The prime minister of Canada spent a day last week moving amongst (well, close to) his subjects on this least of the provinces within his realm, making nice with the inhabitants and distributing largesse along his path, using dollar bills instead of flower petals to curry favour with them.
In truth, there was no pushing and shoving to get close to His Eminence, and only one lone wannabe protester showed up at the Gold Cup and Saucer parade dressed up in a faux seal suit emblazoned with a slogan that read - "Hug Me, Don’t Club Me."
The prime minister did not oblige (after all, Mr Harper’s preferred method of displaying affection to his son is a handshake), which led The Guardian to headline its story "Harper avoids protest at Gold Cup parade."