Stuck in the middle

Pierre Poilievre has a new seat, and other scenes from Parliament

Pierre Poilievre and caucus. Photo: The Canadian Press/ Adrian Wyld

Pierre Poilievre took his new seat in the House of Commons, opposite an absent prime minister’s desk. Melissa Lantsman sat to Poilievre’s left, Andrew Scheer to his right. This felt… accurate. To Lantsman’s left, a turbaned Tim Uppal. To Scheer’s right, Quebec lieutenant Pierre Paul-Hus. Mike Chong will be in most camera shots of Poilievre, sitting behind him. Erin O’Toole is in the front row too, or will be when he shows up, several rings outside the new leader’s inner circle but not shunned.

Poilievre harbours hopes of a revolution in Canadian governance. On his first day as this government’s chief critic, he had to content himself with feng shui. This is what the long haul feels like.

Parliament surrenders its ample secrets and limited pleasures reluctantly. As a lad, I used to look forward to the first day back in the House of Commons after a long break. The clash of ideas! In fact, sometimes ideas do clash. Even usefully. Even there. But rarely on the first day after a break.

It takes a few days for the opposition’s winning issues to reveal themselves. This process can’t be forced. It’s like bread rising. Thoughts, arguments, predicaments undergo chemical change under the light of TV cameras. You can’t predict which ones will be the life of a party.

Tuesday marked Pierre Poilievre’s debut as the Leader of Her [HONEST MISTAKE UPDATE, minutes later:] His! His! Majesty’s Official Opposition. Even before anything happened, everyone knew it wouldn’t particularly resound. Justin Trudeau is at the United Nations. Back Thursday, it’s said. Chrystia Freeland was in Toronto for Bill Graham’s funeral.

Let the new Conservative leader huff. Randy Boissonnault, Karina Gould, Terry Duguid, Carla Qualtrough and Julie Dabrusin were on hand to reply for the government. Some names extract drama from the very molecules of the air and hide it beyond hope of recovery. If a tree falls in the forest, is it having more fun than I did, watching this?