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Steven Fletcher Tweet: I Wish I Left Cabinet In Sex Scandal

Demoted Minister: I Wish I Left Cabinet In A Sex Scandal
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Steven Fletcher was dropped from cabinet Monday, but it seems the Tory MP has a sense of humour about the demotion.

After the shuffle, the former minister of state for transport jokingly tweeted that he wishes he had left cabinet in a "sex scandal."

Some Twitter users initially thought Fletcher's account must have been hacked, while others immediately recognized the MP's trademark wit.

Story continues below slideshow

The joke wasn't the only indication Fletcher isn't upset about his move to the backbenches. In a statement on his website, the Manitoba MP signaled he's happy to see two women from his province gain portfolios.

"In today’s significant Cabinet shuffle, Manitoba gains two new female Ministers. I look forward to working with Ministers Glover and Bergen to make Manitoba and Canada, a better place," Fletcher said. "The Prime Minister has stated that there needs to be more women in Cabinet and in politics. I agree. Gender distribution is an important part of any cabinet composition."

Fletcher said that he will stand for re-election in 2015.

He is also keeping a spot as an alternate on the Treasury Board and will therefore attend meetings of that cabinet body.

Before serving as minister of state for transport, Fletcher was minister of state for democratic reform.

Paralyzed from the neck down, he temporarily stepped down from cabinet in early 2012 to have major surgery. Fletcher returned to the job three months later.

Fletcher is the first ever Canadian MP to have a permanent disability.

Fletcher's joke wasn't the only hint of humour in the cabinet shuffle Monday. An incorrect handle in a tweet from the PM's account about a new minister led to the creation of a parody account that was quick to mock the Conservative government. You can read the tweets from that account in the slideshow below.

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