Liberals' Near-Miss On Air Canada Vote Too Close For Comfort

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Liberals' Near-Miss On Air Canada Vote Too Close For Comfort

[ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/16 ... ref=canada ]

CP | By Joanna Smith, The Canadian Press Posted: 05/17/2016 7:38 am EDT Updated: 05/17/2016 7:59 am EDT

OTTAWA — The man in charge of organizing Liberal votes in the House of Commons was breathing a sigh of relief Monday after narrowly averting disaster on the government's proposed Air Canada legislation.

"My blood pressure was a little higher than usual," said Liberal MP Andrew Leslie, the chief government whip, after the opposition pulled a procedural trick to bring about a snap vote on Bill C-10, which proposes changes to the Air Canada Public Participation Act.

Speaker Geoff Regan ended up having to break a 139-to-139 tie, voting with the government, as Liberal MPs raced back to Parliament Hill from around the city, many of them stuck in traffic.

Several cabinet ministers were attending the inaugural meeting of the government's economic advisory council north of Ottawa in Chelsea, Que., while others were away for family funerals.

"They all dropped whatever they were doing and scampered here just as fast as they possibly could," Leslie said.

"But yes, it was a very close call. Too close, actually."

Both the Conservatives and the New Democrats, who had supported each other in a collective opposition bid to outwit the Liberals, laid the blame for the near miss squarely on the shoulders of the government.

'Another troubling sign'

"We're already seeing debate being shut down and committee time being abbreviated. Now they're not paying attention to what's going on in the House, (which) I think is another troubling sign," said Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair chalked it up to arrogance.

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