Manitoba Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk failed to vote in favour of implementing her own budget Thursday night.

However, the vote had more do to with an honest slip-up than any kind of political controversy.

During the final hours of the spring sitting of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly on Thursday, MLAs were conducting a recorded vote on whether to pass Bill 31, the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Act, which essentially allows the NDP government’s spring budget to be officially adopted.

During a recorded vote, those in favour of passing the bill must stand until their name is called by a page, at which point their vote is registered and they can sit back down.

“The truth is I sat down too fast,” Wowchuk said Friday. “It was quite noisy in there. I thought I was called and I sat down. I realized I wasn’t called and I stood back up but it was too late.”

All of Wowchuk’s NDP colleagues — who represent the majority of the house — were properly recorded as being in favour, and since there is no provision that says the bill’s sponsor has to vote for it, the budget bill passed.

“At the end of the day it was as if I had abstained,” she said.

Still, Wowchuk will go into the books as a finance minister who failed to vote for her own budget.

“We were watching her sitting there with her head down and we were just kind of flabbergasted. It was something I’ve never seen before, especially for a motion of this significance,” said Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen. “We were just in complete amazement. We all looked at each other and people’s mouths were hanging open.”

Wowchuk admitted it was a little embarrassing.

“Of course (the opposition members) were bugging me. But if you can give it you have to take it,” she said.

The procedural melee that followed the vote, including members deciding whether they should re-vote, caused a long delay.

“I think we were there until close to 11 p.m.,” Wowchuk said.

In the end all the bills that were expected to pass did and the spring session officially ended.

The house will reconvene by Nov. 16.