CBCnews

Jack's done this before

Adding to the almost festive air in the Commons, BQ leader Gilles Duceppe stood up for his first question — to wild applause from NDP and the Liberals.

Political Bytes

Rosemary Barton

The NDP even stood to applaud him. So did at least a handful of Liberals.

The government's answers up to now been full-scale attacks on just how such a disparate group of coalition partners could work together.

As well as pointing out that it would never enter into an agreement with the "separatists."

When it was Jack Layton's turn to ask a question, he, too, received a round of applause and at least a partial ovation from the Liberal party.

When the prime minister accused Layton of folding his party into another party and making a deal with the separatists, Layton fired back, pointing to the letter he signed with then Opposition leader Stephen Harper in 2004, when their two parties proposed to the Governor General that they could replace the Martin government.

Rosemary Barton