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Conservative MP Andrew Saxton speaks as he is surrounded by a sea of red Olympic mittens during Question Period in the House of Commons on Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 5:26 PM

Olympic mittens and 1-800-Mike-Duffy

Jane Taber

Flu, guns and, 1-800-Mike-Duffy - Question Period had it all today, including props, as Tory MPs, with the exception of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, put on red Olympic mittens and waved their hands to mark 100 days until the Vancouver Games.

Later, NDP Leader Jack Layton and his MPs announced they are giving up the 65 Olympic tickets allotted to their caucus for purchase. Mr. Layton says his MPs will wait in line like everyone else.

Now, where to start?

Flu: Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accused the Tories of pushing back availability timelines from November to Christmas, making everything so unpredictable local authorities are unable to plan.

“When will the Prime Minister take his responsibilities and give provinces and territories the predictability they need, but also the resources?”

Mr. Harper said six million doses have so far gone to the provinces and territories with 1.8 million more following next week.

Guns: The issue of the controversial vote tonight to abolish the long-gun registry was covered off by Conservative MP James Bezan, who asked Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan to remind opposition MPs about the importance of putting an end to “the Liberals' billion dollar boondoggle.”

A challenging request for a Tory but Mr. Van Loan was clearly up to the task, noting that the registry does a good job of “harassing law-abiding hunters and farmers and it does a good job of wasting money.”

1-800-Mike-Duffy: This was a rather comical exchange between deputy NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Transport Minister John Baird.

It began with Mr. Mulcair reminding the Tories of their promise four years ago to govern differently than the Liberals.

“No more cronyism; dozens of Conservative lobbyists, thousands of contracts. No more Senate stuffing; 1-800-Mike Duffy. All that they have changed is that we now have the Conservative logo on the same old Liberal sleaze.”

Not the case, said Mr. Baird, who proceeded to list off all of the accomplishments of the government, concluding (and this may be a bit of political exaggeration) that the Prime Minister and “this government are providing one of the most ethical governments in our history.”

Question Period ended on a note of civility with all parties paying tribute to the late Romeo LeBlanc, former governor-general, senator, MP and father of Dominic LeBlanc, who listened from his seat on the Liberal bench.

Once the tributes ended, however, the Liberals popped back to take umbrage with the mitten caper, accusing the Tories of using props in the Commons (a no-no). To add insult to injury, Liberal whip Rodger Cuzner noted, the mitts were made in China and being worn by government members who say they stand up for Canadian jobs.

Speaker Peter Milliken said he wasn’t surprised by where the mitts were made. However, the use of props rattled him.

“I was shocked so many members were using props, which we know we have trouble with.”

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Ottawa Notebook Contributors

Jane Taber, senior political writer

Jane Taber

Jane Taber has been on Parliament Hill since the Mulroney days, first writing for the Ottawa Citizen in 1986. Since then, she's reported for a small television network, WTN, and for the National Post before joining The Globe’s parliamentary bureau in 2002. She is the senior political writer and also co-host of Question Period, which airs Sundays on CTV.

 
John Ibbitson

John Ibbitson

John Ibbitson started at The Globe in 1999 and has been Queen's Park columnist and Ottawa political affairs correspondent. Most recently, he was a correspondent and columnist in Washington, where he wrote Open and Shut: Why America has Barack Obama and Canada has Stephen Harper. He returned to Ottawa as bureau chief in 2009. Before joining The Globe, he worked as a reporter, columnist and Queen’s Park correspondent for Southam papers.

 

Steven Chase

Steven Chase has covered federal politics in Ottawa for The Globe since mid-2001. He's previously worked in the paper's Vancouver and Calgary bureaus. Prior to that, he reported on Alberta politics for the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and on national issues for Alberta Report. He's had ink-stained hands for far longer though, having worked as a paperboy for the (now defunct) Montreal Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Vancouver Sun and the North Shore News.

 
Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Campbell Clark

Campbell Clark

Campbell Clark has been a political writer in The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau since 2000. Before that he worked for The Montreal Gazette and the National Post. He writes about Canadian politics and foreign policy. He stopped being fascinated by ShamWow commercials after that guy’s nasty incident in Florida, but still wonders if one can really pull a truck with that Mighty Putty stuff.

 

Bill Curry

A member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery since 1999, Bill Curry worked for The Hill Times and the National Post prior to joining The Globe in Feb. 2005. Originally from North Bay, Ont., Bill reports on a wide range of topics on Parliament Hill. He is very protective of the office copy of Marleau & Montpetit.

 

Gloria Galloway

Gloria Galloway has been a journalist for almost 30 years. She worked at the Windsor Star, the Hamilton Spectator, the National Post, the Canadian Press and a number of small newspapers before being hired by The Globe and Mail as deputy national editor in 2001. Gloria returned to reporting two years later and joined the Ottawa bureau in 2004. She has covered every federal election since 1997 and has done several tours in Afghanistan.

 

Daniel Leblanc

Daniel Leblanc studied political science at the University of Ottawa and journalism at Carleton University. He became a full-time reporter in 1998, first at the Ottawa Citizen and then in the Ottawa bureau of The Globe and Mail. While he likes the occasional brown envelope, he is also open to anonymous emails.

 

Stephen Wicary

Stephen Wicary has been with The Globe since 2001, working on the news desk as a copy editor, page designer, production editor and front page editor. During the U.S invasion of Iraq, he pulled a three-month stint as overnight editor of the website. He moved to the parliamentary bureau at the end of 2008 to bolster online political coverage.