Steve is the Prime Minister of Canada. Steve is friends with Bush. At least he doesn’t mind too much that Bush likes to call him Steve.
While his mother isn’t a big fan of the moniker, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he doesn’t mind if the leader of Canada’s biggest trading partner wants to call him “Steve.”
During an appearance on a Calgary radio program Tuesday, Harper was asked what he thought when U.S. President George W. Bush referred to him as “Steve” at least three times during a joint news conference in Washington last week.
“I’m proud to have allies like Steve who understand the stakes of the 21st century,” Bush said during the televised news conference.
“It surprised me a bit,” Harper laughed during an interview on CHQR Radio. “I’m normally called Stephen … but a few people, close friends of my mine, do call me Steve.”
The prime minister joked that his mother isn’t a fan of the name.
“My mother doesn’t like that, and I’m sure that President Bush will be getting a letter,” he said with a laugh. [cbc]
Ha! Silly cowboys – how precious! He should have just replied, “You bet, Georgie Boy!”
I bet Chrétien would have said something like that… if Bush tried calling him “Jean” (ph: like the pants)… yeah…