Michael Harris is not happy with PM Martin as well:
...For all of us, there are sad but automatic reasons for cutting short a vacation. It could be a relative or friend's illness or death, a business emergency, or a personal obligation in which time is of the essence. I am sure that the prime minister would immediately return from any vacation if, heaven forbid, a tragedy were to strike his immediate family.
I am also certain that if the Big One were to have hit Vancouver with heavy loss of life, the prime minister would not be MIL, missing in leisure. He would immediately return to Canada to lead the nation through the rescue, recovery, and grief. To show up six days after the earthquake would, I submit, be unthinkable.
But points out that PM Martin is not alone in his dithering:
...So when there has been a death in the family of man, (or, as in this case, a very great many of them), are we to conclude that the standard is lower? After all, the prime minister would never offer the insult of continuing his vacation in the face of a great national tragedy, or a catastrophe to our nearest neighbour. So why would he choose to offer it in the face of an international tragedy of unimaginable proportions?
Nor was he alone. President Bush was at Crawford Ranch on vacation. His buddy, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was on vacation, as was the secretary general of the UN.
Days after the terrible event, two of them "interrupted" their vacations to read a statement written by somebody else about how awful they felt.
