HARPER TALKS POLITICS WITH YOUTUBE CROWD

PM Hits On Seal Hunt, Crime And Detainees In Online
Interview

Stephen Harper waltzed through his first interview on YouTube Tuesday
and along the way he gave a thumbs-up to the seal hunt and the
crackdown on "guns, gangs and drugs," and a firm thumbs-down to
legalizing marijuana.

"The reason drugs are illegal is because they are bad," Harper said.
"And even if these things were legalized, I can predict with a lot of
confidence that these would never be respectable businesses run by
respectable people."

Canadian Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer, conducted
the interview, and made a point of saying the question about
marijuana, which he asked last, won the most votes from those who
participated in the YouTube challenge.

"Well, it's a good question," Harper responded.

Someone identified as B. Jonte of Waterloo asked Harper why the
government was not more open on the Afghan prisoner issue and why it
always responds to "legitimate" questions about the issue with
"support our troops and look the other way."

Harper said he disagreed with the premise of the question and said
it's important to state there is no evidence Canadian soldiers have
done anything wrong.

Harper rejected a questioner's appeal to cancel the 2010 commercial
seal hunt, saying there is "no danger" of the seal population
disappearing and that his government would continue to "vigorously
defend our sealers."

"There is no scientific evidence that says the seal population is in
jeopardy," he said.

On mandatory sentencing, he said although he didn't think crime was
out of control, there are "worrying growth areas, particularly if you
look at the areas of guns, gangs and drugs, and this is a growth area,
not just in Canada, but around the world."

Harper's YouTube appearance was a clear bid to try to connect with an
audience that considers YouTube part of its daily online diet.

Google spokeswoman Wendy Rozeluk said the tape was unedited, and that
there was no vetting of the questions by the PMO. However, Harper did
not go into the

interview blind. He and his staff, like anybody else with access to
the Internet, were able to tap into YouTube's Talk Canada site to read
questions in advance and ascertain the most popular subjects.