Last year, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper alienated many in Canada’s arts community with this much-publicized remark:<\/p>\n
“I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see … a bunch of people at a rich gala … all subsidized by the taxpayers, claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have gone up, I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people.”<\/span><\/p>\n Hence the big splash when the Prime Minister made an appearance this weekend at Saturday’s National Arts Centre benefit gala in Ottawa<\/a>.<\/p>\n The notoriously stiff and private Harper sat at the piano with a passable rendition<\/a> of the Beatles “With a Little Help from my Friends”. His back-up band included ever-popular event headliner Yo Yo Ma. (Ma is not visible for very much of the video, but it looks like he was having a great time.)<\/p>\n