Aaron Wherry/CBC: In an appearance on the Herle Burly podcast in early January, Ian Brodie, Harper’s first chief of staff, said he had come to the belief that international travel was a net negative politically for a prime minister.
“The problem is that when you travel you’re giving up the domestic agenda,” Brodie said. “We did some research on this when I was chief of staff. And when Mr. Harper was abroad … regardless of what he was doing and regardless of how well we planned the trip, he was losing ground in public opinion. He was losing media space and he was losing political support every day that he was abroad…