Trudeau found new allies in Premiers Bill Davis (Ontario) and Richard Hatfield (New Brunswick) and the federal New Democratic Party, under Ed Broadbent, announced its support after persuading Trudeau to devolve some resource powers to the provinces. The Prime Minister's proposal in the House of Commons, which would be tabled as the Canada Bill, invited Aboriginal, feminist, and other groups to Ottawa for their input on the charter of rights in legislative committees. However, there was disagreement over the charter, which the premiers of six provinces (Lyon, René Lévesque of Quebec, Bill Bennett of British Columbia, Angus MacLean of Prince Edward Island, Peter Lougheed of Alberta, and Brian Peckford of Newfoundland) opposed as encroachments on their power; the press dubbed this the "Gang of Six". Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Quebec launched references to their respective Courts of Appeal asking if the Canada Bill was constitutional. Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan remained neutral.