Stephen Harper is getting some international attention.

Not because of his environmental policies or his staunch defence of Israel but because of his ahem...Christmas card.

Kudos to the Ottawa Citizen for locating the Harpers' 2013 festive holiday card on awkwardfamilyphotos.com which, as the name indicates, profiles awkward family photos.

An online user who goes by the name Marc submitted the picture (above) with the caption:

"Yes, that is the Prime Minister of Canada and yes, his wife is holding a chinchilla."

[ More Politics: Senate Speaker Noël Kinsella yet another high-expense traveller: report ]

It's not fair but in this country we seem to have a fascination with political Christmas cards. In fact, Canadian newspapers have been publishing and critiquing them since the 1950s.

In 2011, the media chided Harper for recycling a picture from 2010.

In 2010, the 'controversy' was around Michael Ignatieff's card which included a Jewish menorah but no Christian symbols.

And remember the Trudeaus' 2010 holiday card where he and his family are dressed in winter coats with a fur trim.

As far as we can tell, however, the Harper chinchilla card is the first to be on awkwardfamilyphotos.com.

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