| | | Meanwhile, in Canada, Parliament Debates Use of 'Fart'
(Newser) – While several world leaders were preoccupied with climate change, Canada was debating a far more important issue: whether "fart" is an appropriate word to use in parliament. While giving what she called "an impassioned speech" about unemployment and tax increases in Alberta in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said the government treated the province "like a fart in the room that nobody wants to talk about or acknowledge," per Mashable. At that point, all discussion of Alberta ended. Cut in Green Party leader Elizabeth May, "I hate to interrupt my friend in her speech, but I heard her say a word that I know is distinctly unparliamentary, and I think she may want to withdraw it."
May then chose to spell out the word rather than repeat it. Rempel, in apparent bemusement, refused to withdraw "fart" from the record and instead asked if May was "actually serious." After a few other MPs cut in—others had laughed at Rempel's speech, per the Huffington Post—May complained she was being "heckled" and said she would "not forgive" use of a word like "fart." After about five minutes, the assistant deputy speaker calmed everyone down, promising to revisit the "borderline" language, and talk returned to Alberta. Twitter users, however, remained consumed by the "fart." "We've smelled worse on Parliament Hill," one user quipped. "I don't understand why @ElizabethMay raised such a stink," said another. (A Canadian MP once discussed his underwear.) |
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