WHITEHORSE—It was a bizarre spectacle. One of many when it comes to questioning the prime minister.

A PMO adviser told reporters Monday in advance that Stephen Harper would not provide answers in both official languages, as he has for the past seven years (and he’s uncannily good at repeating the exact same message in both official languages).

It’s a standard request. It means reporters for French- and English-language outlets don’t have to repeat questions and each get replies. And it allows more subjects to be covered since the PM limits the number of questions he’ll take and almost always refuses to answer follow-ups.

Now, the prime minister would only reply in the language in which a question is asked. If reporters wanted an answer in both languages, they had to ask in both.

Not every reporter is bilingual. But in Canada, 7.7 million report French as their first official language spoken. Even in Whitehorse, about 1,450 people report they speak French at home.

In the end, for the lone French-language reporter on the northern trip — allotted just one question of the six Harper would take on Monday — it meant he ended up listing all the previous questions he’d like the prime minister to repeat in French for Radio-Canada’s television and radio programming.

Earlier this summer, when Harper shuffled his cabinet, he also took only a few questions and declined to respond to the usual request for bilingual answers.

Many chalked it up to his being in a bad mood amid the bad news summer — senate audits, floods, train crashes.

It is, however, the new practice.

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