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New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton speaks during a news conference in Toronto, May 3, 2011. Layton will form the official opposition party to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's majority win in Monday's federal election.

There will be two newcomers for every veteran when the federal New Democrats convene their first post-election caucus meeting at the House of Commons this week.

The two-day event begins Tuesday afternoon with a speech by Leader Jack Layton. That will be followed Wednesday by the party's first official caucus meeting in the Centre Block's historic Railway Room.

It was not long ago that the NDP MPs held their caucus gatherings in a much smaller room in another building. But their huge gains on voting day, especially in Quebec, means they have pushed the Liberals out of the room reserved for the Official Opposition.

There will be numerous introductions among the 103 MPs who will form the New Democrat team for the next four years. Then they will get down to the business of figuring out how they will provide an effective counter to the Conservative majority government.

Mr. Layton, who will address the media twice over the course of the two days, says he is determined to run a party that "does proposition, not just opposition."



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