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OTTAWA — One of the longest House of Commons committee filibusters in the last 10 years was the recent marathon attempt by the Liberals to prevent the prime minister's chief of staff from testifying about foreign interference.
Telford eventually agreed to testify sometime this week, following mounting pressure from the Conservatives, who had support from the New Democrats and Bloc Québécois. The idea is predicated on the notion that ministers run the show. But Alex Marland, a professor of political science at Memorial University of Newfoundland, said staffers have absorbed new powers, and in some cases, even cut ministers out of what they're doing.
Staffers often use social media to amplify government messages, becoming public figures in their own right, Marland said, at times getting involved in the political fray. It has become quite common for government staff to testify at committees, though that is a departure from how Westminster systems of Parliament typically operate. Telford herself has appeared before, as have chiefs of staff for former Conservative prime ministers Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney.
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