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Conservative leadership contender Kellie Leitch’s polling on whether newcomers to the country should be screened for their Canadian-ness has her Conservative competitors tying themselves in knots, and the chattering classes wondering if there is a growing market of voters who could be driven to cast ballots based on how they perceive immigrants.

The NDP has had its own existential crisis this week, leaving the federal political landscape with its two main opposition blocs consumed by internal disagreements.

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As they soul-search, the Liberals are edging ahead with new policies and approaches that could change the way we relate to the broader world.

Here are three ways federal politics affected Canadians this week:

Opposition disorder

Leitch’s persistence on identity politics forced several of her rivals into a corner, prompting them to engage on the touchy subject of how much newcomers to Canada should be pushed into being like the rest of us. The debate has shaken up the Conservative leadership race, with its ever-lengthening list of candidates, and drawn condemnation from some lifelong Tories worried the party will be scarred as intolerant.