OTTAWA — Prime Minister Jean Chretien flew home Thursday from a Caribbean vacation and landed in a hornet's nest of stinging criticism over absentee political leadership on the SARS outbreak.

A decision by the World Health Organization to issue an unprecedented travel advisory for Toronto on Wednesday prompted an outpouring of criticism as severe acute respiratory syndrome mutated from a public health crisis to an economic and political one.

Opposition politicians, many newspaper columnists and some health policy analysts said a political leadership vacuum has made a bad situation much worse and helped fan domestic and international perceptions that containing SARS is not a high priority.

But others defended the prime minister's low-key handling of the issue.

Officials in the Prime Ministers' Office huddled Thursday afternoon to plan for what is clearly a brewing storm.

The prime minister has been "fully engaged from the beginning'' on SARS, said PMO spokeswoman Thoren Hudyma.

She noted his visit three weeks ago to the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg and an appearance at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Toronto a week later.

The Globe and Mail reported that Chretien is considering setting up a panel of experts that would deal with all aspects of the SARS crisis.

While in the Dominican Republic on a 12-day jaunt that combined work and vacation time, Chretien remained in telephone contact and spoke this week with Ontario Premier Ernie Eves and Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman, promising full co-operation, she added.

But Eves made an unusual appearance at the SARS daily media briefing Thursday in Toronto where he promised he'd "be taking a much more active role now as we go on.''

Chretien appears likely to follow suit Friday morning. He is expected to talk to the media at an unrelated event in Ottawa.

Whether a retiring prime minister with a long history of low-profile crisis management can win over the punditry remains to be seen.

Many reviews Thursday were scathing.

"The front page of the Globe said it all: `Where's Rudy Guiliani when you need him?''' said Jonathan Rose, a specialist in political communication at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

The headline refers to the former New York mayor who rallied the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks there.

"Other political leaders and citizens look to the prime minister for rhetorical cues,'' continued Rose. "By his silence, he's rhetorically saying SARS is not important.''

That appeared to be a consensus opinion among many Toronto columnists, not just the Globe and Mail's.

"Simple Diagnosis? It's a case of poor leadership,'' said a front-page headline in the Toronto Star.

"Mystery illness sucking brains from leaders,'' said an inside caption in the National Post.

Historian Michael Bliss called the criticism "cheap shots'' and said Canada's political leaders, Chretien included, have been unfairly branded. They have faced a quickly evolving public health situation and a skittish public.<

"The problem all the politicians had _ and the problem for the public health people _ is that it's a really fine line that they're walking,'' said Bliss, an expert in the history of epidemics.<

"I'm not impressed with the notion that somehow our politicians ought to have superhuman vision and insight and have done absolutely the right thing in this unknown situation. What you cannot show is that our politicians _ or anybody else _ have been clearly irresponsible.''

Harvey Skinner, the chair of public health sciences at the University of Toronto medical faculty, said Chretien got off to a good, properly low-key start on the SARS issue by visiting a Toronto restaurant two weeks ago but has "let it slip off the radar screen.''

Skinner would have preferred he'd stayed in the public eye so that people could "sense that the prime minister _ because he's the biggest figurehead _ at least had his hand on the pulse and was watching. He was, initially, and now there's been a gap.''

Political opponents pulled no punches.

"The PM should be aggressively involved,'' NDP Leader Jack Layton said Thursday. "I don't care if he's on a golf course. His cellphone can be connected to the meetings if need be.''<

Tory Leader Joe Clark called Ottawa's leadership "absolutely awful.''

"The first minister we heard from was Sheila Copps, and she's now retracted her statements,'' he said.

Copps called the SARS outbreak an "epidemic'' and a "national emergency'' this week and was almost immediately contradicted by Health Minister Anne McLellan, who openly accused the Liberal leadership hopeful of playing politics.<

Canadian Alliance Health Critic Rob Merrifield went so far Thursday as to say Chretien could have averted the WHO travel advisory.

"A stronger federal presence and tougher screening measures at our airports might have prevented the WHO alert on Toronto,'' said Merrifield.

Sharon Sholzberg-Gray of the Canadian Healthcare Association, which represents Canadian hospitals, said Ottawa could probably do more to communicate its role and future intentions to the public.

"They haven't made any financial commitments publicly, so I'm waiting for that, but it's not too late,'' she added.

Skinner agreed that Ottawa hasn't handled its SARS communications perfectly, but said criticism is being overblown.

"We need to constructively learn from this to improve the system and not go blaming anyone,'' said the public health specialist.

"That's our first tendency. Who can we blame? Who's the scapegoat?''