"You can't get a haircut in this town without speculation," says Paul Dewar.

Posted by Joanna Smith, Ottawa Bureau

When New Democrat MP and foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre) sent an email to supporters Wednesday morning and posted on his Facebook wall that he had some news to share, everyone assumed that he was going to announce a leadership bid.

That became obvious when a smiling Dewar emerged from the NDP caucus meeting, playing coy with the reporters in the scrum around him as he told everyone to wait and see.

One more clue? His new haircut:

“What do you think you will bring to the race?” CBC Newsworld's Julie Van Dusen asked in the scrum.

“Well, we’re getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?” Dewar said by way of a non-answer.

“Well, I figured that’s why you got the haircut, right?” Van Dusen persisted, which got everyone in the scrum laughing, as many were wondering the same.

“You can’t get a haircut in this town without speculation!" said Dewar. "I get a haircut from time to time. It’s something I do and I like to be well-groomed as a Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.”