I had a good laugh when I heard today that it was suggested that Harper was 'in the loo' on April 3 during a photo-ops for the G20 Summit. Of course this is old news but it's new to me:
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS FROM THE TORONTO STAR: LES WHITTINGTON - OTTAWA BUREAU - APRIL 3
Ridiculed Harper denies he was in the bathroom.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's carefully cultivated image with the international media took a bit of a flushing yesterday.
After days of pounding the drums on international television, talking up the healthy state of Canadian banks and making the case for a Canadian economic rebound, Harper became the talk of the G20 summit when he missed the official group summit photo.
The verdict in the British press? Harper was in the bathroom.
The Prime Minister was slated to stand next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
An aide later said Harper was being briefed on the progress of the conference by Canadian officials.
Within hours, the incident flared into a bit of an international story.
The BBC reported Harper was unable to pose because he was "in the loo."The BBC's economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, blogged about the incident and the "official explanation" that Harper was "in the bathroom." Flanders jokingly added she suspected foul play "given Canada's squeaky clean record" in the current financial crisis and that Harper would be forced to stand behind "the pot plant" for the re-take.
The Guardian's live blog on the summit cited the disparaging tone of comments on a Canadian news website, wryly noting: "Don't fancy the Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's chances of re-election much after his ill-timed toilet break."
In the U.S., the TV show Good Morning America said Harper had been in the bathroom and nobody noticed. Even the staid Wall Street Journal mentioned the incident on its economics blog.
The Prime Minister's Office went on the defensive. Aides were at pains to explain away any embarrassment.
"I don't think any leader came here for photo ops," said Dimitri Soudas, a Harper spokesperson, who noted the BBC had retracted its claim of a mis-timed Harper bathroom break.
"World leaders are here to discuss very serious matters while we go through the biggest global crisis in a generation."
Later, Harper himself offered that explanation in response to a question at his closing press conference. "I was detained by discussions with some officials," he said, adding he's been at enough international meetings "to know that there's always another photo op."
In London, G20 officials decided to re-shoot the group photo anyway so Harper could be included.
This time, it was Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who were absent. There was no plan for a third attempt at the group shot.
