A few minutes before Question Period got underway in the House of Commons today, as MPs were arriving and settling into their seats, Prime Minister Stephen Harper walked across the green-carpeted aisle that divides the House of Commons and, warmly smiling, reached out to shake Michael Ignatieff's hand, presumably to congratulate him on the results of the Liberal convention over the weekend in Vancouver at which Iggy officially became the Leader of the Opposition. BQ Leader Gilles Duceppe and Transport Minister John Baird also walked over to shake Iggy's hand.
And then, it was game on. Here's the play-by-play:
Mr. Michael Ignatieff (Leader of the Opposition, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, employment insurance is not working in this country and there are some key issues that need to be fixed: access, benefit levels, maternity leave, fairness across regions and the status of the self-employed. Will the Prime Minister commit to launching an independent examination of these issues and present concrete proposals for reform before the House rises in June?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the Liberal Party should know, Canada has a very generous system of employment insurance that was, in fact, enhanced in the most recent economic action plan of this government. I am perplexed by the sudden interest of the Liberal Party in NDP employment insurance policy. I guess the reason to borrow this is to create a diversion from the reaffirmation at the Liberal convention of the carbon tax. It is not any better an idea the second time around.
Ignatieff: Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister believes in magic thinking. He believes that if one repeats a falsehood constantly, it becomes true. It does not. It remains a falsehood. On employment insurance, there is one problem that can be fixed right now. There are 58 standards of eligibility for EI across the country. That makes eligibility depend on where one lives and that is wrong. Will the Prime Minister commit to an immediate 360 hour national standard of eligibility for employment insurance while this crisis lasts?
Harper: Mr. Speaker, once again, the leader of the Liberal Party will know that that is a long-time policy of the New Democratic Party, not of the Liberal Party. When we are talking about saying things that are true, I am only quoting the leader of the Liberal Party himself, who has said repeatedly that he wants to “raise taxes”. I know he is being honest. He is just honestly wrong.
Ignatieff: Mr. Speaker, for a prime minister who levied a punitive tax on income trusts, that is really something. Dès aujourd'hui, le premier ministre peut venir en aide aux milliers de chômeurs qui ne sont pas éligibles pour l'assurance-emploi en ce moment. Pourquoi ne s'engage-t-il pas immédiatement à créer un seuil national d'éligibilité de 360 heures?
Harper: Monsieur le Président, ce parti a demandé au Parti libéral de donner ses suggestions pour le Plan d'action économique en janvier. Nous n'avons pas reçu de suggestion. Au lieu de cela, nous avons bonifié les prestations d'assurance-emploi. Let me just go back to this issue of the tax fairness package, which was a big net tax cut to Canadians, brought down business tax rates across the board and for the first time in history brought in income splitting for the pensioners of this country. That party voted against it. This party voted for it because we believe in cutting taxes.
Here's my story on today in QP.