Ad Hoc Prime Ministerial Liveblog: How Stephen Harper Spent His Copenhagen Vacation

Wait, was that Terry Milewski who just passed in front of the camera? He's not leaving, is he?

Hey, there he is! The PM, that is -- not Terry Milewski, who may or may not be somewhere in the crowd of what I'm betting are some pretty darned tired and cranky journalists. As usual, he gives the first part of his opening statement in French, and then announces, with an admirable effort to insert himself into ongoing events, that "we" have an agreement, despite the fact that last time I checked, Canada wasn't listed as one of the signatories to the five-country deal. Not only do "we" have a deal, but apparently, that whole continental approach to climate change is still a go -- we'll be harmonizing with our southern neighbours -- but the "toughest hurdles" have been cleared today. 

First question from CanWest, and the "science" of climate change; the reporter wonders if the PM will be as definitive as the president was earlier this week, and he obliges, mostly, by touting the preponderance of evidence. 

Next up, Terry Milewski, who speaks so softly that I miss the first part of his question, but the second half is pretty easy to grasp: what about the oil sands? Yes, what about them? Harper, whose smile looks just the tiniest bit forced, points out that he actually had three questions there. Ah, but how many will result in answers? That's always the question. Anyway, the PM starts by congratulating our negotiators for their hard work -- he's definitely trying to give the impression -- which may, for all I know, be entirely correct -- that today's last-minute deal was actually the cumulative result of all those long, seemingly futile meetings that took place during the lead up to today's meeting. As for the oil sands, the PM reminds us that the oil sands are far from the only emitter, and that any 'regime' will have to cover more than just that sector. 

The Globe's Shawn McCarthy wants to know more about that harmonization, and the PM goes off on a tangent about how different this is than what the previous government did at Kyoto; if the Americans don't act, he tells him, it will be difficult for Canada to act, but if they do, we can. Wait, really? That makes us sound rather -- passive, doesn't it?

Reading my mind, Colleague Lunn pops up to ask whether Canada has, indeed, been relegated to the sidelines, as far as having any influence at the table, a suggestion that the PM stoutly denies. In fact, he notes, Canada was ahead of the pack, as far as today's deal. "It's been a long battle to get us to this point," he notes, but this is an agreement that Canada "can be very comfortable with," and he wants to give Jim Prentice and his team credit once again. Wow, he's being awfully generous with the shoutouts to his minister, isn't he? 

Aww, last question -- and it goes to Canadian Press' Steve Rennie, who wonders whether the PM agrees that these sorts of meta-multilateral conferences may not be the best way to actually come up with some sort of agreement, and he chuckles -- well, ish -- before acknowledging that yes, it isn't the easiest arrangement -- especially if every leader insists on being present for every meeting, which definitely isn't a complaint that anyone at this particular conference will make about him. 

With that, the surprisingly still relatively dulcet tones of deputy press secretary Andrew MacDougall dismisses us for the evening -- or, in the case of the media on the ground in Copenhagen, for the night, although I'm not sure if they're now scrambling to the airport to make sure the PM's plane doesn't leave without them.