In its length, in its cost and in its debate schedule, this election is unusual. The first and possibly only real debate of the campaign ended and here are the highlights of what happened.

A Huffington Post review of Elections Quebec records shows Conservative and NDP MPs have donated to separatist causes since 2000. A review of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s days as a Reform MP reveals he pushed Jean Chretien’s Liberal government to accept a 50%+1 majority result during the 1995 Quebec referendum.

Canada’s veterans are fuming over the Conservative government’s recent decision to close 8 offices and merge veterans’ services with Service Canada. After a recent fallout with Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, who refuses to reconsider the closures, veterans are urging Canadians to give the Tories the boot in 2015.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau turned the Senate and pundits on their heads this week following his announcement that Liberal Senators would cease to sit in the Liberal caucus in a bid to remove patronage and partisanship from the scandal-plagued Upper Chamber.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau told the Federation of Canadian Municipalities yesterday in Vancouver, the only way to restore public trust in public officials is to “raise the bar” on accountability. He also told the audience he is not in favour of the status quo in the senate and explained his stance on opening the constitution. Trudeau announced plans to announce new transparency measures in the near future.

Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux wants future political ads to end with an approval message from their leaders, a move that would make some of Harper’s personal attacks on the Liberals and NDP seem ridiculous. Imagine how powerful a message like “just visiting” or “in over his head” would be if it ended with “I’m Stephen Harper and I approve this message.” The new rule would apply to all parties and will be presented in a private member’s bill.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to be in Question Period yesterday but decided not to show up. The opposition has many questions and if the scandal wasn’t already noticeable, his absence was even more notable. Conservative MPs were left to scramble to find answers, usually attacking opponents over controversies of their own, Trudeau’s senate comments and the NDP MP that’s known for not paying taxes.

Speaker Andrew Scheer ruled on Conservative backbench MP Mark Warawa’s complaint finding that his parliamentary privilege had not been violated by Conservative muzzling and effectively left the door open for these 12 MPs to either revolt, leave the party, or vote for a Liberal motion on the topic tomorrow.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is giving Conservative backbench MPs a chance to defy the Harper government’s whip powers with a bill that would strip the whip of determining who can speak. The motion will be put to a vote next week and the 9 MPs whom are exposing divisions between the Conservative ranks and their henchmen will be put to the test.