WATCH: NDP MP Pat Martin joins Tom Clark for a little ‘Plane Talk’ about his sometimes colourful language in the House of Commons and why he thinks it can be difficult to find people to run for office.
Pat Martin has been a member of Parliament since 1997 and is known for his sometimes colourful use of language and tendency to shoot from the lip.
The NDP MP from Manitoba promised nothing was off limits, but the men managed to keep the conversation in-bounds while flying above the National Capital Region, discussing how the veteran MP wound up in public life and why it can sometimes be difficult for political parties to recruit candidates.
Martin said his tendency to broach topics in unique (and sometimes unparliamentary) manners is on account of the fact he was a construction worker in his pre-politics life.
“We call it ‘industrial language,’ is the polite way to put it,” he explained. “I think there’s an appetite, though, for people in public life to say what they’re really thinking.”
The fact he used to stutter as a child and teenager may also have something to do with the manner of speaking, he said.
“As a stutterer as a kid until my teens and early 20s even, I found it really almost impossible to read somebody else’s text or script or to say what I’m told to say because that’s what creates the anxiety,” he explained. “Any stutterer or former stutterer will tell you, you’ve got to get really creative to be able to survive and you’ve got to anticipate the words that you’re going to hit on and find alternatives really fast.”
The full transcript of the segment is pasted below:
Pat Martin:
Beauty.
Tom Clark:
Well Pat Martin, welcome to “Plane Talk.”
Pat Martin:
Tom, it’s a pleasure to be here.
Tom Clark:
Nice to have you here. Now as you know, on “Plane Talk” we ask some personal questions.
Pat Martin:
Fair enough.
Tom Clark:
Getting to know you.
Pat Martin:
Nothing’s off limits.
Tom Clark:
Sure.
Pat Martin:
Tom Clark:
All right then. You’ve been known to use some pretty colourful language in the House of Commons over the years.
Pat Martin:
Tom Clark:
How’s your underwear?
Pat Martin:
Oh.
Tom Clark:
I mean am I okay with this?
Pat Martin:
Hey, thank you for asking. No, I think I’ll be able to – if it’s only a one-hour flight, I should be able to stay still.
Tom Clark:
What is it about words because you’re a craftsman, some would say that you go over the top at times, but in a House that is not known for eloquence, you tend to string some words together that captures everybody’s attention.
Pat Martin:
Well, I’ve been known to stray from the talking points but I actually find it very difficult to recite somebody else’s thoughts and ideas. As a stutterer as a kid until my, you know, teens and early 20s even, I found it really almost impossible to read somebody else’s text or script or to say what I’m told to say because that’s what creates the anxiety. So any stutterer or former stutterer will tell you, you’ve got to get really creative to be able to survive and you’ve got to anticipate the words that you’re going to hit on and find alternatives really fast, okay? Rolling thesaurus going on in your head and it sometimes leads to unusual sentence structure or, I don’t know, I think that’s part of why I kind of – like I haven’t got any choice but to do it the way I do, really, Tom.
Tom Clark:
Why did you get involved in public life?
Pat Martin:
I was very active with my party and, you know, not to be any kind of self-deprecation or anything but we really couldn’t find a candidate in 1997. I was on the candidate search committee and we must have asked 40 people, without exaggeration, and nobody would take it.
Tom Clark:
So basically, what happened was, you asked for volunteers and everybody took one step back.
Pat Martin:
Tom Clark:
Why do you think that is?
Pat Martin:
Well let’s face it, people aren’t exactly kind to their elected representatives and not to cast any aspersions to the media or anything, but it ain’t no beach party to be the punching bag for every journalist and that kind of fuels the cynicism.
Tom Clark:
Politics isn’t forever. When it’s all over for you, whenever that day is, what do you want to do next?
Pat Martin:
I love doing interior renovations. I thought I might just hang out my shingle and do a little bit of that in my later years, but I’d also like to do some overseas development aid kind of work.
Tom Clark:
Have you ever flown a plane before?
Pat Martin:
I have not.
Tom Clark:
Well, so to come with me on a turn, you’ll see that it’s very small inputs and then to go up, you just pull back on the stick.
Pat Martin:
I thought so. I guess I knew that.
Tom Clark:
And to go down, you go—
Pat Martin:
Woe ho ho, do you ever.
Tom Clark:
So, now that you’ve had an extensive instruction on how to fly a plane—
Pat Martin:
I don’t think so.
Tom Clark:
Your aircraft.
Pat Martin:
Am I in control or you Tom?
Tom Clark:
Well, yes.
Pat Martin:
Tom Clark:
Pat Martin:
I shouldn’t joke like that after Bill C-51 should I?
Woe ho, ho, ho. Hey, woe, woe. It is—it’s smooth. It’s like driving a Lincoln Mark IV or something, eh?
Tom Clark:
Have you ever driven a Lincoln Mark IV?
Pat Martin:
No, that’s a teamster vehicle. I’m a carpenter.
Tom Clark:
Pat Martin:
Tom Clark:
Pat Martin it’s been a real pleasure having you up.
Pat Martin:
Tom, it’s been a treat. Thank you for this.
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