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OTTAWA — The federal Liberals want to act on their ambitious legislative mandate, but they also hope to avoid looking like bullies when they do. As they retreat to their ridings for the next two days, here is a recap of how those competing interests recently came to a head.

The filibuster goes on and on

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More than a month ago now, government House leader Bardish Chagger released a discussion paper with suggestions for changing the ins and outs of parliamentary procedure, such as devoting one day a week for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take questions in the House of Commons. Their political rivals were cool to the ideas. Then things got really, really hot. On March 21, the Conservatives and New Democrats teamed up to keep talking — and talking and talking and talking — to prevent the procedures committee from voting on a motion that would require them to consider the paper and impose a deadline on its study. Chagger says she wants to start a “conversation” over the suggestions, but those on the other side say they first want assurances the Liberals won’t push through changes without agreement from the other parties. More than three weeks later, the impasse remains and the tensions have been colouring many of the interactions between the Liberals and their counterparts.