On working definitions

Andrew Mayeda is right to mock Stephen Harper's excuse for hiding his presence in Winnipeg. But I'd argue that some of his explanatory examples are probably a little off base:

In response to my blog, the Prime Minister’s Office sent me an email to clarify who the Conservatives will be consulting.

“Our government’s economic consultations are with hardworking Canadians,” a PMO spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson noted that Harper met with a roundtable of local businesspeople.

Based on that statement and the usual right-wing mantra equating "hardworking" with "wealthy" to justify regressive tax policies, I'd fully anticipate that Harper would consider a corporate executive at the yacht to be exactly the hardworking demographic he's after. (And anybody who merely works hard without a fortune to show for it would be well outside the true target audience - which may explain why the Cons would have wanted to hear from their chosen group alone.)