Edmundston — A late-night anonymous phone call placed to Henri Fouchard, Justin Trudeau’s old friend and long-serving barber, put the man on edge. “I was very confused,” the New Brunswick hairstylist told The Manatee. “Usually people call me at work to book appointments; this was the first time I’d received a call at home so late.”
The caller, who was later identified as Prime Minister and Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper, seemed very nervous during the conversation, explained Fouchard. “He was stumbling over his words, and kept saying things like ‘I want to look hip again’ and ‘My old hairdo just isn’t fly with the kids these days.’ It was right around then that I realized who it was.”
Fouchard told us that he had to turn the offer down. “It would be a conflict of interest,” he explained, but admitted that he was very flattered. “As a stylist, I consider hair to be my canvas and scissors to be my paintbrush, but I’m no van Gogh, and he’s no Starry Night.”
Since the recent Conservative smear campaigns have complimented the 43-year-old Liberal candidate’s hair, Fouchard’s business has skyrocketed. “Though [Justin] wasn’t happy with the ads, I certainly did not mind the publicity they brought,” he said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had high-profile clientele — in fact I used to be Mike Duffy’s barber too, but I lost his business for, well, obvious reasons.”
Stephen Harper’s old barber, a salad bowl, could not be reached for comment.