The QP Clip: Mulcair calls Poilievre a lightweight

The Fair Elections Act has preoccupied the House for long enough that the oppositions’s questions are, at this point, rather repetitive. The preambles to those queries and the extraneous adjectives applied to government responses somewhat resemble these first, rambling sentences of this post. Verbose, in a word.

That’s why it’s refreshing when NDP Leader Tom Mulcair goes so far as to ad lib during Question Period. Today, he thought he’d caught Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a contradiction. The PM said he wanted MPs from all sides to listen to Canadians’ opinions of Bill C-23. Mulcair was confused. Hadn’t the PM already ruled out further consultations on the bill? Could Harper clarify?

At this, Harper stayed seated. Pierre Poilievre, his democratic reform minister, rose. He said the government is satisfied with the Fair Elections Act. Mulcair, displeased at the PM’s snub, called Poilievre a lightweight and demanded answers from the top. Somehow, Harper remained unmoved. Poilievre, again, took to his feet. Again, he defended his bill. Again, the stalemate survived another day.