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The decision is illegal since members of Parliament are entitled, by law to exercise their parliamentary functions ‘wherever’

The party has maintained that putting House of Commons staff in Montreal made it easier to support the work of the 59 NDP MPs elected in Quebec in 2011. This saved travel costs of sending staff from Ottawa to Quebec to work.

“The [board] decision is absurd in the light of modern technologies that enable people to work everywhere,” the application says.

Although the party doesn’t know how much money is at stake – estimates put the cost of staffing the two offices since 2011 well into seven figures – the application for judicial review had to be filed within 30 days.

Party lawyer James Duggan said he expects this case will be joined with two other legal challenges launched by the party earlier this year, after another board decision requiring NDP MPs to repay a total of $1.3 million in mailings sent out through the House of Commons. The board determined the mailings broke rules.

The first issue to be dealt with in all three cases, Duggan said, is whether the Federal Court has jurisdiction over decisions made by a parliamentary committee.

“We take the position that this body has acted contrary to the rule of the law and in a partisan fashion which it was never intended to,” he said.

The board, which is supposed to monitor MP spending, is made up of Conservative, Liberal and NDP MPs. The New Democrats contend that the Liberals and Conservatives have teamed up on the committee and are using it for partisan purposes. The NDP has repeatedly called the board “a kangaroo court.”

The party filed the application in Montreal, on behalf of 51 NDP MPs, and names the Attorney General of Canada, the Board of Internal Economy and Speaker Andrew Scheer as respondents.

The application says the party will file affidavits to support the claim and requests that the board hand over all material related to its decision.

House of Commons staff who were working in the party’s offices on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in downtown Montreal are now working from home or from leader Tom Muclair’s constituency office in his Montreal riding.