OTTAWA -- It was a week of semantic satiation in Ottawa, with politicos parsing "anti-Canadian values" so many times that the phrase seemed to become almost meaningless.
Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch's polling on whether newcomers to the country should be screened for their Canadian-ness has her Conservative competitors tying themselves in knots, and the chattering classes wondering if there is a growing market of voters who would be driven to cast ballots based on how they perceive immigrants.
The NDP has had its own existential crisis this week, leaving a federal political landscape with its two main opposition blocs consumed by internal disagreements over what their parties stand for and how they should seize the future.
As they soul-search, the Liberals are edging ahead with new policies and approaches that could change the way we relate to the broader world.
Here are three ways federal politics affected Canadians this week:
OPPOSITIONAL DISORDER
Leitch's persistence on identity politics forced several of her rivals into a corner this week, prompting them to engage on the touchy subject of how much newcomers should be pushed into being like the rest of us. The debate has shaken up the Conservative leadership race, with its ever-lengthening list of candidates, and drawn condemnation from some lifelong Conservatives worried that the party will be scarred as intolerant.
It wasn't the only party wrestling with its internal dynamics.
New Democrats are limping along in the polls and in fundraising efforts after a low-profile summer. Now, as MPs gear up for their annual caucus retreat, the near-term future of leader Tom Mulcair is very much in question.
He lost the confidence of the broader party last spring, but the caucus agreed to let him stay on as leader until a new one is chosen in October 2017. Now, some former and current MPs are having second thoughts and are not-too-quietly advocating for his immediate departure.
But who would take over? Unlike the Conservatives with its growing list of leadership candidates, the NDP has exactly zero so far.
Both parties realize, however, that if they don't find unity of purpose soon, they risk giving the Liberals carte blanche in the House of Commons just as their policy agenda gears up.
THE ALLURE OF CHINA
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned from a lengthy, high-profile trip to China on Wednesday that was meant to reset the relationship with that country, open the door for business and investment, and trumpet Canada's approach to fiscal policy on the world stage provided by the G20 summit in Hangzhou.
For Canadians, the government's ultimate aim with China is rooted in its economic agenda. Canada, like much of the Western world, is desperate to find new ways to get out of the economic doldrums and consistently register stronger growth. Tapping into the burgeoning Chinese middle class, and into Asia in general, is key.
Did Trudeau accomplish what he set out to do? He signed on to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank -- a big ask from China. He won a temporary reprieve for Canadian canola producers who were facing a ban.
At the start of the trip, he spoke openly and critically about China's human rights record -- and was taken to task by the state-owned media, which pointed to Canada's own record with Aboriginal Peoples. By the end of the trip, Trudeau was also pointing critically to Canada's record with Aboriginal Peoples.
At the G20, while there was no overt recognition for Canada's fiscal policy approach, the group's final communique was in sync with Canada's quest to promote growth through infrastructure investment, using short-term deficits if need be.
Will any of these developments tighten the ties between the two countries in a productive way? It will take years to determine whether Canada gave more than it gained.
THE SKINNY ON CABLE TV
The broadcast regulator's plans to have cable television providers offer a "skinny basic" package of television choices are off to a bumpy start.
The CRTC told cable companies last year they had to offer the slimmed-down package for less than $25 a month in order to provide consumers with affordable options. But six months into the experiment, the CRTC has been getting an earful from consumers who have complained that service providers are finding other ways to squeeze money out of them, attaching extra conditions to the skinny basic packages.
This week, the regulator reconvened all the major players to let them know they were being closely watched.
But as the delivery of television and video becomes more digital, more varied and more sophisticated, how long can the regulator hold sway?
