The official notice from the PMO that Prime Minister Harper would be available to speak to the media about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination went out at 1346 Ottawa time this afternoon, giving reporters 29 minutes to get to the Calgary airport. The PMO was curious why not many reporters were able to show up.  

Luckily, as we’d been calling the PMO all day, we had an early heads-up and our camera crew was already on the way to the airport. Here’s some of his comments, made just before he got on the government jet to return to Ottawa:

On behalf of the people of Canada, I want to express my sincere condolences to the family of Mrs. Bhutto as well as to those of the other innocent victims today and to the people of Pakistan.

We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. This was an abhorrent act of terror. We hope that the government of Pakistan will act to bring the perpetrators to justice. This cannot be allowed to permit any delay in the return of Pakistan to full democracy, something the people of Pakistan have been waiting for for far too long.

… it is our role to continue to press the government of Pakistan to continue on the path to restoring full democracy, something that we think is long overdue.  

… we’ve been concerned for several months now about this whole series of events in Pakistan that undermines the stability there [in Afghanistan, where our troops are] and we are concerned about regional stability and obviously about the valiant efforts that our people in Afghanistan are making.