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The declaration has earned him critics – Vancouver’s mayor said the Prime Minister was clearly mixed up — but it also separated him from his political competitors. Both interim Liberal leader Bob Rae and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair opted only to endorse all Canadian cities.

“I want to work hard for all Canadian cities,” said Mr. Mulcair, an Ottawa-born Montrealer who grumped: “‘I’m better than you’ is not the best way to get results.”

Mr. Rae allowed that “Toronto is my hometown” before saying via email “now that I am a National Leader all of Canada is my home.”

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The Prime Minister’s unplanned remarks at the Calgary Stampede’s opening ceremonies Friday were captured on video and posted on the Huffington Post’s website Tuesday. But the Prime Minister’s Office was not shy to confirm the truth of the remarks.

“Absolutely the Prime Minister meant it,” press secretary Carl Vallée wrote in an email Tuesday.

A political science professor at the University of British Columbia couldn’t recall any other Canadian Prime Minister making such a public claim, but said Mr. Harper’s remarks were reminiscent of Jean Chrétien’s outspoken affinity for his native Shawinigan, Que.

“This is barbecue season and politicians are on break and they’re going to be saying things to please the home crowd,” says Prof. Max Cameron. “But from Harper it’s believable.

“Some people will look at this and say, ‘Come on, really? Calgary?’ But I think it’s kind of cute. When a politician speaks with genuine passion of their hometown, people like that.”