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The Liberals say its hypocritical to defend the office since the NDP called for an inquiry in 2012 into a Bloc Québécois official in Montreal who was paid by the House of Commons. They want the House’s internal spending watchdog, the Board of Internal Economy, to take a closer look.

“If parliamentary staff, paid by the taxpayer, are working 250 kilometres away from Parliament Hill in an office that has an NDP logo on it, and it is paid for by the party, to me it’s pretty hard to make a case they are working on public business,” said Liberal House Leader Dominic LeBlanc.

“It seems to me that, on the face of it, it looks abusive.”

LeBlanc said if the NDP is using the office for any political operations, it could also run afoul of Elections Canada rules, as money contributed to it through MPs’ offices would effectively be illegal political contributions.

“Can you cross-subsidize staff working out of party offices?”

LeBlanc recently joined the Board of Internal Economy and was speaking as an MP, not on behalf of the board.

Under House of Commons bylaws, MPs can spend money only in relation to their parliamentary activities. Parties must fund purely political work themselves.

On Parliament Hill, the distinction between political work and parliamentary duties is often too narrow to discern. But staff whose salaries are paid by the House of Commons typically work within the parliamentary precinct in Ottawa or as constituency assistants in MPs’ riding offices.