Politicians in Canada were given an unexpected and probably unwelcome eyeful when a fellow colleague left his zoom camera on to reveal himself au naturel before the attention of the world via social media.
A screengrab during the meeting was widely circulated on Twitter, showing William Amos disrobed, bar discreetly and thankfully a black object that he held to avoid the chagrin of showing his meat and two veg!!
Amos, a member of Canada’s governing Liberal party, appeared onscreen unclothed and moving around his office on a House of Commons video feed visible to MPs and staff.
Amos represents the Quebec constituency of Pontiac. He said in a bilingual Twitter apology that the appearance was the result of “a really unfortunate mistake.”
“My camera was accidentally left on as I changed into work clothes after going for a jog,” he added, apologizing to his colleagues.
“We don’t need these sorts of distractions in the pandemic!” he added in French.
As of May last year, Canadian politicians have incorporated “virtual parliament” into their procedures. Unlike the live parliamentary channel ParlVu, the footage of Amos was not visible to the public, CBC reported.
According CBC, which obtained the footage, Amos held an object blocking any view of his genitals. He did not seem aware he was on camera, according to the Montreal Gazette, which has also seen the footage.
Claude DeBellefeuille, party whip for the Bloc Québécois, first drew attention to the scene by asking the speaker to intervene.
She reminded Speaker Anthony Rota of the importance of “dress code,” adding: “And I think that we have broken a record today, because we saw an MP, during question period, in the simplest of attires. In other words, naked,” the Montreal Gazette reported.
“So if you could remind our colleagues, particularly the men, that a tie and a jacket are obligatory, but also a shirt, underwear and pants,” she added. “We were able to see that the MP was in great physical form, but I think it’s important to remind him to control his camera.”
