A brief exchange at the House of Commons Thursday morning revealed even Winnipeg politicians can’t resist a good bargain.

Winnipeg Centre MP Pat Martin was put in the hot seat Thursday when asked to explain why he was out of his seat during a vote on a procedural motion.

His excuse: his half-price underwear was too small.

On Thursday morning, Conservative MP Royal Galipeau called on Martin to explain why he left his seat during a vote to adjourn debate.

Martin responded with perhaps more detail than the House of Commons was expecting.

“Mr. Speaker, I realize I did inadvertently leave my seat briefly in the middle of the debate,” Martin said. “I can blame it on a sale that was held at the Hudson’s Bay. They had a bunch on for half-price. I bought a bunch that was clearly too small for me, and I find it difficult to sit for any length of time, Mr. Speaker. So I apologize if it was necessary for me to leave my seat briefly, but I did not mean to forfeit my right to vote.”

Martin continued to joke about his exchange hours later, when speaking to the Sun.

“It is a matter of civic pride for Winnipeggers that nobody pays full price for anything, 50% off is like catnip to a Winnipegger and it occurred to me, why would I have to leave my seat? And it is their duty to accommodate people with physical challenges, and having your underwear a couple of sizes too tight can be considered challenging physically,” Martin told the Sun.

In actuality, the longtime NDP MP said he left his seat to ask the speaker to clarify what they were voting on, forgetting that if he was out of his seat, his vote doesn’t count.

“I know better, I know you are not allowed to do that. You can’t leave your seat in the middle of a vote, so someone on the other side objected and I had to scramble a little bit and ‘brief’ the speaker as to why I would get up,” he said.​

However, Martin said he was drawing on a real-life experience when he told his tall tale.

A recent sale at the Hudson’s Bay Company caused Martin to buy up multiple pairs, without looking at the size.

“I bought a whole arm-load full a couple of weeks ago. It was a massive sale there, selling off their Buffalo, Calvin Klein underwear, so I wasn’t too discerning about size — I just grabbed an armful,” he said. “I went to both stores and cleaned them out, it was a great sale.”

After the explanation was given, the House of Commons erupted in laughter, with Deputy Speaker Joe Comartin responding, “I’ve had no briefing on this type of uh ... motion,” he said.

In the end, Comartin let the vote stand, noting Martin was at his seat at the time the motion was read.

Immediately after the exchange, social media erupted with jokes about Martin’s underwear.

“I have never had so much attention paid to my underwear,” Martin said, bursting into laughter. “I hope a Member of Parliament never has to invoke the state of their underwear again in a parliamentary procedure. It could be a dangerous precedent.”

Foot in mouth

Some of Martin's more colourful language choices:

LOST HIS FREAKING MIND?

“Mr. Speaker, my question is simple, and I ask it through you: Has the minister lost his freaking mind?” — Martin in the House of Commons Dec. 4 2014, in response to reports of a planned American corporate takeover of the CWB.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Martin inquired about the federal government's zombie apocalypse strategy Feb. 13, 2013, after the Quebec government did a emergency preparedness planning exercise based on that threat. “I don’t need to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that zombies don’t recognize borders,” Martin said.

QUITS TWITTER

"I apologize for my regrettable and inappropriate language yesterday," Martin tweeted to his 9,800-plus followers. "It seems some people shouldn't tweet so with this, I sign off." — his last tweet, Dec. 21, 2012.

RAT-FACED WHORES

Martin pitched an online fit Dec. 19, 2012, after he wasn’t invited to a Monday news conference in his Winnipeg Centre riding where the three levels of government announced funding for subsidized housing.

“I‘m not ‘worked up’ so much as ‘fed up’ with the rat faced whores in the CPC who neglect to invite me to announcements in my riding,” Martin wrote, calling the Tories “bad people” in another post and referencing details of Toews’ divorce.

YOUTH FOR CHRIST

Also on Dec. 19, 2012, Martin targeted a Youth for Christ recreation centre, that opened despite his opposition.

“All the money for inner city youth went to Youth For Christ, who are Vic Toews’ donors and buddies, now the building is all but empty,” Martin tweeted.

SALTY ENOUGH FOR YOU?

"This is a f--king disgrace ... closure again. And on the Budget! There’s not a democracy in the world that would tolerate this jackboot sh--." Martin tweeted on Nov 17, 2011 after the federal Tories closed down parliamentary debate on the federal budget.

In response, a tweeter called Martin a "foul mouth socialist," to which he said "f--k you."

Another critic was told to "eat my shorts."

MORE THAN HE CAN CHEW

In October 2011, Martin suggested in the House of Commons that the dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single-desk was akin to the Canadian beaver “biting off his own testicles.”

BOLT CUTTERS

In June 2011, he told Parliament during a debate on Canada Post that “every kid on the street (in Winnipeg) has a bolt cutter so he can steal bikes.”

STALINIST

June 27, 2011: called the back-to-work legislation passed by the Harper government "Stalinist."