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May 19th, 2016

NDP forces reversal on liberal power grab

OTTAWA – New Democrats welcome the Liberal government's decision to reverse their lastest attempt to strong-arm Parliament.

At the start of this week, Liberals introduced Motion 6, a motion that if passed, would have robbed MPs of many of the tools they use to do their work and represent Canadians. In an unprecendent show of unity the opposition parties joined together in pressuring the government to reverse their decision.

"This was a power grab, plain and simple," said NDP House Leader MP Peter Julian. "After promising 'Sunny Ways' and working with other parties, Liberals were ready to go futher than any government before and put a straitjacket on parliament."

New Democrats have called for the government to go beyond today's reversal by ending the use of time allocation motions to force legislation through without the necessary debate. They have also asked the government to stop rejecting constructive amendments to legislation and end the majority Liberal control in their staked democratic reform proposal.

"This was an important victory for all Canadians," added Julian. "The Liberals tried to silence their voices but we forced the government to back down."