Lawmaker Blames Absence on Tight Underwear

'I find it difficult to sit for any length of time,' says Canada's Pat Martin
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2015 9:28 AM CST
Lawmaker Blames Absence on Tight Underwear
Pat Martin of Canada's New Democrats is seen in this 2007 photo.   (Wikimedia Commons)

A member of Canada's parliament got caught with his pants down yesterday. As the House of Commons voted on a procedural motion, Pat Martin voted, then dashed out of the chamber unexpectedly before returning a short while later. When a Conservative Party MP suggested he should forfeit his vote—MPs aren't to leave the chamber during a vote—the New Democratic Party member gave this response: "They had men's underwear on for half price and I bought a bunch that was clearly too small for me. I find it difficult to sit for any length of time." Cheers and laughter ensued, and his vote was allowed to stand.

Martin later told CBC News it was a joke and that he actually left his seat to talk to the House Speaker. But since "some Conservative MP got his knickers in a knot, I think, about the fact that I stepped away from my chair for a couple of seconds ... I believe that his point of order was tongue in cheek and it warranted a cheeky response." More cheeky responses are spreading on Twitter, like this one: "Well, I guess he is not the only MP who needed to be debriefed before an important vote in Parliament." The Toronto Star notes Martin himself had nothing to say on Twitter: He stopped tweeting in 2012 after calling Conservative MPs "rat faced whores." (More Canada stories.)

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