The question was about Iraq. The answer was about Israel.
The follow-up question was about Iraq. The follow-up answer was about... well, you get the point.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair stood in Parliament and asked three successive questions about Canada’s role in Iraq: when it will end, how many troops are on the ground, and the nature of an agreement with Iraq.
Each “answer” was about Israel. The star of the exchange — which felt like bad Saturday Night Live — was Conservative MP and stranger to relevance Paul Calandra.
Calandra’s last contribution to Parliament was when he took time to bash Liberals for abandoning Santa Claus. Seriously.
In retrospect, the situation was troubling even before the MP opened his mouth. Sending out Calandra was the parliamentary equivalent of a hockey coach dispatching his toughest goon during a blowout loss.
Calandra isn’t a member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, nor is he minister of defence. His only job, it seems, is to change the subject.
Even if we accept the strained logic that distinguishes question period from question-and-answer period, the Conservatives still owe real answers — not to the NDP, but to Canada.
The Conservative majority needs to explain just how Canada’s troops will aid U.S. forces in ending terrorism in Iraq and bringing peace to the region.
To be fair, the U.S. did negotiate a successful ceasefire in Iraq on March 1. Of course, that was in 1991.
