A second federal Conservative cabinet minister has had to apologize after a conflict with airport security.
Veteran's Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn was forced to explain his behaviour yesterday after it was reported that he had taken strong issue with security guards at the Ottawa airport who refused to let him on a plane with a bottle of tequila.
Mr. Blackburn's pre-boarding problem occurred on Feb. 23, four days after Helena Guergis, the Minister of State for Women, had a meltdown in the Charlottetown airport - a tantrum that involved the throwing of boots and the branding of Prince Edward island as a "hellhole." She has also apologized.
These types of incidents could hurt the Conservatives, who came to power on a populist agenda, said pollster Frank Graves, president of Ekos Research. "It starts to send out a signal about a government that may be getting a little too comfortable in its position," he said.
Conservative strategist Tim Powers said most people have experienced frustrations at airports.
"Generally we all try to govern our tempers accordingly but sometimes every human being slips," Mr. Powers said. "But I think what politicians should be realizing after the case with Minister Guergis is that people are paying attention to their behaviour and for Conservatives, the bar - because we put it there - on behaviour is a little higher and we have to be constantly mindful of that or that bar will knock us to the ground."
It was unclear why Mr. Blackburn, a veteran flyer, arrived at the airport with a bottle of tequila. It has been more than three years since passengers were prohibited from boarding aircraft with more than 100 millilitres of any liquid.
Sources told CTV News that, when the minister was asked to relinquish the booze, he became irate and demanded that the security officials empty the bottle in front of him. The argument, said the sources, became so heated that security almost called the police.
Mr. Blackburn said in a statement yesterday that he merely asked that the liquor be destroyed, given that he was being forced to leave it behind. "Granted I was upset about what happened," he said. "And I apologize to those I could have offended."
The Liberals were quick to point out that Mr. Blackburn was sent out last May to announce a government investment of $358.7-million to strengthen airport security.
He is also the minister who was taken to task by the opposition in 2007 for spending nearly $68,000 for 14 aircraft rentals between April and August of that year.
"Perhaps because he took too many charter flights last year. Maybe it was easier to get tequila on board," quipped Liberal MP David McGuinty.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper shrugged off his ministers' airport run-ins at a news conference in Brandon, Man., yesterday.
"Do I realistically expect that everybody who works for me is perfect?" he replied in response to a question from a reporter. "No. We can't run any operation like that. But when people make mistakes, we expect that they own up to them and learn from them and I'm sure they will in these cases."
But two similar outbursts in such a short period of time is not good for Conservative optics, Mr. Graves said.
"The public have no use for this. It kind of confirms their deepest fear, which is that there is a big party going on in Ottawa that they are paying for and they're not invited," he said.
"I think it is a potential problem and one that they would want to be mindful of. And I think they should be careful that they don't send off the wrong signals - that they are feeling this sense of entitlement, or that they have lost touch with the common folks that elected them."