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He was forced to concede the fact as he apologized time and time again during question period Monday. The opposition parties, sniffing blood, called for his resignation.

Rona Ambrose, the interim Conservative leader, accused him of intentionally misleading Canadians about his service record in a fashion that people in the military call “stolen valour.” She said he has lost the confidence of men and women in uniform and should resign. If he does not, she said Justin Trudeau should ask for his resignation.

The law of the parliamentary jungle is such that when you’ve been weakened and are a potential liability to the pack, you’re on your own

The prime minister provided all the political cover he was prepared to, when he said Sajjan still has his full confidence.

But the law of the parliamentary jungle is such that when you’ve been weakened and are a potential liability to the pack, you’re on your own.

Noticeably, Trudeau refused to stand and defend his minister when Tom Mulcair, the NDP interim leader, piled on.

“The Minister of Defence has told a whopper about his record. That’s not something for which you apologize, it’s something for which you step down,” thundered Mulcair.

All the while, Sajjan cut a bedraggled figure, repeatedly mumbling his apology, as he was disemboweled by every Conservative MP with a military base in their riding.

“Bald-faced lie,” was the refrain that greeted him from across the aisle, as he rose to say that his comments were not intended to diminish the roles of his former colleagues.

Sympathy was in short supply after Candice Bergen, the Conservative House leader, pointed out that the minister made the “architect” claim more than once, stating during the 2015 election campaign that General Jonathan Vance, now chief of the defence staff, had once labelled him that. “That’s not a mistake, that’s a fabrication,” charged Bergen.