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rfmcdonaldI wonder what a Canadian prime minister who engages with Canadian news media would be like.
It's worth noting that the Harper government has maintained an unusually strict control over its relationship with the press, limiting what's communicated and so on.
Say it ain't so, prime minister.
Even Stephen Harper's own cabinet seems to be having trouble accepting that the man with the famously frosty relationship to the national news media doesn't consume Canadian news.
"I tend to watch American news," Harper said this week during a question-and-answer session at a Canadian Chamber of Commerce convention in Toronto.
"I don't like to watch Canadian news and hear what Allan (Gregg) and everybody else is saying about me. My hobby is to watch politics elsewhere."
Gregg, a pollster and CBC pundit, was in the audience.
Industry Minister Tony Clement was aghast Thursday when asked about Harper's news viewing habits.
"I'm sure he does" watch Canadian news, Clement said outside the House of Commons.
Told of Harper's assertion, Clement was frankly skeptical.
"We're news junkies, all of us are. Come on. You know what we're all about."
Peter Kent, the junior foreign minister and a former Global TV newscaster, said Harper "absolutely" watches Canadian news, but backed off when pressed.
"Well, I've never sat with him but I assume that he ..."
It's worth noting that the Harper government has maintained an unusually strict control over its relationship with the press, limiting what's communicated and so on.
