Stephen Harper’s point man won’t answer question about why he won’t answer questions

At this point, Stephen Harper’s Parliamentary Secretary might be better off slowly repeating his name and serial number whenever he’s on television.

Appearing on CBC’s Power and Politics on Wednesday evening, host Evan Solomon asked Paul Calandra if he thought it was “important when you’re answering in Question Period, to answer the question you’re asked, to give a reasonable answer as opposed to something that has literally nothing to do with the question you’re asked?”

The day before, Calandra had caused a collective face-palm across Canada when he repeatedly dodged questions from NDP leader Tom Mulcair, who was pressing for details of the government’s military plans in Iraq.

Calandra instead repeatedly declared his unwavering support for Israel, even though Israel had nothing to do with the questions.

The press reports of the exchange said it all.

Global-TV called it an “unreal exchange in House of Commons over Canada’s involvement in Iraq.” Maclean’s described Calandra as demonstrating “contempt for Parliament” and making a “mockery out of Parliament.”

“This is why Canadians hate Question Period,” Postmedia observed about Calandra’s performance.

So how did Calandra respond to Solomon’s question about whether he thinks it’s important to answer questions rather than talk about things that have literally nothing to do with the question you’re asked?

Calandra’s answer? The face-palm by NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar, sitting next to Calandra during the whole exchange, says it all.

Watch:

Photo: YouTube