The accusation of vote-absenteeism against Ignatieff was levelled last week by the NDP's Layton during the English-language debate. In response, Ignatieff deflected the accusation, and instead talked about the Conservatives' "undemocratic" practices.
Two days later, Ignatieff said the reason he'd missed so many votes was because of his busy tour schedule in which he "takes the message" across the country.
But since Ignatieff officially became Liberal leader in May 2009, three of his high-profile tours occurred almost entirely while the House wasn't sitting. Only a handful of the 167 votes were held during those tours.
Records show he was in Ottawa on at least some of the days he missed votes.
IGNATIEFF'S TIMELINE: The House was prorogued, that is, not sitting at all, during Ignatieff's university tour that ran from Jan. 11 to 18, 2010.
Then Ignatieff took a two-month tour during summer 2010, travelling more than 50,000 kilometres around Canada. He embarked on the "Liberal Express" in mid-July, nearly one month after the House rose for the summer. When he made his final stop Sept. 25, he had missed five days of the new session.
Shortly after ringing in 2011, Ignatieff went on his "20/11" tour, where he visited 20 opposition-held ridings in 11 days. Those 11 days were during Parliament's winter break.
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