Despite Speaker Geoff Regan’s valiant efforts to encourage members of Parliament to refrain from heckling in the House of Commons, Monday’s question period was raucous and tense.

The mood may have been set before question period even began with Conservative member of Parliament Tom Lukiwski’s member statement. Lukiwski summarized the film Free Willy and made a comparison between the story and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who represents Wascana Saskatchewan.

“Free Willy, Free Ralph,” said Lukiwski, chiding the government that members should be allowed to vote freely and support the Conservative’s pro-Energy East pipeline motion this evening.

Regan, in the first of many scoldings, reminded Lukiwski not to use members names in the House.

But that exchange was only the beginning of a series on the difficult subject of the Energy East pipeline.

Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr, in the absence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, defended the government’s decision to establish a new process and hold extensive consultations about the project before its approval. Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose pressed the government on why Trudeau won’t support their motion.

Ambrose charged that Trudeau “doesn’t actually value” jobs in the energy sector and questioned how he can be trusted to not “kill jobs.”

“I’m glad the honourable member brought up the matter of trust. It was a lack of trust in the regulatory process under the Conservatives’ regime that resulted in no pipelines built to tidewater in 2011,” said Carr.

Conservative member of Parliament Candice Bergen also piled on, “Here’s a quote – ‘Let me be very clear on Energy East. I am pro-pipeline. I am pro-Energy East. I am going to be an advocate for St. John. I am going to move forward whatever is best for our riding. Who said that? It was not the prime minister, in fact, it was the Liberal member for Saint John-Rothesay.” The MP for Saint John-Rothesay is Liberal Wayne Long.

Bergen asked that if the Liberal government will not support their motion tonight — Trudeau said last week he wouldn’t support it — will they “at least allow its members to have a free vote, like the member for New Brunswick, and stand up and keep his word to his constituents?”

“Mr. Speaker, there is no one in the House who speaks more clearly, more loudly, more passionately for the people of St. John as the member does. We hear it all the time,” said Carr.

Bergen said she’d “take that as a no.”

Jobs minister MaryAnn Mihychuk fielded multiple questions about union activity during the federal election campaign.

Conservative member of Parliament Gerard Deltell said the Liberal Party asked to hold an event with a union and that 23 people were paid to stand behind the prime minister during the event. Deltell asked the Liberal government to admit that bill C-4 is a way to help with illegal union fundraising.

Mihychuk said they are going to reset a fair balance with unions, but Deltell pushed further and said “that illegal event was not the only one there were two other ones the Liberal Party organized with the union.”

Prompting hooting and hollering from the opposite side, Mihychuk slipped and said she wanted to “thank the minister for his question.”

Mihychuk said in the incident with the union, the government worked with Elections Canada to remedy the problem, and C-4 will re-establish fairness and balance.

Picking up for Mihychuk, House Leader Dominic Leblanc said, “I hope members might agree with me that it is somewhat ironic for the Conservative Party to be talking about election law compliance. At the end of this event, nobody left in leg irons.”

Regan shushed members, “We’re going to hear things that are provocative, sometimes it’s hard not to react but I know we can do it. Let us restrain ourselves.”

The NDP raised the issue of the struggling manufacturing sector. Quoting a line Trudeau told a manufacturing worker on a CBC Q&A special Sunday night, NDP member of Parliament Niki Ashton said, “Telling unemployed workers to ‘hang in there’ is not going to cut it. People who are losing their jobs need help now — not in 2017 but according to the minister of social development some things have to wait.”

NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, following MP Pierre Nantel’s lead, was successful in pressing Heritage Minister Melanie Joly for an answer on the government’s commitment to invest $150 million annually in the CBC.

“We strongly believe in the importance of a public broadcaster and public-content creator in this 21st century and that’s why we will re-invest in CBC Radio-Canada — a platform commitment and we will abide by it,” said Joly.

Following an exchange between Minister for Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef and Conservative member of Parliament Scott Reid — and after one of Reid’s questions was shut down by the Speaker — Regan told the House, “I know we want more women Parliamentarians in the House of Commons and it is important to have a workplace that is civilized, so let us ensure it is not like a 1950s old boys club in here.”