There was indeed another Harold Albrecht moment on the Conservative campaign today. This time it was in Surrey, B.C., at a huge Stephen Harper rally.

All the lower mainland candidates were there, too. Including blogger Ryan Warawa and Dona Cadman, the wife of former Canadian Alliance and then independent MP Chuck Cadman.

Journalists traveling with the Conservative leader's tour were anxious to speak to them. But it seems the leader's tour was less anxious to allow them to be spoken to.

Harper's communication staff rushed the candidates off the stage and through a backdoor, conveniently also the door Stephen Harper was to exit through and thus protected by a phalanx of RCMP officers.

Ain't nothing that can kill a scrum like a bunch of men with guns. In our conventional halls. In Surrey, B.C. In Canada. Policemen with guns. I am not making this up.

Anyway, to be fair to everyone, there was a bit of mayhem. And there was a pack of journalists all moving towards the PM as if in unison, so maybe the RCMP weren't well out of bounds trying to stop the pack.

Still, the end result was simply this: Dona Cadman and Ryan Warawa didn't have to talk to the press. But, Stephen Harper's director of communications Kory Teneycke did.

"A local candidate's priority is campaigning in the local riding, and not talking to the national media."

But isn't the whole Conservative team a part of the Conservative campaign?

"You saw our team on the stage, " Teneycke said.

The lesson, obviously, that it's fine for journalists traveling with the Harper tour to take pictures of a local candidate, but not to talk to them.

— James Cudmore