OTTAWA - The New Democrats hold a balance of power on all House of Commons committees for the first time after a realignment reflecting the October election results.
NDP whip Yvon Godin said negotiations among the four parties have cost the Liberal party one seat on every committee, including three key panels they chair as the official Opposition.
The Liberals lost 18 Commons seats in the Oct. 14 federal election, the Tories picked up 15, the Bloc gained one and the NDP added seven.
"I have said right from the beginning, the committees have to reflect the Parliament," Godin said.
The opposition parties agreed that the governing Conservatives would gain one more seat on the regular 12-member committees chaired by a government MP.
That gives the Tories five members other than the chair, with three Liberals, two Bloc and one NDP.
Godin says this means his party will be able to wrest concessions from any of the other parties in return for support because the chair votes only in case of a tie.
The panels chaired by Liberals -- the ethics, government operations and public accounts committees -- will be reduced to 11 members to prevent the Conservatives from indirectly obtaining a majority.
Raucous controversies and confrontations in those committees helped spur Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call the October election on grounds Parliament was growing "dysfunctional."
The Commons has 24 standing committees, which review legislation, question ministers and senior officials, vet spending and deal with ethical issues.
