Stephen Harper has a tantrum in Brazil and locks himself in the bathroom until he gets his way
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper put Brazilian diplomats in a
difficult (embarrassing) position this Monday, demanding a change in the
Brazilian diplomatic protocol and only accepted to come out for lunch
after his request had been accepted.
The official speeches and toasts can take place before or after
lunch. Dilma (Rouseff, Brazil’s president) prefers to have these after
lunch, so this is what is being done during her presidency. But Harper
was adamant that it should take place before lunch. He did not explain
why.
Harper had already irked Dilma’s advisors and diplomats when he
announced that he wished to speak to journalists at the Palacio do
Planalto (the Presidential Palace) when the protocol is generally that
foreign dignitaries talk to the press at the Itamaraty (the Foreign
Affairs palace).
Since Brazilian diplomats denied his request to speak to the press at
the Presidential palace, Harper was already in a bad mood when he
arrived for lunch. He demanded the shift in protocol at the lunch event,
and locked himself in the private bathroom of ministro Antonio Patriota
(Brazil’s Foreign Affairs Minister) while he waited for a reply.
Brazilian diplomats were taken aback and did not know what to do – if
they should listen to Dilma’s request or to Harper. Harper arrived at
the room (in the Foreign Affairs ministry) where the lunch was taking
place only when Brazilian diplomats confirmed that the speeches and
toasts would take place before lunch, as he had demanded.
The Canadian Embassy in Brasilia does not confirm this version of
events, but the Folha has confirmed with diplomats present at the event.
Other links for this story:
CBC: PMO denies Brazilian bathroom brinkmaship
The Mark: Did PM Stage Potty Protest in Brazil?
Montreal Simon: Stephen Harper's Toilet Bowl Diplomacy
Sister Sage: We always knew Stephen Harper was anally retentive
