You can stop staring hopefully at that phone, Bono. Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper will not be calling.
The Irish rock star turned poverty activist met U.S. President George
W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of a Group of
Eight summit but was told Harper was too busy to talk to him.
Harper, a somewhat wooden figure regularly mocked for his lack of
flair, told reporters on
Thursday that meeting Bono was not a priority.
"I've got to say that meeting celebrities isn't kind of my
shtick, that was the shtick of
the previous guy," said Harper in a dig at his Liberal predecessor Paul
Martin, who met Bono regularly.
"I hope we do it at some point but my principle in public policies is
not kind of to meet celebrities," added the prime minister, a
Conservative.
Activists say Canada is trying to block a deal that ensures western
nations live up to promises to boost aid to Africa.
For the record, though, Harper said he liked the music of Bono's band
U2.
