It's a bird! It's a plane! It's . . .

The verdict is in - reporters have christened Stephen Harper's campaign plane.

The winning name is Sweater Vest Jet, a nod to Harper's carefully calculated image move this campaign to dress casually at some stops.

The name beat out "Fruit Fly." That was in reference to Harper's response this week that he considered himself more of a fruit, than a vegetable.

And it trumped "Bird Flu," referring to the trouble that "birds" have caused Harper this week - first the Conservative website that showed a puffin defecating on Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, then Thursday's suspension of party spokesperson Ryan Sparrow for an inappropriate e-mail.

Apple or potato?

So is Stephen Harper a fruit or vegetable?

The prime minister was stumped by the question during a Tuesday stop in Winnipeg.

Harper was at a produce warehouse to announce a cut to the federal excise taxes on diesel and aviation fuels. With the prime minister standing against a backdrop of open crates of cucumbers, cauliflower, onions and potatoes, a local television reporter took advantage of the setting to pose his question.

"This is a question that is on aptitude tests and job applications. If you were a vegetable, what type of vegetable would you be and why?" he asked.

Harper laughed, turned and looked at the vegetables behind and conceded he was likely on dangerous ground for a politician.

"Um. I really don't know how to answer that one. I've never been asked that question before and I have a feeling I can't win by answering that question," he said.

"I would choose, if I had to, instead to be a fruit, just what I am - sweet and colourful," he said to the applause and laughter of his audience.

From Bruce Campion-Smith

PM gets no respect from kids

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was making good headway in a speech Monday night to supporters at a Regina-area farm when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Is someone throwing rocks at me," Harper said, turning to look behind him.

"Careful," he said chuckling.

It turns out someone was. Several boys and girls standing behind Harper had been using their campaign signs to flick bits of gravel from the floor in the PM's direction.

And once he turned his back, they started doing it again.

-Bruce Campion-Smith

Keeping a low profile

The Conservatives' first stop of the day was - a secret.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign stop Monday morning was kept under wraps, other than vague hints that it was to visit with a family in Richmond, B.C.

Local reporters were told to rendezvous at the airport-area hotel where the Conservative tour spent the night and were given the family's address just minutes before the tour departed.

Party organizers said the details were kept under wraps to ensure the neighbourhood wasn't flooded with traffic.

- Bruce Campion-Smith

Airbus prize

Ben O'Hara-Byrne, a Global Television reporter, is going to Hawaii in style.

On the flight from Ottawa to Calgary on NDP Leader Jack Layton's campaign plane, O'Hara-Byrne's name was picked from a basket and to his surprise he won two Air Canada business class tickets to Hawaii.

A party spokesperson said it was an Air Canada promotion and had nothing to do with the NDP campaign. Consider it a parting gift to a TV reporter headed to Global's Beijing bureau.

- Richard Brennan

Harper and family

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was joined by wife Laureen when he took the stage at a stop in Quebec City on the election's first day.

Word is that she intends to campaign with him more than in previous elections years and may even venture out to do some election work on her own.

The couple's two children -- Ben, 12, and Rachel, 9 -- are remaining behind in Ottawa under the care of Harper's mother, who flew in from Calgary for the baby-sitting duties at 24 Sussex Dr.

As well, she'll be tending a litter of seven foster kittens. Both the Prime Minister and his wife are feline lovers and have opened the official residence to foster cats to help promote pet adoptions.

Lucky for Harper's mother that most of the kittens have been adopted and will be leaving 24 Sussex over the coming week or so.

- Bruce Campion-Smith

Harper takes off

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a few minutes to greet reporters seated at the back of his campaign plane.

"Yeah, there's a smattering of trouble back here," Harper chuckled as he came down the aisle.

With several previous close calls during the minority Parliament, Harper declared it was a "relief" to get the campaign underway.

He said he's been following the U.S. presidential race with interest and commented on the length of that campaign compared to the Canadian election.

"We started a year later and we'll finish a month earlier," he said.

He predicted that U.S. contest would be "lot closer than anyone thinks."

Harper, who has not always had cozy relations with the media, wished reporters well for the campaign.

"Have fun guys," he said.

- Bruce Campion-Smith

Minding the Leaders

NDP Leader Jack Layton had some extra minders as he launched his election campaign on Sunday - RCMP officers who will act as his bodyguards until the Oct. 14 vote.

The opposition leaders are usually given police protection during elections out of fear that being in the spotlight could provoke some unwanted attention.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his election bid on the scenic grounds of Rideau Hall with a fountain as a backdrop. But first they had to shut off the fountain so the noise of the burbling water wasn't caught on the microphones.

- Bruce Campion-Smith