Stephen Harper Eats Babies

PM 'eats babies' sign flashed at commuters

Tue May 2, 2006 04:03 PM ET

By Stefanie Kranjec

TORONTO (Reuters) - A mocking announcement about Canada's prime minister, "Stephen Harper Eats Babies," was flashed on electronic advertising signs on Toronto area commuter trains for several days, and technicians were still scrambling on Tuesday to get the signs fixed.

"Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies. Stephen Harper Eats Babies," started to appear every three seconds across some LED screens late last week. The signs usually carry transit updates and advertising spots.

"It appears that this was a case of electronic vandalism," said Stephanie Sorensen, corporate communications and media specialist for the GO Transit commuter system. "We assume it was a hacker. We haven't identified the person who did this but we're working closely with the contractor who runs the signs to fix the problem."

Screens on GO Trains have been shut down since Monday. Sorensen said she expects they will remain off line for a few more days until password-protected technology is installed to protect them from computer hackers.

"We regret that it happened and we're sorry if anybody was offended, including the prime minister," Sorensen said.

GO Transit carries 47 million passengers every year on its network of buses and trains in the Toronto region.

Seriously, this is brilliant. Not only does the message get out to thousands, but no actual physical damage is done. It also amuses the hell out of me that no one at GO could actually fix the problem and the signs are still off. If anyone knows anyone in the Toronto area that has a picture of this, I'd love to see it.