The QP Clip: Gerald Keddy’s lazy answer

Sometimes it’s worth showing the country the worst side of its Parliament. The people who don’t even try to have what’s generally considered a reasonable exchange. The government that has so little of substance to say that its spokesmen take the time to dig up 35 seconds worth of opposition research meant to shame the questioner. Today, the laziest MP was Gerald Keddy, the parliamentary secretary to International Trade Minister Ed Fast.

Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland asked a legitimate question about the government’s inability to finalize a free trade deal with the European Union. Keddy’s response: talk about Freeland’s attendance record at a parliamentary committee.

An excerpt from our liveblog:

Later, when NDP MP Guy Caron asked about the same trade deal, Keddy could barely respond before heckles from the opposition benches drowned him out. Witness Speaker Andrew Scheer’s disappointment in his colleagues.