David McGuinty called out Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro Friday in the House over a spat involving the Harper's government's controversial copyright legislation.
Mr. McGuinty, the Liberal House Leader and MP for Ottawa South, denied he had heckled or slighted his predecessor in the riding, John Manley. He had been accused of this by Mr. Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary to the Heritage Minister.
After Question Period on Wednesday, Mr. Del Mastro asserted that Mr. McGuinty had been heard by Tories to say, "What does John Manley know?" Mr. Del Mastro called on Mr. McGuinty to retract his statement but the Liberal MP did not.
Mr. Manley's name came up in the Commons in earlier debate . The former Liberal industry minister and deputy prime minister appeared before the Heritage committee and said the legislation struck a good balance. The Tories used Mr. Manley's comments as ammunition against the Liberals.
On Friday, however, Mr. McGuinty decided to set the record straight: "I did not make the comments attributed to me and I want the official record to reflect that fact."
Mr. Del Mastro stood his ground. He told the Commons that Mr. McGuinty's remarks "were clearly heard by a number of members on our side."
Mr. McGuinty was unimpressed. "Just once again for the record, in case the member for Peterborough, who was not here moments ago, didn't hear what I said: I did not, did not make the comments attributed to me."