Political Dodgeball: Reacting to Rathgeber and yoga with Justin Trudeau

OTTAWA – The topic to avoid this week, at least on the government side, was the departure of Edmonton MP Brent Rathgeber from the Conservative caucus.

Rathgeber is sitting as an independent after the government gutted his private member’s bill that would have made the salaries of bureaucrats public if they were over $188,000. A House committee raised that threshold to $444,000.

Fed up by the control of MPs from the Prime Minister’s Office, Rathgeber wrote in a blog post that the party has abandoned its Conservative principles and has “morphed into what we once mocked.”

While a few of his colleagues stopped to wish him well, support his bill or disagree with his decision, most raced silently past the cameras.

As an added bonus this week, what do you get when you mix yoga, protesters and Justin Trudeau?

Answer: A press conference that shows how unpredictable things can get outside of the foyer of the House of Commons.

The Liberal leader shook things up on caucus day by taking his media availability outside – an event that happened to coincide with the weekly yoga session on Parliament Hill.

Channeling his surroundings, Trudeau stayed zen when protesters showed up knocking his position on the Senate – a demonstration broken up by the RCMP due to lack of permits.

After wrapping up his remarks, Trudeau walked back up to Parliament stopping to take photos and striking a yoga pose along the way.

Produced by Michael Haslett