Ottawa

Aggressive federalism

Four Conservative MPs go to the Manitoba legislature to take issue with the Manitoba government.

Inside the house, Glover, Smith, Bezan and Hoeppner sat together stone-faced on a sofa on the floor of the chamber behind the Tory benches watching question period, when the immigration issue took centre stage. They either smiled or nodded their heads when their provincial counterparts defended Ottawa’s decision to manage the immigration program. They had to sit in the house because they could not get passes for the public gallery. 

Smith said she and her colleagues had no choice other than to come to the legislature instead of holding a press briefing at constituency offices or another location. “Today the MPs are coming in to straighten the story out,” Smith said. “The story has been totally misleading. It’s scaring people. We have to get that story straight.”

More here and here. The dispute carried over to Twitter last night between Jason Kenney and Pat Martin.

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