Statements by members of Parliament at 2 p.m. tell you a lot about the temper of the House of Commons. And question period, which follows at 2:15, says everything about the tone of Parliament.
The fall sitting of the House was dysfunctional and destructive. By contrast, the first day this week of the winter sitting was surprisingly collegial and constructive. One day does not a sitting make, but it was a surprisingly refreshing start.
For openers, MPs from all sides used members鈥� statements in the spirit in which they were intended 鈥� praising constituents, expressing sorrows and marking anniversaries 鈥� rather than ragging other parties in the House.
Members from all sides rose to say 鈥淣ever again鈥� on the International Day of Commemoration of the Holocaust. Equally, MPs of all parties joined in declarations of sorrow over the tragedy in L鈥橧sle-Verte, Que. British Columbia Conservative MP Dean Albas congratulated three Olympians from his riding.
Then four new MPs, elected in the November byelections, two Liberals and two Conservatives, were escorted into the House on the arms of their leaders. As the two Liberal members were accompanied down the opposition side of the House, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair stepped out to shake hands and congratulate them.
Then, question period, which is usually revealing of strategy.
Interestingly, Mulcair did not lead with the Senate expense scandal, probably because there have been no new developments over the holidays.
Instead, Mulcair led with a question on the crackdown on protests in Ukraine, a matter of deep concern for the 1.2 million 91原创s of Ukrainian origin. Prime Minister Stephen Harper struck the right note. 鈥淲e are very concerned,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat these actions speak not of moving towards a free and democratic Euro-Atlantic future, but very much towards an antidemocratic Soviet past.鈥�
Mulcair鈥檚 second question was on post-traumatic stress disorder in the military, and the disturbing number of suicides among soldiers who had served in Afghanistan. Would the prime minister make this cause his own? (Harper expressed sympathy for those suffering and replied that his government had already 鈥渋nvested record amounts鈥� on mental-health services for veterans and soldiers.)
For his third question, and fresh from his affordability tour, Mulcair fell back on an old NDP reliable: fees at banking machines.
It was only on his fourth question that Mulcair got around to asking about the Senate expense story, and then only to complain that the Privy Council Office hadn鈥檛 fulfilled an NDP access-to-information request for emails.
NDP House leader Nathan Cullen then lit into former Conservative minister Chuck Strahl, who resigned as chairman of the Security and Intelligence Review Committee after registering provincially as a lobbyist in B.C. for the Northern Gateway pipeline project. And this with the approval of the ethics commissioner.
It was interesting to note how Harper, who is known for throwing people under the bus, came to Strahl鈥檚 defence.
鈥淐huck Strahl is one of the most honourable and decent people I have ever worked with in the Parliament of Canada,鈥� Harper replied. 鈥淚t is a shame that for the sake of his personal reputation, he is no longer willing to provide his services.鈥�
And then there was the matter of the budget, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announcing the date as Feb. 11, the earliest of all his budgets.
The announcement of the budget date means the opposition parties will ramp up their questions about what, if anything, the government is going to do for middle-class families.
Liberal finance critic Scott Brison asked Flaherty when he would come up with 鈥渁 real jobs plan for young 91原创s in the upcoming budget; or is he so out of touch with young 91原创s and their struggling middle-class families?鈥�
鈥淚 have triplet young 91原创s who would disagree with the member,鈥� replied Flaherty, father of triplet boys.
The House needs more days like that. The media might prefer the race to the bottom, but the voters don鈥檛. They would rather see Parliament work.
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L. Ian MacDonald is editor of Policy magazine.
