The news that the Prime Minister’s Office orchestrated a Parliament Hill protest against Justin Trudeau earlier this month — with the help of some Tory interns — sparked a lot of chatter on Tuesday.
A lot of chatter.
HuffPost learned the PMO directed Conservative interns and staff to crash a press conference by the Liberal leader, outside Parliament near the Centennial Flame, where Trudeau announced new measures to increase transparency in the House of Commons.
The revelations come hot on the heels of a Barrie newspaper outing the PMO for leaking unflattering information about Trudeau’s speaking fees.
"It is the latest revelation about the lengths to which Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office — the nerve centre of the federal government — will go to meddle in partisan politics," wrote HuffPost Ottawa bureau chief, Althia Raj.
What’s more, it appears requests for information about the event sent to the RCMP and Heritage Canada were passed on to the PMO. Sergeant Julie Gagnon said she had no explanation for how the PMO would have known about the media request.
The entire episode struck a nerve with many taking to Twitter to lambaste the "frat house" vibe in the Prime Minister’s Office, where young Tories may be in need of "adult supervision."
Others suggested the faux protest was not unlike those Liberals once directed at the New Democratic Party.
Check the gallery below for a small sample of reactions.