It seems that Canadian Transport Minister John Baird has ... er, had ... a cat named Thatcher.
Tuesday night, as Canada.com reports, while "2,000 or so Conservatives in black-tie" were at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, the minister sent a short text to a friend who was there. The message:
"Thatcher has died."
Today, the BBC picks up the story from there: "Confusion spread. ... Calls to puzzled officials in both 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace followed." A top aide to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper "started preparing an official statement mourning the passing of the Iron Lady."
And then the Canadians found out that 84-year-old former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, a favorite of conservatives around the world, is still with us.
As Australia's ABC News says, "a brief message about a dead cat caused fur to fly."
According to the BBC, Thatcher (the cat) was a 16-year-old grey (of course) "tabby."
Baroness Thatcher and another former prime minister, John Major, on Wednesday.
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