What a slog MPs are in for. They voted this week to sit until midnight until the the House of Commons rises for the summer.
Over the next few weeks, they’ll spend a lot of time staring, mouthing off, laughing and scouring at each other. Things got a little silly already during Question Period this week.
On Monday, the last question of the day came from Brent Rathgeber, the independent MP who used to be a Conservative. He asked Employment Minister Jason Kenney about a theory that temporary foreign workers may be paid more than their Canadian counterparts. Kenney called it the worst criticism of the program he’d heard so far.
On Tuesday, NDP MP Nathan Cullen tried to embarrass Tory MP Scott Reid, who sits on the board of discount retailer Giant Tiger. The company’s CEO recently encouraged the government to abandon its latest trademark reform. Cullen stumbled on the question. Afterwards, Reid made him pay.
On Wednesday, Liberal MP John McCallum went after Immigration Minister Chris Alexander’s handling of a blacklist meant to punish abusive employers. An exasperated McCallum got pretty personal.
Speaker Andrew Scheer had finally had enough. He lashed out, uncharacteristically, at anyone who was slowing things down in the chamber.
Let’s hope Scheer finds a way to relax. Perhaps at the lunchtime yoga sessions on Parliament’s front lawn. Otherwise, he could be in for a long few weeks and maybe even an ulcer or two.
MONDAY
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TUESDAY
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WEDNESDAY
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THURSDAY
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