OTTAWA - Members of Parliament were on their best behaviour Monday as they kicked off what they're promising will be a new era in political civility.
The first question period of the 41st Parliament was a tame affair.
Opposition MPs prefaced their questions, few of which were particularly tough or aggressive, with congratulations to Conservative government ministers for winning re-election on May 2. Ministers responded in kind and a few also took the opportunity to thank their constituents for their support.
"I thought it was a good start," Peter Van Loan, the government's House leader, said afterwards.
But will it last?
In the past, parliamentary sittings have invariably begun on a civil note, only to deteriorate within days into a cacophony of bitter recriminations, hyper-partisan mud-slinging and deafening heckling.
There was the odd sign Monday that the latest crop of MPs will eventually lapse into the sandbox behaviour politicians claim to deplore.
MPs from all parties periodically indulged in some subdued heckling. And Conservative MPs groaned audibly when NDP Leader Jack Layton reminded the House of Commons that 60 per cent of Canadians did not vote for Stephen Harper's government.
"In the election, Canadians clearly voted for change," Layton persisted. "And they clearly wanted members of Parliament to work together."
In his new role as head of the Official Opposition, Layton reiterated that his 103 MPS are committed to "work respectfully, to end heckling and to give this place the decorum it deserves. "
Prime Minister Harper, who was touring the flood-ravaged Richelieu region of Quebec, was not present for the inaugural question period of his first majority mandate. But Van Loan said the government is looking forward to "meaningful, thoughtful and focused" debates on its policies -- for which he pointedly noted the Conservatives have "a clear mandate."
Van Loan prompted laughter on opposition benches when he said Conservatives laid out during the election campaign "exactly what we would do to Canadians." He quickly corrected himself ... "for Canadians."
Veteran Liberal MP Denis Coderre was the most combative of the questioners, pillorying Harper for refusing to let the military help with flood clean-up efforts in Quebec. He accused the prime minister of showing "as much empathy as someone having a tooth pulled without anesthetic."
For the most part, the mood was celebratory and self-congratulatory.
Bob Rae used his first statement as interim Liberal leader to pay tribute to Michael Ignatieff, who resigned as leader after losing his seat in the May 2 debacle that reduced the once-mighty Liberals to a third party rump of only 34 MPs.
From his seat in the nether regions of the Commons, Rae praised his onetime college roommate and latter-day leadership rival as someone who "served in this House with great distinction and who served the people of Canada with great ability."
