By Dana Milbank
Friday, July 7, 2006; A02

For Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it was the all-important photo op: the grinning handshake with President Bush in the East Room after yesterday's joint news conference.

Then Raghubir Goyal of the obscure India Globe newspaper ruined everything for the visiting premier. "Happy birthday!" Goyal called out to Bush, who was celebrating his 60th. "We share the same date!"

"Today's your birthday, too?" asked a delighted Bush, dropping Harper's hand. "Well, come on up -- let's have a birthday picture. Come on, come on, come on. Come on, come on, get up here! Anybody else have their birthday today?"

Within moments, USA Today's Richard Benedetto took the stage, too. "If we start to get any more, I'm going to start to question it," said a befuddled Harper, who stood off to the side, rubbing his nose, as his photo op disintegrated. "Another one?" Harper blurted out when a sound technician from the State Department, Todd Mizis, joined the group.

Television crews in the rear struck up a round of "Happy Birthday to You." The cameras zoomed in on the four birthday boys, cutting the Canadian out of the action.

For the Americans, it was a bit of harmless fun. For the Canadians, it was another reminder of how little interest Americans have in them.

Just minutes earlier, Harper had pleaded with Bush and Congress to reverse a plan to require that travelers between the two countries have a passport rather than the usual driver's license. "If the fight for security ends up meaning that the United States becomes more closed to its friends, then the terrorists have won," Harper urged -- in French and English.

Bush could not be very encouraging. "We are responding to congressional law," he replied, neglecting to mention that he signs the laws.

In his defense, Bush was in a tough spot. He was hoping to reward Harper -- "Steve," as he repeatedly called him -- for toning down the anti-Americanism north of the border since his Conservative government came to power in February. But Bush increasingly finds himself the internationalist president of an isolationist country. On issues such as trade, immigration and diplomacy, he was urging Americans yesterday to resist their inclination to turn inward.

As in: "It's in this nation's interest to trade with Canada."

Or: "What takes place in other parts of the world can come home to hurt the American people."

Or: "HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa is a threat to our security, in the long run. . . . I think it's in our interest."

As foreigners go, Harper is the sort who would appeal even to the isolationists among us. A youthful 47, he has JFK good looks and, like Bush, wore gray suit, silvery hair, and blue shirt, tie and eyes. His accent sounded downright American, except when he said words such as "again" and "processes." And though he spoke in French, it clearly wasn't his mother tongue; he asked a reporter how to say "missile defense" in French.

"We face exactly the same kind of security threats and are defending exactly the same kinds of values," the Canadian said, emotionally requesting a change in the passport law. "And I would hate to see a law go into place that has the effect of not just limiting or endangering trade or tourism, but endangering all those thousands of social interactions that occur across our border every day and are the reasons why Canada and the United States have the strongest relationship of any two countries not just on the planet, but in the history of mankind."

The White House attempted various shows of deference to Harper, including the formal East Room setting, and the presence of Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Bush hurried to mention how firm Harper was on the passport issue ("he basically was a little impatient") and credited him for resolving a long-festering lumber dispute; Harper smiled and nodded.

But the president couldn't maintain perfect decorum. When Harper insisted on making all his remarks in French and English, a bored-looking Bush winked at a couple of the American reporters.

The president sprang to life whenever the subject turned to his birthday. After a Canadian reporter brought it up, Bush complained that "it's amazing that the first birthday greeting I got from the press came from the Canadian press." Bush added that 60 is "a lot younger than you think."

A second Canadian reporter tried to follow on his colleague's success. "I'm just curious what you think of that belt buckle the prime minister gave you as a birthday gift, and are you wearing it?" he asked.

Major faux pas. "I hadn't seen it yet!" Bush said with mock dismay, opening his jacket to reveal his usual buckle. "You gave it away!"

Then came the closing handshake, which was aborted in favor of Bush's impromptu birthday celebration with members of the audience. "Happy birthday! Happy birthday!" Bush said to his fellow July Sixers.

Harper, not knowing quite what to do, decided to shake hands with all of them. From the back of the room, somebody shouted out to the Canadian: "I hope you brought enough belt buckles!"