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But instead of marking the formal return to hyper-partisan politics as usual, that Wednesday turned out to be the darkest hour before the dawn.

The very next day, Liberal House leader Dominic LeBlanc announced that the government was dropping its bid to give itself virtually unlimited power to dictate how the House goes about its business.

Shortly after MPs returned from the Victoria Day recess, the New Democrat MP who found herself on the wrong end of the prime ministerial elbow advised the committee investigating it that she had accepted Trudeau’s apology and considered the matter closed.

Meanwhile, by the end of this week, the Liberals had agreed to give up their demand for majority control over the electoral committee and instead throw their support behind an NDP counterproposal that will divvy up the seats based on the share of the vote received by each party in the 2015 election.

Perhaps most unexpected, however, was the explanation for the change of heart provided by Trudeau himself while taking questions from media at an Ottawa hospital Thursday.

“We heard the opposition concern that we were behaving, perhaps, in a way that was resembling more the previous government than the kind of approach and tone that we promised throughout the electoral campaign,” he admitted.

“We’re happy to demonstrate that … we’re looking for ways to better work with our colleagues in the House.”

Even for a prime minister prone to off-the-cuffing his way through media interviews, it was a rare show of candour, albeit one also that included a not particularly subtle shot at his predecessor, who tended to be far less willing to publicly acknowledge missteps.