CBCnews

Added muscle

When Justice Minister Rob Nicholson showed up to threaten the Senate on Wednesday, it looked as though he brought his gang with him for added muscle.

As Nicholson calmly explained that his government is willing to call an election at the end of February if the Senate doesn't give quick passage to his crime bill, behind him sat five other members of his party.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Rona Ambrose and House Leader Peter Van Loan were the most prominent as they sat in the front row (and within the camera shot.) Three other Conservative backbenchers milled around in the back of the room.

Nicholson's gang slipped out the side door without any roughhousing — and before the handful of journalists in the room could ask them why they were there.