Today, Conservative freedom fighter and Question Period exemplar Paul Calandra gave an emotional apology to the NDP for his comments (or lack thereof) during Tuesday’s Question Period.
What happened, you ask? Well, the NDP’s Thomas Mulcair asked (read: roared) the government if Canada’s 30-day commitment to Iraqi support would actually end on October 4th. So, like any insurance broker turned public servant, Calandra responded with something totally unrelated.
“Mr. Speaker, there’s a great deal of confusion with respect to the NDP position on Israel,” he said. There also seems to be a great deal of confusion with respect to Paul Calandra’s grasp of Question Period’s mechanics. Calandra didn’t stop there, though. Canadians may not be aware of this, but the Conservative party is very pro-Israel.
It’s very important that I let you know how pro-Israel I am at all times. Otherwise you may forget.
Chris Wattie/Reuters
Calandra must have felt it was his obligation—nay, his moral duty—to plug partisan policy in the already strained state of Question Period. An NDP member referred to Israel’s role in Gaza as “genocide” during a fundraiser event. Predictably, the left wing, socialist, welfare-loving, Marx-abiding Commies in the NDP were in uproar.
Do these kale-eating Dippers understand how our beautiful nation works? Our government functions based on conventions—situations that have set precedence for future interactions. Did they forget when former House speaker Peter Milliken said, “it is called question period, not answer period”?
Boom. Logic. The Milliken Principle is clearly a freshly minted portion of the Canadian constitution. Its overall use can be extrapolated to the government in general. We call the House of Commons by that name because it is the legislative body where communities across the nation gather to discuss policy. Nobody said it was the House of Rational Debate Among Fairly Elected Representatives of Communities Across Canada. For all his lawyer-ing and inquiry games, Mulcair doesn’t understand the fine print of governance.
Still, the pressure of the lame-stream “public servants should answer questions” media finally broke vanguard Calandra. Today, he showed remorse for his “passion” and “anger.” It’s a damned shame.
Only one question remains: did he answer the question?