Clement says he's not thinking about sex when talking about digital economy

No matter what he said, Industry Minister Tony Clement insists he doesn't think about sex when he gets excited about the government's digital economy initiative.

A telecommunications industry audience might have thought otherwise Monday when the minister seemed to make a Freudian slip conflating the two.

"Simply put, we need more Canadian sex stories," he told the Ottawa luncheon, to titters from the audience.

Realizing his error, Mr. Clement took four paces away from the podium, did a pirouette and tried again.

"Hello, I'd just like to make sure you're awake. Simply put, we need more Canadian success stories," he said, taking care to enunciate the offending word.

Mr. Clement blamed the blip on the vagaries of the male imagination.

"The male brain is a very strange …," he said, leaving the thought hanging. "I have no explanation. It really was not on my mind, it just sort of blurted out there."