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“I think the NDP have consistently disguised – misled the House administration as to where these employees were located,” said Conservative Whip John Duncan, a spokesman for the board.

“These employees were working in an office not authorized by the members’ bylaws. The board had determined tax dollars used to pay these employees were not a proper use of parliamentary resources.”

The New Democrat MPs will be asked to pay salaries and other costs back to the House, although the exact figure hasn’t been determined.

Speaking to reporters, Duncan delivered an unexpected bombshell: the board has also asked the House to refer its information to Elections Canada.

Some of the staff in the satellite office appear to have worked on the party’s campaign in a byelection in the downtown Montreal riding of Bourassa in November 2013 – a byelection eventually won by the Liberals – without any indication they took leave from the House of Commons to do so, Duncan said.

Duncan said that the names of several House of Commons staff working for NDP MPs could be found on the campaign spending report filed by the NDP candidate in Bourassa, Stéphane Moraille, though he did not identify which employees.

Typically, Hill staff who go to work on election campaigns must take leave from their House of Commons jobs and even temporarily turn in their parliamentary-issued cellphones and computers.

“As far as we can determine, there (were) no leaves of absence,” Duncan said.