OTTAWA — He hasn't even been sworn in yet, but in a 22-minute heartbeat Thursday, Stephen Harper placed his stamp on the country's highest elected office.

The title of prime minister "sounds good,'' Harper corrected a media questioner in his first news conference since being elected Monday.

"But I'll be patient.''

Not really.

With a startling efficiency quite foreign to his predecessor, Canada's soon-to-be 22nd prime minister set about meeting the national news media _ and by extension the Canadian electorate -- in the foyer of the House of Commons.

It was a clinic in political messaging.

The Conservative leader eschewed the traditional sit-down news conference in the National Press Theatre, choosing instead as his backdrop the open oak doors to the Commons chamber and a prime ministerial lectern.

The anglophone economist from Calgary spoke nothing but French for the opening four minutes of his first public address.

He acknowledged congratulatory phone calls from four foreign leaders, citing problematic U.S. President George W. Bush neither first nor last.

He doffed his cap to this weekend's Chinese new year, a nod to Canada's vibrant ethnic communities.

In short, from the moment Harper stepped under the TV lights through his snappy answers to 22 questions in 15 minutes and a curve-ball bonus response to a question no one asked, the 46-year-old showed not a single freshman jitter.

The entire exercise was designed to get Canadians used to the idea of Stephen Harper, prime minister.

It's a project that may take some time.

"I guess hell has frozen over,'' more than one media wag joked in the bitter cold outside Rideau Hall on Thursday morning as the incoming boss arrived to pay his respects to Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean.

Even some of Harper's own MPs were quietly marvelling at the turn of political fortunes.

"I never thought I'd be back in government,'' soft-spoken Tory veteran Bill Casey said as he observed the massive media throng on Parliament Hill.

The old Progressive Conservative MP from Amherst, N.S., credited Harper with orchestrating the most disciplined, simple and clear campaign of any of the six that Casey's run in dating back to 1988. He added that the Conservatives must maintain those qualities in order for this Tory minority to succeed.

Time may prove the man that many Canadians considered unelectable will fit the mould of prime minister better than they imagined.

Harper's stiff aura of power is more suited to high office than opposition glad-handing. This, after all, is a man who shakes the hand of his seven-year-old daughter for the news cameras when dropping the young sprite off at school.

Thursday afternoon, Harper got off to a sure-footed, if slightly unorthodox, start.

Television networks got the first six opportunities to question the prime minister-designate, while Canada's biggest and most influential daily newspapers were relegated to the back of the pack.

There was a refreshing brevity to Harper's responses. He occasionally dodged, but he didn't weave.

He said he'll hold the promised free vote on reversing same-sex marriage legislation sooner rather than later, virtually assuring that the existing law will survive and the divisive issue can be laid to rest.

He indicated his displeasure with a Hamas government in the Palestinian territories, but formally closed no doors.

And Harper purposely ended the session by raising the issue of Arctic sovereignty, straight-arming comments from U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins to the effect that Canada need not worry about the far north.

"It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador of the United States,'' said Harper.

From start to finish, the entire media availability seemed to take up no more time than one of outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin's subordinate clauses.