A fake news release was posted to the Conservative Party website on June 7, 2011.
There was momentary panic in newsrooms across Canada Tuesday morning after a report - seemingly fueled by one of Stephen Harper's own MPs - the Prime Minister had been rushed to hospital after choking on his breakfast.
It turned out to be a hoax. Mr. Harper hadn't had troubled swallowing a piece of hash brown after all.
"[He]took his daughter to school and is on his way to the office," Dimitri Soudas, the Prime Minister's communications director, said Tuesday morning after emails and calls from reporters about the incident.
He later confirmed that the Conservative website, on which the fake news release was posted, had been hacked - or as he preferred to say "unauthorized access" was gained.
Under the headline "Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast Incident," the release said that Mr. Harper had been rushed to "Toronto General Hospital this morning after an incident at breakfast." That was a clue to the veracity of the story, given Mr. Harper was back in Ottawa Monday for the budget release.
It said he was brought by helicopter to hospital after his wife called 911 and that he had choked on a hash brown while having breakfast with his children.
His security staff had performed first-aid, the report said, trying to unblock the Prime Minister's airway. It went on to say his condition would be monitored.
Asked of the alleged incident, a spokeswoman for the University Health Network - which includes Toronto General Hospital - declined to comment on whether Mr. Harper had been seen at the facility, citing patient confidentiality laws.
Adding fuel to the fire was a tweet from Chris Alexander, the newly-minted Tory MP for Ajax-Pickering and who is considered a rising star.
"Prime Minister Rushed to Hospital After Breakfast Incident," he said. And that had the Twitter-verse abuzz.
Later, however, he tweeted that he too was a victim of the prank. "My Twitter account was hacked this morning: previous tweet absolutely false. Apologies to all."
With a report from Jill Mahoney in Toronto