Stephen Harper invited the media to ask questions at his press conference after his meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. He clearly didn't see this one coming from CTV's Craig Oliver:
"Prime Minister when you were informed that the spouse of Minister Guergis had been charged with cocaine possession, what steps did you take, perhaps by asking her to assure yourself that this problem did not go any deeper or affect other members of your government?"
Mr. Harper responded - painfully:
"Um, let me, ah, ah, just say this. Um, first of all, I have no - I am not making specific allegations. I think, uh, there is an implication in the question that um, that uh, uh, because, uh, Mr. Jaffer was charged that therefore um, um, I was making accusations against the minister. As I say, I have received information, uh, that, um, uh, involved serious allegations about the minister's, former minister's comportment, um, that um, is why the minister has resigned and that information has been given to the, um, authorities, prior to that I had no information to suggest, uh, anything along these lines."
That was Wednesday - halfway through a week in which Mr. Harper and his Conservatives were dogged by questions about Helena Guergis and her husband Rahim Jaffer, and about why he referred certain allegations to the Ethics Commissioner and RCMP last week.
It's been a week since Ms. Guergis resigned as status of women minister, and Canadians don't know what the Prime Minister knows, what prompted his concerns. So far, any information has come from the media, including allegations of sordid behaviour involving cocaine, prostitutes, blackmail, private investigators and offshore bank accounts.
But exactly what troubled the Prime Minister remains a mystery.
It's no mystery, however, that this isn't sitting well with the Tim Hortons crowd. The scandal appears to be taking a toll on the Harper Conservatives.
An EKOS poll on Thursday suggested that the Tories are being " Guergisized," as their support is beginning to drop.
More telling is where their support is dropping. The Conservatives once had a 2-to-1 advantage over the Liberals among older Canadians. That has dissipated, said EKOS's Frank Graves, as that group is "clearly not amused with the antics of Canada's own celebrity couple."
The Conservative caucus, meanwhile, is sticking together, supporting the Prime Minister, while remaining angry at their former colleagues.
"The PM is strongly supported by caucus," a Conservative MP said. "And we are as united as ever, we're family. Like most families, we're not perfect, but our strength comes from the support we give each other."
No support is being given Ms. Guergis and Mr. Jaffer, however.
"People feel anger, sadness and betrayed," the MP said. "The PM values our team; trust and respect are extended and returned in spades in our caucus. Helena abused that; she put her own interests ahead of the caucus when she didn't voluntarily step down earlier."
He characterizes the situation as a "sad fall from grace for Rahim and Helena, neither of whom seem to grasp that they are not without blame."
While some Conservative MPs argue Canadians will understand that this situation is a reflection of the former political power couple and not of the party or the government, the opposition is trying every which way to make sure they don't.
This story is not going away. Friday, the opposition made more requests to the Ethics Commissioner and the lobbying commissioner for investigations. The RCMP has yet to advise whether it will look into the affair.
Next Wednesday, the House of Commons government operations committee begins its hearings into the business activities of Mr. Jaffer and his Green Power Energy Corp.
Mr. Jaffer, Ms. Guergis and the Toronto businessman, Nazim Gillani, who is reported to have boasted that Mr. Jaffer could provide access to the PMO, are all being called as witnesses.
(Photo: The Canadian Press)