Well, since ITQ has been deprived, albeit temporarily, of tender, juicy committees to which to bring her unique liveblogging ministrations, she may as well hit the Foyer for the first — wait, no, make that second — post-QP scrums of the Post Coderre Era (to be styled ‘PCE’ on second reference). She’ll be reporting live from the chaos, so check back after 3pm for full coverage, provided she doesn’t suffer from permanent and debilitating neck crickage brought on by insufficient height.
Well, since ITQ has been deprived, albeit temporarily, of tender, juicy committees to which to bring her unique liveblogging ministrations, she may as well hit the Foyer for the first — wait, no, make that second — post-QP scrums of the Post Coderre Era (to be styled ‘PCE’ on second reference). She’ll be reporting live from the chaos, so check back after 3pm for full coverage, provided she doesn’t suffer from permanent and debilitating neck crickage brought on by insufficient height.
2:57:27 PM
Okay, this time, I’m going to do my best to make it to the mics in sufficient time to actually hear what’s going on, although it’s still a bit of a challenge when one is surrounded by such hulking and/or looming colleagues. Coderre, apparently, isn’t in the House — insert heartfelt collective moan of disappointment from the assembled masses here — but that’s not going to stop us from asking everyone else who comes within boom range what *they* think.
I mean, if you’re not overly rigid in your definitions, that security guard could totally be a senior party strategist. I bet he has thoughts!
3:01:12 PM
Team NDP is out in force today, I should note. You’ve got to think that they’re pinching themselves with glee over the latest turn of events — rather than spending the week explaining why *their* upcoming abstention from the confidence vote is wholly pure and selfless, unlike when the Liberals did it (49 times), when it proved they were the Conservatives’ unindicted co-conspirators.
3:04:27 PM
Gilles Duceppe is the first leader out of the gate, which means that ITQ will be hanging back, since there’s not much point in squeezing out a French reporter just to not understand 40 percent of what he says. The feeling in the Foyer, incidentally, is that the Liberals may have calmed down, at least more than we were hoping they’d do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t whip them back into a frenzy!
3:08:17 PM
Loiter, loiter, loiter. Ooh, we’re apparently getting Marc Garneau to discuss “the Quebec situation,” which is sort of fitting, considering he was at ground zero of Outremont v1.0
Unfortunately, he, too, is so soft spoken as to be virtually inaudible even from just a few inches away. He does seem to be quite adamant that it’s an ‘exaggeration’ to say that the whole party is in free fall — it’s too bad that he left, but it’s not the end of the world. Oh, he *would* say that.
3:11:40 PM
Interesting how no Liberals – well, none with names – have been willing to say a bad word about Coderre.
Also, Garneau doesn’t think Coderre’s charge that the party is being run out of Toronto is quite as damaging as it is being portrayed — Coderre said a few things that he shouldn’t have, and got a bit out of sorts, but the party is stronger and more unified than it’s ever been. Hey, that’s him talking, not ITQ. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Oh, and he – Coderre – was also ‘exhausted’, hence the unfortunate candour.
3:13:39 PM
Item: Ignatieff is going to Monreal tonight, although Garnerau doesn’t know if he has, or will, talk to Coderre.
3:15:20 PM
“The party is not crumbling to the ground,” Garneau persists in telling us. “Let’s keep this in persective.” Way to wreck our day three follow, sir. He also rhymes off a few Francophone names of OLO staffers to demonstrate that the party is not – not – being run from Toronto. Although at the moment, you can see why anyone not from there might want to suggest that it was, if only to avoid taking the blame.
3:17:37 PM
So, why did Coderre decide to go all drama queen yesterday, then? “It might have something to do with his ego,” Garneau says — he’s the chair of the Quebec caucus, by the way. “These things happen, and it’s not the end of the world.” As for the Rosedale charge, he notes that there are “a lot of people who care about Quebec” in the party, and they shouldn’t be totally left out of the decision. “It’s not hermetically sealed.”
3:19:59 PM
Argh. Briefly led astray to the other mic by what looked like a lively scrum with CIDA minister Bev Oda, ITQ, it turns out, still can be tricked; it was something about a good news announcement involving the Philippines, and no, I don’t know what *that* has to do with Denis Coderre. Honestly.
3:21:44 PM
Is that it, as far as leaders? Doesn’t the NDP have some sanctimonious smugging to do for the cameras?
3:22:18 PM
Oh, here’s Charlie Angus, who is, ITQ should note, never, ever smug although he does have a tendency towards overearnestness; he seems to want some sort of investigation into the disposition of crown assets, although I’m not sure whether he means ceremonial teapots from Rideau Hall, or the CBC. That’s the problem with tuning into a scrum already in progress, although the context ITQ comes up with in her head is usually far more interesting than the reality.
3:27:19 PM
You know, that may actually be it for scrums — the stream of MPs exiting the House appears to have ended.
And right on time, there go the lights, which means that as far as TV is concerned, we’re done for the day. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any late arrivals, and update if necessary, but that’s all for now.