Fort McMurray. This is about the long-term sustainability for rural communities in our country.