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OTTAWA — The Liberals all but flipped off the lights on Canada’s Office of Religious Freedoms, voting Monday against a Tory motion to keep open the controversial post and saying that its stand alone status is over.

The writing has been on the wall for the office since the Liberals took power in November and were made aware its mandate and funding will expire at the end of this month. They’ve been signalling no new funding for the office in Tuesday’s budget.

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The office had been set up by the previous Conservative government in 2013, given its own ambassador and $5 million in funding to promote religious freedoms around the world. But it was controversial from the start.

Concerns were raised it was going too far in combining religion and politics. Having begun as a campaign promise some saw it as a ploy to win support from ethnic voters.