Prime Minister Stephen Harper toured Vimy Ridge this afternoon, the site of
one of Canada's greatest military victories and the one, many say, that
forged our nationhood.
Harper stood in a WWI trench and, with a bevy of photographers in front of
him – all of whom are members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery – said:
“Back then …the enemy had guns not cameras.”
Incidentally, Harper took precisely four questions from English-language journalists and two questions from a French journalist during his three days at the G8. He held a press conference after the G8 communique on Middle East but only to make a statement. He refused to take questions. Not sure about the Italian or Japanese leaders, but the leaders from the UK, Germany, U.S, France and Russia spoke to the media and took questions each day. Putin, in fact, held hour-long ask-anything pressers each night.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel even gave the media travelling with her an hour-long “off-the-record” briefing during which she presented her 'frank' assessment of other leaders and the summit in general.