EDMONTON—The noise over the use of earplugs in the legislature continued Monday, with the NDP accusing the government of changing its story about why it chose to break out the bits of foam during a late-night debate.

The earplugs started as a “lighthearted” attempt to boost morale, the United Conservatives say.

But as criticism of the move grew — with some arguing UCP MLAs’ use of the plugs to block out debate last week on a controversial labour bill was inappropriate — the government has also changed its tune, the Opposition NDP alleges.

On Monday, Opposition house leader Deron Bilous argued that Environment and Parks Minister Jason Nixon had intentionally misled members about the UCP’s use of earplugs during debate on Bill 9.

Bill 9 — the Public Sector Arbitration Deferral Act — is set to delay wage arbitration for around 180,000 workers in Alberta until the fall.

Before it was passed, debate over the bill raged for much of Wednesday and into the early hours of Thursday. The earplugs appeared around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when Premier Jason Kenney marched through the legislature handing them out to members.

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Reaction from the Opposition was swift. “I have never seen such disrespect,” Bilous said in a statement after the incident.

When asked the next morning, the premier’s office sent out a statement to media calling the move “a harmless and lighthearted attempt to boost government caucus morale after being forced to listen to the NDP’s insults, lies and over-the-top rhetoric for hours on end.”

Speaking with reporters, Nixon also called it a “light moment between our caucus,” but said none of the MLAs actually wore the earplugs during debate.

However, when Kenney went on CBC’s Power and Politics television program that day, he said he’d given the earplugs to a member with a hearing condition.

“We had a member with tinnitus who was sitting next to an Opposition member who was shouting repeatedly, clocked at nearly 100 decibels,” Kenney explained. “So, yeah, I gave him a pair of earplugs to reduce the volume …”

It’s this discrepancy that concerns Bilous, who questioned why Kenney told media that a member with tinnitus had worn earplugs, whereas Nixon had said no one used them.

“We believe that the voices of Albertans deserve to be heard in the house, which is why we are calling on the Speaker to rule that the premier and the house leader (Nixon) must apologize,” Bilous told reporters at a press conference.

However, when asked for clarification Monday, Nixon said he’d meant no cabinet members had worn the earplugs, and the member with tinnitus was not a member of cabinet.

Speaker Nathan Cooper said he would make a decision Tuesday about whether or not Nixon intentionally misled the house.

If a member is found in contempt, it’s up to the Speaker to decide on consequences.

In an already fiery legislative sitting, Bill 9 has emerged as one of the biggest sources of tension between the government and the Opposition so far.

Arbitration was scheduled for this month for public sector workers who took pay freezes in the first years of their contracts and had the right to a wage reopener and binding arbitration if needed.

The government has worked to push that deadline back, saying it’s waiting on a report on the province’s fiscal situation that’s due in mid-August, but Finance Minister Travis Toews wouldn’t guarantee arbitration would happen when asked by reporters.

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The UCP has already been accused of tuning out debate when the earplugs pushed the situation to a boiling point.

“First, the UCP cut off debate of this terrible bad-faith bargaining bill and then they literally drown out what little debate we have left with earplugs,” Bilous said.

In his own defence, Nixon said he found it “disappointing” that the Opposition was focusing on “frivolous” matters of legislative process.

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