domino92
07-06-11, 16:02
The Prime Minister's Office said Stephen Harper was in good health and on the job as usual Tuesday morning, not in hospital recovering from a hashbrown choking incident as hackers claimed in a false statement posted on the Conservative Party website.
The statement, which was removed from the site by about 8:30 a.m., said Harper was taken to Toronto General Hospital on Tuesday morning after his wife called 911.
"He was eating breakfast with his kids when a piece of hash-brown lodged in his throat, blocking air from reaching his lungs," the statement said.
"A member of his security team happened to be nearby, and immediately began to apply first-aid."
The PMO has not issued a direct response to the post, but media inquiries were referred to a tweet from Harper's communications director Dimitri Soudas. Soudas tweeted at 8:35 a.m. ET that Harper had taken his daughter Rachel to school, and was on his way to work at Parliament Hill.
Andrew MacDougall, a PMO spokerperson, told The Canadian Press in an email that Harper was "fit as a fiddle."
As of 10:30 a.m. the Twitter link on the Conservative website's contact page still featured a link to an account called @LulzRaft.
A tweet posted on Monday from @LulzRaft said "Working on a nice juicy release. This one may piss off a few of them Canadians."
A more recent tweet posted on Tuesday morning asked whether there were "any bets on how long until anyone notices my 'special article'?"
Initially the statement appeared to have fooled newly elected Conservative MP Chris Alexander, who tweeted a link to the statement with the words "Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast incident."
Alexander -- Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan -- later told CTV he hadn't posted any tweets Tuesday morning, however, and his site had been hacked. He later corrected that statement, explaining that his Twitter account is linked to the Conservative website, suggesting it automatically generates tweets to new releases.
The strangely worded news release triggered a flurry of response on the social networking site Twitter, as journalists questioned whether the statement was true.
The news release said staff were "cautiously assuming" that Harper would "completely recover" but suggested his short-term schedule would be disrupted.
"From the looks of things, Harper will miss many of his planned meetings over the next few days," the news release said.
"He had just arrived home last night from his planned trip to the Richelieu flood zone in Quebec. We are awaiting any further word of his condition from the doctors and staff of TGH, and wish the best to him and his family."
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/hackers_post_fake_news_release_about_pm_on_tory_si te/d606332b
I don't believe it. I think Harper choked on a hasbrown and now he's trying to cover it up. It's just a stunt to make people think the PM is invincible.
So, do you think Harper choked on a hashbrown?
The statement, which was removed from the site by about 8:30 a.m., said Harper was taken to Toronto General Hospital on Tuesday morning after his wife called 911.
"He was eating breakfast with his kids when a piece of hash-brown lodged in his throat, blocking air from reaching his lungs," the statement said.
"A member of his security team happened to be nearby, and immediately began to apply first-aid."
The PMO has not issued a direct response to the post, but media inquiries were referred to a tweet from Harper's communications director Dimitri Soudas. Soudas tweeted at 8:35 a.m. ET that Harper had taken his daughter Rachel to school, and was on his way to work at Parliament Hill.
Andrew MacDougall, a PMO spokerperson, told The Canadian Press in an email that Harper was "fit as a fiddle."
As of 10:30 a.m. the Twitter link on the Conservative website's contact page still featured a link to an account called @LulzRaft.
A tweet posted on Monday from @LulzRaft said "Working on a nice juicy release. This one may piss off a few of them Canadians."
A more recent tweet posted on Tuesday morning asked whether there were "any bets on how long until anyone notices my 'special article'?"
Initially the statement appeared to have fooled newly elected Conservative MP Chris Alexander, who tweeted a link to the statement with the words "Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast incident."
Alexander -- Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan -- later told CTV he hadn't posted any tweets Tuesday morning, however, and his site had been hacked. He later corrected that statement, explaining that his Twitter account is linked to the Conservative website, suggesting it automatically generates tweets to new releases.
The strangely worded news release triggered a flurry of response on the social networking site Twitter, as journalists questioned whether the statement was true.
The news release said staff were "cautiously assuming" that Harper would "completely recover" but suggested his short-term schedule would be disrupted.
"From the looks of things, Harper will miss many of his planned meetings over the next few days," the news release said.
"He had just arrived home last night from his planned trip to the Richelieu flood zone in Quebec. We are awaiting any further word of his condition from the doctors and staff of TGH, and wish the best to him and his family."
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/hackers_post_fake_news_release_about_pm_on_tory_si te/d606332b
I don't believe it. I think Harper choked on a hasbrown and now he's trying to cover it up. It's just a stunt to make people think the PM is invincible.
So, do you think Harper choked on a hashbrown?