By Canadian Press

Genuis says consuming alcohol ‘hardly’ the most important event from evening

Oct 31, 2018 | 2:47 PM

OTTAWA — Federal Tories are fessing up to having a few drinks during a meeting on Parliament Hill Tuesday night, where the Liberals moved to oust new Conservative MP Leona Alleslev from her position as chair.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis says he did in fact drink some alcohol alongside Conservative staffers at the meeting of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association.

Genuis says there are regular events on Parliament Hill in which MPs, staff and journalists consume alcohol, but the key is that it’s consumed legally and responsibly, which he says was the case Tuesday night.

“However, I hardly think this is the most important or newsworthy event from the evening.”

In a video obtained by Global News, Conservative staffers and Genuis are seen pouring from a clear bottle into red plastic cups and singing Stan Rogers’ Barrett’s Privateers, whose lyrics they appeared to read from binders.

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The drinking and singing was triggered by the Liberals’ move to oust Alleslev from the head of the parliamentary group, to which the Tories objected. She crossed the floor to join the Tories last month.

The governing Liberals decided to replace Alleslev with Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj.

The Canadian Press