MPs shoot from the lip in the House of Commons

There's no doubt about that unmistakable whiff of tension, anxiety and outrage on the breeze these days - silly season is once again blooming on Parliament Hill.

It started in the House of Commons, just before question period when MPs rose to make individual statements. Conservative MP Steven Blaney devoted his allotment of time to highlighting a bill on human trafficking that BQ MPs voted against.

He accused the Bloc of taking the side of criminals and not defending the rights of children. During his statement, Bloc MPs started to yell at the Conservatives and the government members screamed back. It continued throughout the following statement by NDP MP Niki Ashton, whose voice was drowned out in the verbal jabs volleying across the floor of the House.

The issue did not die out during question period either. Afterwards, BQ MP Marcel Guimond rose to make a point of order. He accused Blaney of misrepresenting the Bloc position on the aforementioned bill. All the while, the Conservatives responded with more heckling.

Guimond's breaking point was some kind of undecipherable (to me anyhow) insult from Conservative MP Shelly Glover. Guimond paused for a moment, told Glover to calm herself and then in French said, "holster your revolver Calamity Jane." Everyone on the opposition benches erupted in laughter. But on the Conservative benches, Glover glowered. She then rose on her own point of order, saying the truth is that the Bloc voted against a bill to protect Canada's women and children. Glover then said that Guimond, by calling her Calamity Jane, had insulted her as a female police officer. She said she was offended that anyone would imply she brought a gun into the House of Commons. Glover demanded Guimond retract his words and said the Liberals should also apologize for their applause.

No one apologized for anything. In fact, Liberal MP Jean-Claude D'Amours pledged never to apologize to Glover or anyone else for having his own opinions. Later, Bloc MP Serge Menard rose to explain the nuances of his party's position. He said they have problems with the section of the trafficking bill that deals with mandatory minimum sentences, not the entire proposal.

Menard's colleague, Nicole Demers, took a more emotional route. Identifying herself as a mother and grandmother, she lashed out at Glover, telling her it wasn't appropriate to misconstrue the Bloc position. She reminded her opponent that all MPs are democratically elected to ethically and honestly represent their constituents and deserve the respect of their colleagues. Glover wasn't heard from again before Speaker Peter Milliken stepped in and ended the points of order saying he would review everyone's complaints.