This week in QP: Opposition howls about foreign workers

Late last week, Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre proposed several amendments to his controversial electoral reform bill, a big shift for a minister who’d seemed strident in his championing of the legislation. But Tom Mulcair was unsatisfied, and the NDP leader, trying to milk momentum for all it’s worth, pushed for more on Monday afternoon.

The opposition spent much of the week picking on Jason Kenney, the employment minister who’s taken heat for reported abuse of the federal temporary foreign workers program. Both the NDP and the Liberals want the auditor general called in. For his part, Kenney called them all hypocrites. Liberal MP John McCallum screamed that Kenney should take ownership of the beleaguered program. Kenney had another idea.

Wednesday brought news that federal law enforcement made 1.2 million requests to telecom companies for private customer data in 2011. Mulcair wondered if the Prime Minister was okay with that. Stephen Harper was unmoved.

Thursday brought more news. APTN reported that the RCMP had counted more than 1,000 cases of indigenous women who were murdered or are missing. The NDP called for a national inquiry into the matter, not for the first time. Jean Crowder, a Vancouver Island MP, made an emotional appeal to the government.  Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney simply refused. And so the first week back after an Easter break fizzled into Friday. Not a single opposition member all week asked the government to clarify Canada’s deployment of fighter jets and a ship to eastern Europe. Something to ponder over the weekend.

MONDAY
Vouching is so last week

TUESDAY
Jason Kenney can only smile

WEDNESDAY
Tom Mulcair’s 1,000,000 questions about privacy

THURSDAY
The government won’t call a #MMIW inquiry