TORONTO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, in a tight race for re-election, has won an endorsement
from perhaps Canada's best-known athlete, hockey player Wayne
Gretzky, CBC news reported on Friday.
Gretzky, who became the leading scorer in NHL history
playing with teams including the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles
Kings, appeared with Harper at an event in Toronto.
"I think you have been an unreal prime minister," Gretzky
said, following a brief question-and-answer session with Harper,
according to the CBC report.
Gretzky said that Harper has been "wonderful to the
country," it added.
The report noted Gretzky would not be allowed to vote in the
Oct. 19 election because he lives in the United States. Under
Canadian law, citizens who have lived abroad for more than five
years lose the right to vote in the upcoming federal election.
Harper's right-leaning Conservatives, who have ruled the
country for nearly a decade, are in a tight three-way race with
the center-left Liberals and New Democratic Party.