Stephen Harper

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Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario) is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. He became Prime Minister after leading the Conservatives to a minority government win in the January 2006 federal election, which ended more than twelve years of Liberal government.

Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002, having previously served as the MP for Calgary West from 1993 to 1997. According to Canadian protocol, as Prime Minister, he is styled "The Right Honourable" for life.

As one of the founding members of the Reform Party, he ended his first stint as an MP to head the National Citizens Coalition. In 2002, Stephen Harper succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance and returned to Parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he successfully reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay to merge the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004. Harper speaks both English and French.

Stephen Harper is the eldest of three sons born to Margaret Johnston and Joseph Harper (1927–2003), an accountant who worked with Imperial Oil. Harper is an avid fan of ice hockey and of the Calgary Flames, and is currently writing a history book about the sport.^[1] His father had also been a published author. ^[2] Harper attended Richview Collegiate Institute, a high school in Central Etobicoke. He graduated in 1978 as the top student of his graduating year with a 95.7% average, and represented his high school on the TV quiz and trivia show Reach for the Top. ^{[citation needed]}

Harper briefly studied at the University of Toronto before travelling to Edmonton, where he found employment in the oil and gas industry as a computer programmer in his early twenties. He later attended the University of Calgary, receiving a Master's degree in economics. Harper is the first prime minister since Lester B. Pearson not to have attended law school. His links to the University remain strong, and he has been a frequent lecturer there.

Harper agreed to play a small role in the television show Corner Gas. It was filmed on August 29, 2006, and will be aired in spring 2007. ^[3]

Harper married Laureen Teskey in 1993. They have two children: Benjamin, born in 1996, and Rachel, born in 1999. Harper is the third Prime Minister, after Pierre Trudeau and John Turner, to send their children to Rockcliffe Park Public School, a public school in Ottawa.

Harper suffers from asthma. Harper reportedly owns a large vinyl record collection and is an avid fan of The Beatles and AC/DC.^[4]

Harper has been called a "policy wonk" by his friends and an "ideologue" by his detractors. Observers have suggested that he has sought to refine his image to appear more moderate and to appeal to a wider range of the electorate.

Stephen Harper regularly attends church at the East Gate Alliance in Ottawa. ^[5]

He first became involved in politics in high school, serving as a member of the school's Young Liberals Club. However, Harper's political allegiance later changed in opposition to the Trudeau Liberal government's National Energy Program (NEP), which he thought was harming Alberta's energy industry. He became chief aide to Tory MP Jim Hawkes in 1985, but quickly became disillusioned with the government of Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party. Harper was especially critical of the government's fiscal policy and inability to fully revoke the NEP until 1986. He left the PC Party in 1986.

He was then recommended to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the Reform Party, by one of Harper's professors, noted Western economist Bob Mansell. Harper impressed Manning, who invited him to participate in the party. At age 28, he gave an important speech at Reform's 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg. As the Reform Party's Chief Policy Officer, he played a major role in drafting the 1988 election platform and creating Reform's campaign slogan, "The West wants in!"

In the 1988 federal election, Harper ran for a House of Commons seat in Calgary West as Steve Harper. Despite finishing second, he lost by a wide margin to Hawkes, his former employer. Harper was named executive assistant to newly-elected Reform MP Deborah Grey in 1989, and served as her chief advisor and speech writer until 1993.^[6] He also remained a prominent figure in the Reform Party's national organization through his role as policy chief. Harper encouraged the party to expand beyond its Western base in 1990, arguing that strictly regional parties were at risk of being taken over by radical elements.^[7] The following year, he delivered a speech condemning radical extremism at the Reform Party's national convention.^[8]

Harper's relationship with Manning became strained in 1992, as a result of conflicting strategies for the Reform Party's response to the Charlottetown Accord. Harper opposed the Accord in principle for ideological reasons, while Manning was more open to compromise. Harper also opposed Manning's decision to hire Rick Anderson as an advisor, believing that Anderson was not sufficiently committed to the principles of the Reform Party.^[9] He resigned as policy chief in October 1992, and focused on his own campaign in Calgary West.

Harper defeated Jim Hawkes in the 1993 election amid a significant Reform breakthrough in Western Canada. His campaign benefited from a $50,000 print and television campaign organized by the National Citizens Coalition against Hawkes, although the NCC did not endorse Harper directly.^[10]

Harper emerged a prominent member of the Reform Party caucus, and earned respect even from political opponents for his intellect and ideological commitment. Author Mordecai Richler once described him as the "one MP of substance" in the party.^[11]

Harper was active on constitutional issues during his first term in parliament, and played a prominent role in drafting the Reform Party's strategy for the 1995 Quebec referendum. A long-standing opponent of centralized federalism, he stood with Preston Manning in Montreal to introduce a twenty-point plan to "decentralize and modernize" Canada in the event of a "no" victory.^[12] Harper later argued that the "no" side's narrow plurality was a worst-case scenario, in that no-one had won a mandate for change.^[13]

Although not associated with the Reform Party's radical wing, Harper expressed socially conservative views on some issues. In 1994, he opposed plans by federal Justice Minister Allan Rock to introduce spousal benefits for same-sex couples. Citing the recent failure of a similar initiative in Ontario, he was quoted as saying, "What I hope they learn is not to get into it. There are more important social and economic issues, not to mention the unity question".^[14] Harper also spoke against the possibility of the Canadian Human Rights Commission or the Supreme Court changing federal policy in these and other matters.^[15]

At the Reform Party's 1994 policy convention, Harper was part of a small minority of delegates who voted against restricting the definition of marriage to "the union of one man and one woman".^[16] He actually opposed both same-sex marriage and mandated benefits for same-sex couples, but argued that political parties should refrain from taking official positions on these and other issues of conscience.^[17]

Harper was the only Reform MP to vote for a bill establishing the Canadian gun registry at second reading stage in 1995, although he voted against it at third reading. He made his initial decision after concluding that a majority of his constituents supported the measure, but changed his mind after deciding there was substantial opposition.^[18] It was reported in April 1995 that some Progressive Conservatives opposed to Jean Charest's leadership wanted to remove both Charest and Manning, and unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties under Harper's leadership.^[19]

Despite his prominent position in the party, Harper's relationship with the Reform Party leadership was frequently strained. In early 1994, he criticized a party decision to establish a personal expense account for Preston Manning at a time when other Reform MPs had been asked to forego parliamentary perquisites.^[20] His criticism proved divisive in the party, and he was formally rebuked by the Reform executive council despite winning support from some MPs. His relationship with Manning grew increasingly fractious in the mid-1990s, and he pointedly declined to express any opinion on Manning's leadership during a 1996 interview.^[21] This friction was indictative of a fundamental divide between the two men: Harper was strongly committed to conservative principles and opposed Manning's inclinations toward populism, which he saw as leading to compromise on core ideological matters.^[22]

These tensions culminated in late 1996 when Harper announced that he would not be a candidate in the next federal election. He resigned his parliamentary seat on January 14, 1997, the same day that he was appointed as a vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative think-tank and advocacy group.^[23] He was promoted to NCC president later in the year.

In April 1997, Harper suggested that the Reform Party was drifting toward social conservatism and ignoring the principles of economic conservatism.^[24] The Liberal Party won a second majority government in the 1997 federal election, while Reform made only modest gains.

Soon after leaving parliament, Harper and Tom Flanagan co-authored an opinion piece entitled "Our Benign Dictatorship", which accused the Liberal Party of retaining power through a dysfunctional political system and a divided opposition. Harper and Flanagan argued that national conservative governments between 1917 and 1993 were founded on temporary alliances between Western populists and Quebec nationalists, and were unable to govern because of their fundamental contradictions. The authors called for an alliance of Canada's conservative parties, and suggested that meaningful political change might require electoral reforms such as proportional representation. "Our Benign Dictatorship" also commended Conrad Black's purchase of the Southam newspaper chain, arguing that his stewardship would provide for a "pluralistic" editorial view to counter the "monolithically liberal and feminist" approach of the previous management.^[25]

Harper remained active in constitutional issues. He was a prominent opponent of the Calgary Declaration on national unity in late 1997, describing it as an "appeasement strategy" against Quebec nationalism. He called for federalist politicians to reject this strategy, and approach future constitutional talks from the position that "Quebec separatists are the problem and they need to be fixed".^[26] In late 1999, Harper called for the federal government to establish clear rules for any future Quebec referendum on sovereignty.^[27] Some have identified Harper's views as an influence on the Chrétien government's Clarity Act.^[28]

As NCC leader, Harper launched an ultimately unsuccessful legal battle against federal election laws restricting third-party advertising.^[29] He also led the NCC in several campaigns against the Canadian Wheat Board,^[30] and supported Finance Minister Paul Martin's 2000 tax cuts as a positive first step toward tax reform.^[31]

In 1997, Harper delivered a controversial speech on Canadian identity to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American think tank. He made comments such as "Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it", "if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians", and "the NDP [New Democratic Party] is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men." These statements were publicized and criticized during the 2006 election. Harper argued that the speech was intended as humour, and not as serious analysis.^[32]

Harper considered campaigning for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 1998, after Jean Charest left federal politics. Among those encouraging his candidacy were senior aides to Ontario Premier Mike Harris, including Tony Clement and Tom Long.^[33] He eventually decided against running, arguing that it would "burn bridges to those Reformers with whom I worked for many years" and prevent an alliance of right-wing parties from taking shape.^[34] Harper was skeptical about the Reform Party's United Alternative initiative in 1999, arguing that it would serve to consolidate Manning's hold on the party leadership.^[35] He also expressed concern that the UA would dilute Reform's ideological focus.^[36]

When the United Alternative created the Canadian Alliance in 2000 as a successor party to Reform, Harper predicted that Stockwell Day would defeat Preston Manning for the new party's leadership. He expressed serious reservations about Day's abilities, however, and accused him of "[making] adherence to his social views a litmus test to determine whether you're in the party or not".^[37] Harper endorsed Tom Long for the leadership, arguing that Long was best suited to take support from the Progressive Conservative Party.^[38] When Day placed first on the first ballot, Harper said that the Canadian Alliance was shifting "more towards being a party of the religious right".^[39]

After Pierre Elliot Trudeau's death in 2000, Harper wrote an editorial criticizing Trudeau's policies as they affected Western Canada. He wrote that Trudeau "embraced the fashionable causes of his time, with variable enthusiasm and differing results", but "took a pass" on the issues that "truly defined his century".^[40] Harper subsequently accused Trudeau of promoting "unabashed socialism", and argued that Canadian governments between 1972 and 2002 had restricted economic growth through "state corporatism".^[41]

After the Canadian Alliance's poor showing in the 2000 election, Harper joined with other Western conservatives in co-authoring a document called the "Alberta Agenda". The letter called on Alberta to reform publicly-funded health care, replace the Canada Pension Plan with a provincial plan and replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with a provincial police force. It became known as the "firewall letter", because it called on the provincial government to "build firewalls around Alberta" in order to stop the federal government from redistributing its wealth to less affluent regions.^[42] Alberta Premier Ralph Klein agreed with some of the letter's recommendations, but distanced himself from the "firewall" comments.^[43]

Harper also wrote an editorial in late 2000 arguing that Alberta and the rest of Canada were "embark[ing] on divergent and potentially hostile paths to defining their country". He said that Alberta had chosen the "best of Canada's heritage -- a combination of American enterprise and individualism with the British traditions of order and co-operation" while Canada "appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country [...] led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task". He also called for a "stronger and much more autonomous Alberta", while rejecting calls for separatism.^[44] In the 2001 Alberta provincial election, Harper led the NCC in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign.^[45] Some articles from this period described him as a possible successor to Klein.^[46]

Harper and the NCC endorsed a private school tax credit proposed by Ontario's Progressive Conservative government in 2001, arguing that it would "save about $7,000 for each student who does not attend a union-run public school". Education Minister Janet Ecker criticized this, saying that her government's intent was not to save money at the expense of public education.^[47]

Day's leadership of the Canadian Alliance became increasingly troubled throughout the summer of 2001, as several party MPs called for his resignation. In June, the National Post newspaper reported that former Reform MP Ian McClelland was organizing a possible leadership challenge on Harper's behalf.^[48] Harper announced his resignation from the NCC presidency in August 2001, to prepare a campaign.^[49]

Day bowed to pressure, and called a new Canadian Alliance leadership race for 2002. He later announced that he would be a candidate to succeed himself. Harper emerged as Day's main rival, and declared his own candidacy on December 3, 2001. He eventually won the support of at least twenty-eight Alliance MPs,^[50] including Scott Reid, James Rajotte^[51] and Keith Martin.^[52] During the campaign, Harper reprised his earlier warnings against an alliance with Quebec nationalists, and called for his party to become the federalist option in Quebec.^[53] He argued that "the French language is not imperilled in Quebec", and opposed "special status" for the province in the Canadian Constitution accordingly.^[54] He also endorsed greater provincial autonomy on Medicare, and said that he would not co-operate with the Progressive Conservatives as long as they were led by Joe Clark.^[55] On social issues, Harper argued for "parental rights" to use corporal punishment against their children and supported raising the age of sexual consent.^[56] He described his potential support base as "similar to what George Bush tapped".^[57]

The tone of the leadership contest turned hostile in February 2002. Harper described Day's governance of the party as "amateurish",^[58] while his campaign team argued that Day was attempting to win re-election by building a narrow support base among different groups in the religious right.^[59] The Day campaign accused Harper of "attacking ethnic and religious minorities".^[60] In early March, the two candidates had an especially fractious debate on CBC Newsworld.^[61] The leadership vote was held on March 20, 2002. Harper was elected on the first ballot with 55% support, against 37% for Day. Two other candidates split the remainder.

After winning the party leadership, Harper announced his intention to run for parliament in a by-election in Calgary Southwest, recently vacated by Preston Manning. Ezra Levant had already been chosen as the riding's Alliance candidate and initially declared that he would not stand aside for Harper; he subsequently reconsidered.^[62] The Liberals did not field a candidate, following a parliamentary tradition of allowing opposition leaders to enter the House of Commons unopposed. The Progressive Conservative candidate, Jim Prentice, also chose to withdraw.^[63] Harper was elected without difficulty over New Democrat Bill Phipps, a former United Church moderator. Harper told a reporter during the campaign that he "despise[d]" Phipps, and declined to debate him.^[64]

Harper officially became Leader of the Opposition in May 2002. Later in the same month, he courted controversy by saying that the Atlantic Provinces were trapped in "a culture of defeat" which had to be overcome, the result of policies designed by Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments. Many Atlantic politicians condemned the remark as patronizing and insensitive. The Legislature of Nova Scotia unanimously approved a motion condemning Harper's comments,^[65] which were also criticized by New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord, federal Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark and others. Harper refused to apologize, and said that much of Canada was trapped by the same "can't-do" attitude.^[66]

His first 18 months as opposition leader were largely devoted towards consolidating the fractured elements of the Canadian Alliance and encouraging a union of the Canadian Alliance and the federal Progressive Conservatives. The aim of this union was to present only one right-of-centre national party in the next federal election, thus preventing the vote-splitting of the past. In undertaking the merger talks, PC leader Peter MacKay reversed his previous agreement with leadership opponent David Orchard not to merge with the Alliance. After reaching an agreement with MacKay in October 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada officially merged in December, with the new party being named the "Conservative Party of Canada".

Harper is reported to have attended the 2003 meeting of the Bilderberg Group.^[67]

On January 12, 2004, Harper announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition, in order to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper won the Conservative leadership election easily, with a first ballot majority against Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement on March 20, 2004. Harper's victory included strong showings in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

Harper led the Conservatives during the 2004 federal election, where it was widely believed he had a chance to defeat Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. After an immensely damaging release by Auditor General Sheila Fraser regarding the government's lack of oversight of the Sponsorship Program of the 1990s, and voter anger in Ontario against Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty for breaking a promise not to raise taxes, polls showed the Conservatives in a dead heat with the Liberals.

Late in the campaign, the Conservatives began to attract negative attention for controversial remarks made by MPs and candidates regarding homosexuality, official bilingualism and abortion. Additionally, the Liberal Party began airing controversial TV attack ads suggesting that the Conservatives would make Canada more like the United States. Harper was also criticized for his position supporting the American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq. The term "hidden agenda", used commonly in the 2000 election to refer to Stockwell Day, began surfacing with increasing regularity with regard to Harper's history of supporting privatized health care. Further damaging the Conservative campaign was a press release from Conservative headquarters that suggested that Paul Martin supported child pornography. The momentum began to swing against his party, although some polls suggested it was neck and neck right up until election day.

The Conservative Party was successful in gaining seats in Ontario, where the Reform Party and Canadian Alliance had never been able to make significant gains, but Martin was re-elected with a minority government and 135 seats. The Conservatives finished in second-place with 99 seats. While the Conservatives had improved on the 72 seats they held entering the election, the party took 29.6% of the popular vote, down from the 37.7% combined total of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives in 2000 Harper, after some personal deliberation, decided to stay on as the party leader. Many credited him with bringing the Progressive Conservative Party and Canadian Alliance together to fight a close election in a short time.

The Conservative Party's first policy convention was held from March 17-19, 2005, in Montreal. A more moderate party stance was demonstrated, in accordance with what many viewed as Harper's goal. Any opposition to abortion or bilingualism was dropped from the Conservative platform, though the party was still opposed to same-sex marriage. Harper received an 84% endorsement from delegates in the leadership review.

The party soon began a controversial fight against same-sex marriage. Harper was criticized by a group of law professors for arguing that the government could not override the provincial court rulings without using the "notwithstanding clause", a provision of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Harper and constitutional lawyer/Conservative Justice Critic Vic Toews suggest that this clause does not have to be used to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage.

Following the April 2005 release of Jean Brault's damaging testimony at the Gomery Inquiry, implicating the Liberals in the scandal, opinion polls placed the Conservatives ahead of Liberals. The Conservatives had earlier abstained from the vote on the 2005 budget to avoid forcing an election. With the collapse in Liberal support and a controversial NDP amendment to the budget, the party exerted significant pressure on Harper to bring down the government. In May, Harper announced that the government had lost the "moral authority to govern", with the support of the Bloc Québécois. The effort failed following the decision of Conservative MP Belinda Stronach to cross the floor to the Liberal Party. The vote on the NDP amendment to the budget tied, and with the Speaker of the House voting to continue debate, the Liberals stayed in power.

Harper was also criticized for supporting his caucus colleague MP Gurmant Grewal. Grewal had produced tapes of conversations with Tim Murphy, Paul Martin's chief of staff, in which Grewal claimed he had been offered a cabinet position in exchange for his defection. Some experts analyzed the tapes and concluded that a digital copy of the tapes had been edited.

On November 24, 2005, Harper introduced a motion of no confidence on the Liberal government. As the Liberals had lost New Democratic Party support in the house by refusing to accept an NDP plan to prevent health care privatization, the no confidence motion was passed by a vote of 171-133. As a result, Parliament was dissolved and a general election was scheduled for January 23, 2006.

Harper started off the first month of the campaign with a policy-per-day strategy, which included a GST reduction and a child-care allowance. The Liberals opted to hold any major announcements until after the Christmas holidays; as a result, Harper dominated media coverage for the first weeks of the campaign and was able to define his platform and insulate it from expected Liberal attacks. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal numbers, which had always trailed his party's significantly, began to rise.

On December 27, 2005, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced it was investigating allegations that Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office had engaged in insider trading before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trusts. The income trust scandal dominated news coverage for the following week and prevented the Liberals from making their key policy announcements, allowing Harper to refocus his previous attacks about corruption within the Liberal party. The Conservatives soon found themselves leading in the polls. By early January, they made a major breakthrough in Quebec, pushing the Liberals to second place.

In response to the growing Conservative lead, the Liberals launched negative ads targeting Harper, similar to their attacks in the 2004 election. However, their tactics had little effect this time since the Conservatives had much more momentum and had opened up a ten point advantage. Harper's personal numbers had risen considerably and polls found he was now considered not only more trustworthy, but he would also make a better Prime Minister than Martin.^[68]

As their lead solidified, media coverage of the Conservatives was much more positive, while Liberals found themselves increasingly criticized for running a poor campaign and making numerous gaffes.^[69]

On January 23, the Conservatives won 124 seats against 103 for the Liberals. Martin conceded defeat at midnight on January 24, and at 9:45 a.m. that morning, announced his intention to resign as Prime Minister. At 6:45 p.m., Governor General Michaëlle Jean asked Harper to form a government. He was sworn in as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister on February 6, 2006. Harper is the first Prime Minister elected to office not representing a Quebec riding since Joe Clark in 1979.

Although the majority of Conservative seats were from the Western provinces, the majority of names which Harper put forward to the Governor General for appointment as Cabinet Ministers were from Ontario and Quebec, in the interests of regional balance. The new Conservative Cabinet was substantially smaller than the prior Martin administration because it did away with junior ministers (known as Ministers of State, and previously Secretaries of State). Several pundits in the media have described Harper's Cabinet as moderate, and a tempering of the Conservative Party's roots in the Canadian Alliance and Reform.

Two of Harper's selections generated some controversy. He chose outgoing Liberal Minister of Industry David Emerson as Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Michael Fortier, a senior Conservative Party operative and campaign strategist, as Minister of Public Works, and as an appointee to the Senate. Emerson had been re-elected to parliament as a Liberal only weeks earlier, while Fortier did not contest the previous election at all. Harper argued that the appointments were necessary to provide two of Canada's largest cities (Vancouver and Montreal) with Cabinet representation, as the Conservatives did not win seats in these cities. Critics countered that no such concessions were made for Canada's largest city, Toronto, where the conservatives also failed to win a seat, but proponents of the Prime Minister contest that MP and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, representing the nearby city of Whitby, will represent Torontonians in Cabinet.

Opposition politicians and other critics attacked the appointment of Emerson as hypocritical, as several members of the Conservative Party had criticized former Conservative MP Belinda Stronach for crossing the floor to the Liberals and receiving a Cabinet appointment in 2005, shortly before a critical budgetary vote that amounted to a confidence motion for the then-ruling Liberal party. Emerson's decision was also met with opposition in his riding, where the Conservative candidate had received less than 20% of the vote in the previous campaign, although Emerson himself was re-elected by a large margin over the NDP runner-up. The Harper government defended Emerson's appointment as tapping a politician with previous federal Cabinet experience. Emerson himself suggested that it would help the Conservatives move to the middle of the political spectrum.^[70]

Harper's reccommendation of Fortier for appointment was also controversial, as the Conservatives had previously criticized the the unelected nature of the Senate. Both Harper and Fortier have stated that the Senate appointment is temporary, and that Fortier will vacate his position at the next federal election to run for a seat in the House of Commons.

Other choices were met with greater support. Toronto mayor David Miller has called Harper's selection of Lawrence Cannon as an appointee to Cabinet as a "very positive step" and "a signal Mr. Harper's serious about reaching out to cities".^[71] Harper reccommended the appointment of Jim Flaherty as an elected MP to represent the city along with the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Flaherty represents the riding of Whitby—Oshawa, in the Durham Region of the eastern GTA, and his selection as Minister of Finance was viewed positively by the Bay Street business community.^[72]

On March 3, 2006, Ethics Commissioner Bernard Shapiro announced that he was launching a preliminary inquiry into conflict-of-interest allegations against Emerson and Harper. Shapiro said that he would look into what influence may have been wielded in the decision by Emerson to cross the floor.^[73][74] Conservatives criticized Shapiro's probe as partisan and accused him of applying a double standard since he was appointed on the advice of the former Liberal prime minister, and had turned down earlier requests in 2005 to investigate Stronach's floor-crossing in which she received a Cabinet post, as well as a questionable land sale by Hamilton area Liberal MP Tony Valeri.^[75] Shapiro had also been under fire from former NDP leader Ed Broadbent for "extraordinarily serious credibility problems".^[76] While agreeing with Harper that Shapiro's investigation was inappropriate, Broadbent and opposition MPs have criticized Harper for overruling the Commissioner. Mr Shapiro concluded that a minister crossing the floor to take a Cabinet position would only have been inappropriate if said Cabinet position was offered to prevent the government from falling on a confidence vote. Emerson's appointment did not fall under those conditions and Shapiro cleared both Harper and Emerson of any wrongdoing on March 20 2006. Shapiro declined to launch any investigation into Belinda Stronach's floor-crossing.

Unlike his recent predecessors, Harper did not name one of his colleagues to the largely honorific post of Deputy Prime Minister. Various observers had expected him to name MacKay, the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and his deputy party leader, or Lawrence Cannon, as a Quebec lieutenant, to the post. Harper did, however, name an order of succession to act on his behalf in certain circumstances, starting with Cannon, then Jim Prentice, then the balance of his cabinet in order of precedence.

Harper's government has identified five policy priorities, in the areas of federal accountability, tax reform, crime, child care and health care.

There has been some controversy over the Harper government's plan for child care. The Conservatives have promised to eliminate a federal child care program introduced by the previous Martin government, which provided funding to provincial governments to increase the number of regulated child care spaces and to provide subsidies to low- and middle-income parents. The Conservatives are replacing that program with a $1200 per year stipend for each child under age six, paid directly to parents whether or not they incur child care expenses. Opponents of the Conservative plan argue that the stipend is inadequate and will not address the need for child care spaces, particularly in urban centres. Supporters argue that the Liberal program it replaced was inflexible and discriminated against stay-at-home parents. Harper has stated that his government will work with provincial and local governments, not-for-profit organizations, and employers to create additional spaces, and has set aside $250 million per year to fund these initiatives.

The Conservative Party campaigned on a platform of reducing Canada's Goods and Services Tax from 7% to 6%, and eventually to 5%. During the 2006 election campaign, the Martin government proposed income tax cuts for lower-middle income earners. The Liberals have claimed that the GST cut would effectively result in a tax increase for those in the lower-middle income bracket. The Conservatives argued that the GST cuts would benefit all Canadians, including low-income earners and those outside the workforce who do not pay income tax.

The Harper government has promised to introduce mandatory minimal sentences for serious and violent offenders, and to introduce a "Patient Wait Times Guarantee" in conjunction with the provinces. Harper has recently been criticised by prominent media figures, such as Paul Wells, for downplaying this fifth and final priority.

In addition to its "Five Priorities", the Harper government has also devoted significant attention to military issues.

On April 11, 2006, President of the Treasury Board John Baird, on behalf of the Harper government, tabled the Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan. The plan will reduce the opportunity to exert influence with money by banning corporate, union, and large personal political donations; five-year lobbying ban on former ministers, their aides, and senior public servants; providing protection for whistleblowers; and enhancing the power for the Auditor General to follow the money spent by the government.

While the government hopes to have this act passed before the House of Commons breaks for the summer, questions have arisen surrounding elements of the Federal Acountability Act and how it might affect the 2006 Liberal leadership convention. A $1,000 donation limit has been proposed as part of the Federal Accountability Act with political party convention donations being tied to this amount. The Liberal Party of Canada's leadership convention scheduled for December 2006 contains a $995 convention fee, which under the proposed Accountability Act could prevent convention delegates from donating anything beyond their convention fee or prevent the delegate's presence at the convention should their convention fee in conjunction with any donations prior to the convention put them above the donation limit. Some of the Senate majority-holding Liberal Senators have threatened to stall the Federal Accountability Act in the upper chamber until after December because of the effect the proposed donation limits may have on political party conventions.

Shortly after being congratulated by George W. Bush for his victory, Harper rebuked U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins for criticizing the Conservatives' plans to assert Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic waters with armed forces.

On February 16 2006, Harper named former Progressive Conservative Party Cabinet Minister Michael Wilson as Governor General Michaëlle Jean's appointee to the post of Canada's Ambassador to the United States, replacing Liberal appointee Frank McKenna.^[77]

Wilson stated in his first press conference as Ambassador that "Softwood lumber is clearly at the top of the heap, the top priority."^[77]

Harper's first meeting with the U.S. President occurred at the end of March, 2006; and while little was achieved in the way of solid agreements, the trip was described in the media as signalling a trend of closer relations between the two nations. Harper told the press that he used "colourful language not suitable for public television" when pressing President Bush privately over his opposition to a U.S. law that will require Canadian citizens to show their passport when crossing the border into the United States. Bush reported that Harper was "a very open, straightforward fella.... If he's got a problem, he's willing to express it in a way that's clear for all to understand, and that's the way I like to deal with people."^[78]

On April 27, 2006, Harper announced in Parliament that the government had reached a seven-year agreement with the United States in the nations' long-standing feud over softwood lumber. The three major softwood-producing provinces — British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec — accepted the compromise^[79]. Leader of the Opposition Bill Graham and NDP leader Jack Layton did not, criticising the deal for not requiring the U.S. to pay back all $5 billion it had collected in tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.^[80]

On September 12, 2006, the Canadian and U.S governments officially signed the deal in Ottawa ending the dispute. ^[81] Still, it was subject for a confidence vote in the House of Commons during the fall session. The deal would have likely pass with the support of the Bloc Quebecois. ^[82]. On September 19, the House voted in favor of the deal 172 to 116 in first reading which eliminated its final hurdle until its official realization ^[83]

Following a debate and vote in the House of Commons, the Harper government renewed the NORAD agreement with the United States, making it permanent and adding maritime defence to the agreement, which previously covered only air defence. Members of the NDP who were highly critical of the agreement argued that the arrangement will reduce Canadian sovereignty over the country's internal waters.

On March 11 and March 12, 2006, Harper made a surprise trip to Afghanistan, where Canadian Forces personnel have been deployed since late 2001, to visit troops in theatre as a show of support for their efforts, and a demonstration of the government's commitment to reconstruction and stability in the region. Harper's choice of a first foreign visit was closely guarded from the press until his arrival in Afghanistan (citing security concerns), and is seen as marking a significant change in relationship between the government and the military. While other foreign leaders have visited Afghanistan, Harper's trip was touted as unprecedented in its length and scope.^[84] While the PM, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Minister have visited the region, Governor General Michaëlle Jean has twice been advised not to go.

The first federal budget of the newly elected Conservative government was brought forth on May 2 2006 by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. It was met with dissent by the Liberal and New Democratic parties and mostly positive reception from the Bloc. The Liberals and NDP voiced disapproval over the Conservatives following through on their election promise to replace the Liberals child care policy with their own, and for replacing Canada's $4 billion environmental policy with a $2 Billion "made in Canada" plan of their design. The budget was met with widespread support amongst the business community and polling indicated that a clear majority of Canadians approved of the budget.

While it initially appeared that the only way the Conservatives' budget would pass would be with the support of the Bloc Quebecois, the budget passed third reading without dissent on June 6 2006 when the members of the Opposition accidentally failed to stand after the Deputy Speaker of the House called for debate. Because there were no speakers for the Opposition, the budget was declared passed with unanimous support and no recorded vote and thus forwarded to the Senate for approval. This marked the first time in Canadian Parliamentary history where a government's budget passed unanimously on the third and final reading.

Stephen Harper has indicated a desire to turn the Canadian Senate into an elected rather than an appointed body, an objective previously proposed by the former Reform Party of Canada. His desire includes fixed election dates with earlier elections possible in the case of minority governments. On September 7, 2006, Harper became the first Canadian Prime Minister to appear before a Senate committee and was present to make his government's case for Senate reform.

On June 23, 2006, Stephen Harper offered full apology to Chinese Canadians for the country's treatment of Chinese immigrants during the years 1885 to 1923 on the imposing Head Tax policy to them, and subsequent discrimination policies, including subsequent exclusion of Chinese immigrants from 1923 until 1947. It is estimated about 82,000 Chinese paid the fee, first set at $50 and later raised to $500, about two years' wages at the time. Harper said that Chinese-Canadians who paid the tax or their surviving spouses will receive a symbolic $20,000 ex-gratia payment.^[85]

At the outset of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Harper defended publicly Israel's "right to defend itself," and described the invasion of Lebanon as a "measured" response, feeling that Hezbollah and Hamas's release of Israeli prisoners would be the key to ending the conflict. ^[86] Many Arab-Canadians criticized Harper's description of the response as "measured". On July 17, 2006, Harper noted that the situation had deteriorated since his initial comments, but that it was difficult for Israel to fight "non-governmental forces" embedded in the civilian population. Harper reiterated his earlier support for Israel and called on both sides to show restraint and minimize civilian casualties.

The Canadian government made arrangements to evacuate about 30,000 Canadians, mainly of Lebanese descent, from Lebanon after hostilities broke out. The response was criticized as slow and inefficient.^[87] On July 17, a group of protesters, primarily expatriate Lebanese, protested Israeli aggression in front of the Israeli consulate in Montreal; further protests took place July 22 in localities across Canada.^[88]

Despite criticisms, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay joined Harper in reiterating support for Israel's position and urging restraint while calling for a ceasefire. Speaking of the situation in both Lebanon and Gaza on July 18, Harper told reporters, "We all want to encourage not just a ceasefire, but a resolution. And a resolution will only be achieved when everyone gets to the table and everyone admits...recognition of each other," referring to the refusal of Hezbollah and Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist. Harper laid the blame for the civilian deaths on both sides at the feet of Hezbollah. "Hezbollah's objective is violence," Harper asserted, "Hezbollah believes that through violence it can create, it can bring about the destruction of Israel. Violence will not bring about the destruction of Israel... and inevitably the result of the violence will be the deaths primarily of innocent people."^[89].

In early 2006, the Conservative government proposed a motion to extend the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan by at least two years. In May 2006 the House of Commons passed a motion, after a short six-hour debate, to extend the mission until 2009 by a slim 149-145 majority. ^[90].

The Harper government reinstituted a policy of lowering the national flag at military installations such as Department of National Defence headquarters only, drawing criticism that the government was showing a lack of respect for the soldiers. ^[91]

In a televised speech on September 11, 2006, five years after the attacks in New York and Washington D.C, Harper linked the events of that day with the current mission in Afghanistan, and encouraged continued support for Canada's military efforts against the Taliban. ^[92]. During another speech this time at the United Nations Assembly in New York on September 21, he asked the organization for help and mentionned that the crisis "is a test of the world body's relevence" and being the UN's most important test and mission for it. ^[93]

Aside from his legislative agenda, Harper put forward Marshall Rothstein to Governor General Michaëlle Jean for appointment as the new Puisne Justice to the Supreme Court of Canada, on February 23, 2006. Rothstein had been 'short listed' with two other potential judges by a committee convened by the previous Liberal government. In keeping with election promises of a new appointment process, Harper announced Rothstein had to appear before an 'ad hoc' non-partisan committee of 12 Members of Parliament. However, the committee did not have the power to veto the appointment, which was what some members of his own party had called for.^[94]

Harper has the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on May 4, 2004 ^[95]. His prenominal was changed from "The Honourable" to "The Right Honourable" for life when he became Prime Minister on February 6, 2006.

• List of national leaders
• The Harper cabinet
• Stephen Harper Leadership Team
• United States-Canada softwood lumber dispute

• William Johnson, Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, McClelland & Stewart, 420 pp. (June 2005) ISBN 0-7710-4350-3
• Lloyd Mackey, The Pilgrimage of Stephen Harper, ECW Press, 221 pp. (August 2005) ISBN 1-5502-2713-0

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen Harper.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Stephen Harper.

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• Prime Minister of Canada - Premier ministre du Canada, official website
• Maclean's - Meet the Real Stephen Harper
• CBC - The Conservative Leader
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.Canada Votes 2004: Stephen Harper.
• List of Federal Political Experience from the Library of Parliament
• How'd They Vote?
• Stephen Harper Editorial Cartoon Gallery
• Stephen Harper quotes

• Harper sworn in as 22nd prime minister, from the CBC

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