In politics, a gaffe occurs when a politician accidentally tells the truth and Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna just committed a classic one.

Last Thursday she uploaded to her Twitter account ( @cathmckenna ) a video of her being “screeched in” at Christian’s Pub in St. John’s, N.L., complete with her kissing the cod.

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Then she offered advice to two bar patrons (one of them CBC comedian Mark Critch) who were engaging in a friendly debate about whether St. John’s is the oldest city in North America.

Looking into the camera, a boisterous McKenna, using emphatic hand gestures and raising her voice on key words for emphasis, declares: “But you know, I actually gave them some real advice. I said that if you actually say it louder, we’ve learned in the House of Commons, if you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that is your talking point, people will totally believe it.”

She then enthusiastically advises them: “So just go (with) it: St. John’s, oldest city.”

McKenna goes on to praise her experience of being screeched-in and the passion of Newfoundlanders.

The text accompanying McKenna’s tweet said: “You won’t believe what I did this evening — or who I was with! We’re pretty sure St. John’s is the oldest city in North America, but there seems to be some debate. Either way, the people here are incredibly passionate and that’s something Canada needs more of. #ScreechedIn.”

McKenna later deleted the tweet and the video but by then many people had captured it and reposted it.

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McKenna committed a classic political gaffe because she accidentally told the truth.

Anyone who watches question period knows McKenna and other Liberal cabinet ministers (note she says, “we’ve learned in the House of Commons”) use the strategy she describes when answering questions from the opposition parties.

That is, they “actually say it louder” because they believe that “if you repeat it, if you say it louder, if that is your talking point, people will totally believe it.”

Except McKenna didn’t say anything about being truthful and her confident assertion “people will totally believe it” if she says her talking points often enough and loud enough suggests a smug, patronizing and elitist view of Canadians.

I emailed McKenna’s office asking two questions:

1) Why did the minister delete the tweet containing the video?

(2) The tweet suggests the minister believes the way to convince people of an argument when she or her fellow ministers (“we’ve learned in the House of Commons”) speak, is to repeat “talking points” loudly. Is that her belief and is that an appropriate thing to say?

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McKenna responded:

“These comments were taken out of context, and misrepresented by the Conservative Party online, which is why I deleted the post. Full context — when I was in St. John’s, we were having a lively conversation with locals about the history of St. John’s and about whether it is the oldest city in North America.”

Liberals will say McKenna was joking.

In fairness, cabinet ministers dodging questions by using bluff and bluster isn’t confined to Liberal governments. The old joke about question period is that “it’s question period, not answer period.”

That said, McKenna has handed the Conservatives a deadly campaign ad through a self-inflicted wound.

It also raises the question of whether she actually believes many of the things she says in Parliament about anthropogenic climate change and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax.