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Rick Mercer Calls On Tories To Cut The Harper-Era Amnesia Shtick

And those "ridiculous" plot twists, too.

When it comes to issues like marijuana legalization and government transparency, Rick Mercer says the federal Tories are experiencing a glitch with their long-term collective memories.

In a new rant that aired Tuesday, the comedian unpacked his grievances with the return of Parliament and this year’s “awful” start to question period.

Focusing on interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, Mercer pointed to how she had vowed to rein in hecklers and promote more decorum in the House.

Ambrose told Maclean’s last year that Parliament is about “competing agendas,” but “there’s no need for anyone to be heckling each other.”

“Turns out she meant the opposite. They’re worse now than they ever were,” Mercer said.

On Monday, longtime Conservative MP Jason Kenney irritated Liberals with a heckle directed at Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. Kenney allegedly asked for an “English-to-English” translation of Sajjan's remarks on Canada's anti-ISIS mission.

“ ... the most ridiculous plot twist I have ever heard.”

Mercer also brought up Tony Clement’s calls for the Liberal government to be more transparent — a twist coming from a guy who took $50 million “earmarked for border security and secretly spent it on gazebos in Ontario’s cottage country" for the 2010 G8 summit.

Then the “Rick Mercer Report” host brought up marijuana legalization.

“The Conservatives are now mad that the Liberals haven't legalized marijuana yet,” he said. “That is the most ridiculous plot twist I have ever heard.”

He acknowledged it’s still early, but asked Ambrose to “stop pretending like the past 10 years” under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper “didn’t happen.”

“It's a democratic institution, not a soap opera; you just can't pretend the past decade, poof, was all a dream,” he said.

‘Really strange’ changes

In an interview with The Huffington Post Canada, Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner praised Ambrose’s “come to Jesus moment” on legalization.

He noted it’s “totally hypocritical” of the Tories to change their stance after nearly a decade of firm opposition against it.

“We [Liberal MPs] are doing our best not to heckle them, but when you see just the rank hypocrisy of what is coming out of the front bench of the Conservatives, you know their about-face on – pick a topic – [the inquiry on] missing and murdered aboriginal women, the long-form census …, it’s really strange,” Cuzner said.

With files from Althia Raj

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