Let me be clear: I am a private citizen who does not belong to any political party nor do I harbour any political aspirations, and as such, I would like to share my personal impressions of our prime minister with my fellow citizens.

I have never worked for or with, Mr. Harper and never had the opportunity of a private meeting. However, I have had the good fortune of meeting him publicly five times, most recently on the day Mr. Turner’s scathing article was printed. I think Canadians now have the right to see him from a totally different perspective.

I first met Prime Minister Harper during the 2007 Chanukah celebration on Parliament Hill. It included a Menorah Lighting ceremony in the historic Railway Room and I had the privilege of introducing, amongst others, the prime minister, who had graciously agreed to participate.

The impression my peers and I had (and let me add that nearly all of us had met prime ministers and presidents before) was of an exceptionally affable, friendly and witty leader who went the extra mile to put his constituents at ease. His tone and demeanor were remarkably respectful and congenial, and all were impressed by his understated quiet charisma.

Last month the prime minister honoured our community by personally participating in our newly expanded Synagogue-Community Centre’s grand opening in Thornhill.

In the days that followed I had the opportunity to speak with many who attended our grand opening ceremony. Regardless of religious affiliations, ethnicities and political persuasions within the non-homogeneous crowd, the feedback was essentially uniform. People were simply “blown away.” Everybody believed that we have a prime minister who is engaging, warm, friendly, and above all, humble.

And many were genuinely surprised. One friend, an Italian Catholic, said to me: “I never thought of him that way, he’s always portrayed as being cold, arrogant and indifferent…. Close up he really isn’t like that at all!”

In the few words we exchanged before entering the Main Sanctuary and while observing him during this event, his body language suggested a deep discomfort with lavish personal praise and he exuded sincere humility.

But the kicker took place as I posed for a photo-op with him and a small group of dignitaries. Along with the PMO’s official photographer stood a part-time professional photographer brought by one of the invited guests. Mr. Harper stopped the proceedings, and said warmly to this fellow, “would you like to join the picture as well?” In utter disbelief the man’s face lit up, and he looked like he just won the lottery as he joined our group.

You can agree or disagree with the Conservative party’s policies and you can wish somebody else was occupying this office, but I don’t think you can say that our current prime minister isn’t a decent, sincere and caring man.

Politics and personal grievances aside, the mean-spirited caricatures and spiteful revisions of reality are unnecessary, unfair and unwanted. As Canadians, I think we expect and deserve more from our media.

In April of 1998, Rabbi Mendel Kapan founded Chabad@Flamingo to serve the affiliated and unaffiliated Jewish population living on the northern edge of Thornhill.