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OTTAWA — The silence from the Liberal side was noticeable. So were the raised eyebrows afterward.

Liberal MPs broke from longstanding tradition for a second straight day on Thursday by not clapping or otherwise showing their support whenever a government minister or parliamentary secretary responded during question period.

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There were a few exceptions, as some fell victim to old habits and heated emotions. But for the most part, the lack of applause or cheering from the government side during the 45-minute session was complete.

Liberals say the proposal was adopted by consensus during their weekly caucus meeting Wednesday, It was not ordered by Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc or Chief Government Whip Andrew Leslie and no particular incident sparked the change.

“It actually came from the caucus members themselves,” said backbencher Robert-Falcon Ouellette. “We’ve been talking about it for a long time. A lot of the new members were not very satisfied with the way the House of Commons functions.”