(Ottawa, August 10) DawgNews has learned that Stephen Harper, on his state visit to Greece earlier this year, threatened to “hold my breath until I turn blue” unless his host, Greek PM George Papandreou, allowed him to have a second helping of dessert at a banquet in his honour.
As reported in the Athens daily Eleftherotypia, the kitchen had run out of the treat by the time Harper made his request. “He acted like a spoiled brat,” said a close aide to Papandreou. “The Prime Minister [Papandreou] finally had to give him his own plate to make him stop. We didn’t want an international incident over this.”
“Austerity is all very well,” a flushed Harper was reported to have said afterwards. “But not giving me more baklava was just mean.”
A PMO spokesman downplayed the incident, which was not widely reported in Canada at the time. “Mr. Harper had had a long flight and asked to use the facilities,” he said, blaming translation error for what he called a “regrettable misunderstanding.”