Case of urinating MP goes to Commons committee

Speaker Anthony Rota has ruled that the conduct of a Liberal MP who urinated during virtual parliamentary proceedings constitutes a prima facie case of contempt of the House of Commons.

Rota says, at first glance, Quebec MP William Amos breached the privileges of his fellow MPs last month when he urinated while his computer camera was on — an incident that was broadcast on the internal parliamentary feed of proceedings and not seen publicly.

As such, Rota says the matter is deserving of further examination by the procedure and House affairs committee.

Rota's ruling was in response to a question of privilege raised by Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, who had argued that Amos committed an offence against the dignity of the House.

Amos apologized, saying he didn't realize his camera was on, has stepped aside from his role as a parliamentary secretary and has promised to seek unspecified "assistance."

In April, Amos was caught naked on the internal video feed; he said then that he was changing after a jog and didn't realize his camera was on.