Early life and education
Harper was born and raised in Leaside, a neighbourhood ofPolitical beginnings
Harper became involved in politics as a member of his high school's Young Liberals club. He later changed his political allegiance because he disagreed with the National Energy Program (NEP) of Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government. He became executive assistant to Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) Jim Hawkes in 1985 but later became disillusioned with the party and the government ofReform MP (1993–1997)
Harper emerged a prominent member of the Reform Party caucus. He was active on constitutional issues and played a prominent role in drafting the Reform Party's strategy for the 1995 Quebec referendum. A long-standing opponent of centralizedOut of parliament
1997–2000
Soon after leaving Parliament, Harper and Tom Flanagan co-authored an opinion piece entitled "Our2000–2001
When the United Alternative created the Canadian Alliance in 2000 as a successor party to Reform, Harper predicted thatCanadian Alliance leadership, 2002–2003
Stockwell Day called a new Canadian Alliance leadership race for 2002, and soon declared himself a candidate. Harper emerged as Day's main rival, and declared his own candidacy on December 3, 2001. He eventually won the support of at least 28 Alliance MPs, including Scott Reid,Conservative Party leadership, 2004–2006
On January 12, 2004, Harper announced his resignation as the leader of the Official Opposition in order to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected the first leader of the Conservative Party, with a first ballot majority against2004 federal election
Harper led the Conservatives into the 2004 federal election. Initially, new Prime Minister Paul Martin held a large lead in polls, but this eroded because of infighting, Adscam (aAgreement with the BQ and the NDP
Two months after the federal election, Harper privately metLeader of the Opposition
The Conservative Party's first policy convention was held from March 17 to 19, 2005, in2006 federal election
The Conservatives began the campaign period with a policy-per-day strategy, contrary to the Liberal plan of holding off major announcements until after the Christmas holidays, so Harper dominated media coverage for the first weeks of the election. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Harper's personal numbers, which had always significantly trailed those of his party, began to rise. In response, the Liberals launched negative ads targeting Harper, similar to their attacks in the 2004 election. However, their tactics were not sufficient to erode the Conservative's advantage, although they did manage to close what had been a ten-point advantage in public opinion. As Harper's personal numbers rose, polls found he was now considered not only more trustworthy, but a better choice for prime minister than Martin. Immediately prior to the Christmas break, in a faxed letter to NDP candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis, RCMP commissionerPrime Minister of Canada (2006–2015)
In July 2019, a group of independent academics published an assessment of past prime ministers of Canada based on the number of campaign pledges and promises fulfilled. According to the study, the Harper government fulfilled 85 per cent of its pledges (including partially-completed pledges). When factoring only completed, realized pledges, the Harper's government, in their last year, kept 77 per cent of promises. The study found that the governments led by Harper, in addition to the government led by his successor,2008 federal election
On October 14, 2008, after a 5-week-long campaign, the Conservatives increased their seat count in Parliament to 143, up from 127 at the dissolution of the previous Parliament; however, the actual popular vote among Canadians dropped slightly by 167,494 votes. As a result of the lowest2008 parliamentary dispute and prorogation
On December 4, 2008, Harper asked Governor General Michaëlle Jean to2010 prorogation
On December 30, 2009, Harper announced that he would request the governor general to prorogue Parliament again, effective immediately on December 30, 2009, during the 2010 Winter Olympics and lasting until March 3, 2010. Harper stated that this was necessary for Canada's economic plan. Jean granted the request. In an interview with2010 Senate appointments
Harper, on January 29, 2010, advised the governor general to appoint new Conservative senators to fill five vacancies in the Senate, one each for Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, and two for Ontario. The new senators were2011 vote of no confidence
Harper's Cabinet was defeated in a no-confidence vote on March 25, 2011, after being found in contempt of Parliament. Harper thus, in accordance with constitutional convention, advised the governor general to call a2011 election
On May 2, 2011, after a five-week campaign, Harper led the Conservatives to their third consecutive election victory—the first time a centre-right party has accomplished this in half a century. The Conservatives increased their standing in parliament to 166, up from 143 at the dissolution of the previous parliament. This resulted in the first centre-right majority government since the Progressive Conservatives had won their last majority in 1988. The Conservatives also received a greater number of total votes than in 2008. Notably, the Conservatives had a significant breakthrough in southern Ontario, a region where neither they nor the Reform/Alliance side of the merger had done well in the previous two decades. They managed to win several seats in Toronto itself; no centre-right party had won seats in the former2015 election
Under the ''Domestic and economic policy
Constitutional issues
After sidestepping the political landmine for most of the first year of his time as prime minister, much as all the post-Charlottetown Accord prime ministers had done, Harper's hand was forced to reopen theEconomic management
During Harper's tenure, Canada had budgetary surpluses in2011 Census
Ahead of the Canada 2011 Census, the government announced that the long-form questionnaire (which collects detailed demographic information) will no longer be mandatory. According to Minister of Industry Tony Clement, the change was made because of privacy-related complaints and after consulting withVeterans
Under Harper, the annual budget of Veterans Affairs Canada increased from $2.85 billion in 2005–2006 to $3.55 billion in 2014–2015, while the quantity of veterans served has declined from 219,152 in 2008–2009 to 199,154 in 2015. Nine Veterans Affairs offices were closed between 2012 and 2015, and 900 positions were phased out from the department since 2009. Former- minister of veterans affairsForeign policy
During his term, Harper dealt with many foreign policy issues relating to the United States, theAfghanistan
On March 11 and 12, 2006, Harper made a surprise trip toIsrael
Harper has shown admiration forFree trade with EFTA
On June 7, 2007, the Conservative government announced it had finalized free trade negotiations with theUnited States
Shortly after being congratulated by George W. Bush for his victory, Harper rebuked US Ambassador David Wilkins for criticizing the Conservatives' plans to assert Canada's sovereignty over theEnvironmental policy
Since Harper's government took office in 2006, Canadian greenhouse gas emissions fell from 749 to 726 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq). From 1993 until 2006, during the previous Liberal government greenhouse gas emissions increased from 600 to 749 Mt of CO2 eq. The reduction corresponded Canada's decreased economic output during theRenewable energy
Other federal initiatives include the 2011 loan guarantee towards thePublic transit
In 2006, Harper introduced a Public Transit Tax Credit, where individuals could claim 15 per cent of the cost of a transit pass each year. From 2006 to 2013, the Harper government invested over $5 billion towards public transit projects in Canada. In 2006, the federal government provided $697 million towards the Toronto York–Spadina Subway Extension. In September 2013, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a federal contribution of $660 million towards the Scarborough Subway Extension.Transparency
Starting in 2006, the Harper government implemented policies that had the effect of reducing transparency. During this government, scientists employed by the government were not able to speak with the media and inform the public of their findings without government permission, the government made significant cuts to research and other forms of data collection, and significant destruction and inaccessibility of government-held data and documents occurred. During the Harper government, it was not possible for government-employed scientists to openly speak about the government policy that prohibited communication with the media. However, following the election of a new government in 2015, several scientists who were or had been employed by the government came forward to confirm the allegations made by anonymous sources during the Harper years. The government made drastic cuts to scientific research and data collection. Over 2,000 scientists were dismissed and funding was cut from world renowned research facilities. Cuts were also made to many essential programs, some so deep that they had to shut down entirely, including the monitoring of smoke stack emissions, food inspections, oil spills, water quality, and climate change. During this time, the long form census was also discontinued as a mandatory part of the census. This was ostensibly due to privacy concerns, however, the number of complaints about privacy proved to be minimal. The government closed a number of government libraries without consultation on the closings or the process involved. The manner in which it was done received significant criticism because it left the remaining information in disarray, inaccessible for research.Supreme Court appointments
Harper chose the following jurists to be appointed as justices of theConservative backbencher and post-political life
Harper returned to Ottawa as a Conservative backbencher and addressed a meeting of the Conservative caucus that included defeated MPs in November 2015. Interim leader Rona Ambrose stated that Harper would be in the House for key votes as the member for Calgary Heritage, but had earned the right to keep a low profile after his service as the prime minister. In February 2018, Harper stated that he could have still "easily" been leader of the Conservative Party, but he chose not to amass too much power in order to secure the party's fortunes in the future. In December 2015, Harper had set up Harper & Associates Consulting Inc., a corporation that lists him a director alongside close associatesHonours
Honorary degrees
;Honorary degreesPersonal life
Harper married Laureen Teskey on December 11, 1993. Laureen was formerly married toElectoral record
Bibliography
* '' A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey'' * '' Right Here, Right Now: Politics and Leadership in the Age of Disruption''See also
*References
Further reading
* * * * * * * * * * *External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Stephen 1959 births 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian anti-communists Canadian Christians Canadian economists Canadian evangelicals Canadian people of English descent Canadian male pianists Canadian political consultants Canadian political party founders Canadian political writers Conservative Party of Canada MPs Leaders of the Conservative Party of Canada Leaders of the Opposition (Canada) Living people Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from East York, Toronto Politicians from Calgary Politicians from Toronto Prime Ministers of Canada Reform Party of Canada candidates in the 1988 Canadian federal election Reform Party of Canada MPs University of Calgary alumni Writers from Calgary Writers from Toronto Companions of the Order of Canada