Stephen Harper is lucky that he didn’t receive my Handshake of Doom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/05/2011 (5348 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Prime Minister choppered into Brandon on Wednesday, spending nearly an hour on the ground to tour portions of the flood zone. I was there as part of a Brandon Sun team to shoot some video (then edit it) of the visit.

And I was shocked.

Not because he came. Prime ministers do that kind of stuff all the time.

But because he chatted amiably with random people, took questions from the media, and even had windblown hair.

Where was this guy on the campaign trail?

Fellow Brandon Sunner Matt Goerzen suggested that maybe Harper was relaxed after finally winning that elusive majority government.

Well, maybe. Or maybe he was just in a good mood. Either way, he still had some of his trademark robotic stiffness — as I later tweeted to Matt, it was quite a change, "but not quite Ignatieffian."

Although the Prime Minister’s Office sent out a terse press release saying that the visit would be a "photo opportunity only" — translation, no questions please — the actual event was friendly and unforced.

After speaking in both English and French — in la deuxième langue, Harper added some sympathetic comments directed at flood victims in Quebec — the prime minister said he would take a few questions.

And then he just kept answering them. He even answered one after an assistant tried to end the Q-and-A.

After walking back to the make-shift heliport in a field by the Riverbank Discovery Centre, Harper stood around and welcomed members of the public who wanted to meet the PM, shake his hand, and get their picture taken.

There was security, sure, but it was hardly noticeable unless you were looking for it. And Harper even took the lead in cajoling some of the shyer people forward to pose for pics with him.

I can understand their intimidation — there were a heck of a lot of media there. I mean, check out this picture, snapped quickly with my point-and-shoot while I also shot video:

And that’s just the folks who were on my left!

After the scrum, when Harper took all those questions, the PM gamely waded through a crowd of onlookers, shaking hands and at one point, literally picking up a baby — though not kissing it.

He seemed like he could do that all afternoon. He even got a few journalists to step up for a smiling handshake and photo op.

But did I get my picture taken with the most powerful man in Canada?

No, I did not. I did take a couple of pictures for friends, but I didn’t step into the frame myself.

Partly, it was because I wanted to look cool, not giddy and starstruck. But also because I felt that getting giddy and starstruck at the sight of someone you’re supposed to be covering isn’t very professional. It probably breaches some kinds of journalistic ethics.

Harper’s supposed to be the object of my attention, not affection.

That said, maybe I’m just jaded. After all, it’s not like Harper was my first brush with prime ministerial power.

I remember, as a kid, meeting Jean Chretien during a rally in Brandon. Joe Clark once bailed on a dinner with me (and a few hundred others) at the very last minute. And I did actually get to lunch with Deputy PM Sheila Copps.

But the real pinnacle of my political influence might have come on a family trip to Ottawa.

My parents, who were friends with Lee Clark, dropped in on our then-MP. If I say that I was about 13 at the time, I’ll date myself, but so be it.

Getting a bit of a behind-the-scenes tour of the Houses of Parliament conducted by our MP was half-swell and half-boring to a sullen youth like me. But then, heading up a staircase, we bumped right into Brian Mulroney, the Prime Minister himself.

Sorry, Steve — but you just cannot compare with the impact that famous chin made on my impressionable psyche.

Anyway, Mulroney was downright gracious in dealing with a family that had four young, bored, restless kids in tow. He took the time to shake everyone’s hand — even mine — and had a word for each of us.

I’ll never forget what he said to me:

"I’ve got a daughter about your age," Mulroney said in That Voice. "You should come over some time."

It sounded like a command, although I never screwed up the courage to actually drop by 24 Sussex.

Since that day, though, I’ve always kind of kept an ear open for news of Miss Caroline Mulroney. No, I never did get to meet her, but I felt an odd little nostalgia when I heard that she got married.

Anyway, I got to shake her dad’s hand.

And we all remember what happened then to Prime Minister Mulroney — his party went from massive majority to a two-seat humbling in the worst electoral defeat ever in Canada.

I cannot help but link the two occasions. My handshake is the touch of death — at least to recently-re-elected Tory Prime Ministers with majority mandates.

You’re welcome, Mr. Harper. I kept my hands to myself, and prevented your electoral disaster. Several of my friends will be annoyed with me for not using my powers to bring down your government.

To this, I can only say, I did it because you love kittens. Yes, you are a cat person.

There are too many dog people in the world. Us cat people gotta stick together.