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Ms. Redford entered a caucus meeting in Edmonton with at least one minister unwilling to say he supported her, and suggesting she was about to face a jury of her political peers. She exited still in charge, but amid suggestions 20 to 25 MLAs were deeply disturbed by Ms. Redford’s leadership style.

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“The one MLA said ‘bring it on’ or something to that effect,” said Mr. Stones. The would-be brawl was apparently defused after speaker Gene Zwozdesky told the members to “take it outside.”

In its letter to the assembly, the grade 6 teachers of Innisfail Middle School said they had brought their students to Edmonton to instill them with a “a sense of respect and … desire” for democratic principles, but instead saw that “behavior that is not acceptable at school is commonplace in the Legislature.”

“Reluctantly,” wrote the teachers “we have decided that although we will still visit the Legislature, we will not take our students into Session.”

As Mr. Stones told the National Post, “going to question period doesn’t help us achieve the goal of showing how important the democratic process is.”

“It becomes more like entertainment,” he said.

Although the teacher’s complaint was drafted in November, it only came to light on Wednesday when Speaker Zwozdesky read it to the Assembly in an attempt to chastise members.

Liberal house leader Laurie Blakeman, however, would not have it.

“We are there to vigorously debate public policy. And I think we’d all be a little upset if you look down to the assembly floor and everybody was sitting there quiet as a mouse with their hands folded in their laps,” she told Postmedia.