For the second time in the campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper ventured to the back of his campaign plane for an informal chat with reporters.
He did it first on the very first day of the campaign, coming back for a chat before his jet took off for Quebec City.
He did it again today while his plane was on the tarmac in Iqaluit at the end of his second week.
Harper cracked a few jokes.
For example, one reporter complimented on his choice of sweaters while on campaign, including a dark-blue nordic-pattern sweater he wore today.
“Like Hillary and the pantsuits, eh?”
He wouldn't be drawn too far in on substantive issues. Asked, for example, about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Harper demurred. “No opinions. I gotta work with whoever wins,” he said.
He was asked, though, how much this trip — a three-hour flight up from Ottawa and three-hour flight back — was about winning the riding of Nunavut and how much was optics for southern voters.
“It's both. It's a riding we think we have a shot at and it's something we've put a lot of time and effort into,” Harper said.
The riding of Nunavut had been held by Liberal Nancy Karetuk-Lindell but she is not running again. Conservatives say their candidate, Leona Aglukkaq, a former provincial health minister, is very strong.
Harper was in a good mood, partly because was back in the Arctic, an area of the country that he, like many prime ministers before him including Jean Chretien and Pierre Trudeau, is very fond of.
His favourite Arctic trip – and there have been at least six trips through 13 communities — was to Alert, Nunavut.
Saturday's trip to Iqaluit was special because he brought his 9-year-old daughter Rachel along (as well as his wife Laureen). Harper said Rachel enjoyed the experience but found it awfully cold.
It was -1 C today in Iqaluit with some light snow but, as is often the case here, there was a tremendous wind which made it much colder.
Rachel's older brother Ben stayed back in Ottawa. He is 13-years-old and, like many 13-year-old boys at this time of year, is busy on Saturdays at minor hockey tryouts.
Ben is not trying out for Triple-A hockey, by his own choice. Ben's complaint about Triple-A is the complaint of many families of Triple-A hockey players – too much driving.
“But I told him: Ben, the police drive you everywhere!”
The Harpers arrived in Ottawa with a minivan, Harper said, but have since sold it because the RCMP security detail that protects Harper prefers to do the driving. “They'll let me drive on the highway if I insist,” Harper said.