A verbal dust-up in the House of Commons almost wound up in a bench-clearing brawl.
Peter Van Loan, the government's House leader, appeared to set off the incident Wednesday when he stormed across the floor of the Commons to confront his NDP counterpart, Nathan Cullen, over an NDP attempt to have a vote on the government's omnibus budget bill ruled invalid.
Van Loan waved his finger at Cullen and spoke in a heated manner. NDP leader Tom Mulcair, Cullen's seatmate, stood up, whereupon a number of New Democrats surrounded Van Loan and urged him to leave.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay then rushed over and ushered Van Loan back to the government benches, defusing the standoff.
