N.B.’s Liberal government defeated

Liberal MP Nicola Di Iorio broke his silence about his absence from Parliament Hill on Friday, saying he is performing unspecified tasks assigned by the prime minister himself. The Montreal-area MP published a short message on Facebook seeking to explain why he has not been in Ottawa since Parliament resumed sitting Sept. 17. “The prime minister has assigned me responsibilities which, for the moment, require, justify and authorize my absence from the House,” Di Iorio wrote in French, without elaborating.