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Bloc Québécois MP Claude Guimond wore a face mask in the House of Commons this evening, fearing he was coming down with H1N1 and not wanting to infect his fellow parliamentarians.

Bloc spokesman Carl Boisvert told The Globe and Mail that his party twice approached the Conservatives to "pair" Mr. Guimond's vote so that the ailing MP from Montmorency-Charlevoix would not have to attend.

"They refused both times, so that's why Mr. Guimond showed up with a mask on," Mr. Boisvert said.

Pairing is a Parliamentary tradition in which two parties on opposing sides of an issue each agree to have one MP abstain. The arrangement is primarily used to accommodate travel plans.

According the Conservatives, all of the MPs on the government side were simply too eager to be on record for such an important vote. Criticizing the federal long-gun registry has been a central theme of Conservative campaigns for years.

"We had no member to pair with," said the Prime Minister's spokesman, Andrew MacDougall. "All our members were present to vote."

UPDATE: Mr. McDougall later added that the government did agree to move up the timing of the vote so that Mr. Guimond could leave sooner.

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