The opening round of the Iraq debate

The official debate on the government’s proposal for a new mission in Iraq will be had on Monday—this afternoon’s speeches were delivered as part of the time set aside, but rarely used, each day for statement by ministers—and we should hope for a worthy display, but today was obviously more than a stage-setter. It was a dramatic day that took some of the drama out of the debate (barring something remarkable, we can know now what the vote tally will be on Monday night).

Via the indispensable Canuck Politics, here is the full exchange, from Stephen Harper to Tom Mulcair to Justin Trudeau to Elizabeth May.

(Small thing: Elizabeth May is not the leader of a recognized party, as far as the House of Commons is concerned, so she requires the unanimous consent of the House to respond to the minister’s statement. This had been a bit of a thing in the past, but she was permitted to speak on Remembrance Day last year and now again today. Terry Glavin calls her out for repeating the CIA-Osama bin Laden claim.)

We’ve also posted transcripts.