Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have been a member of the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, being the party's co-founder and serving as its first leader from 2004 to 2015. Since 2018, he has been the chairman of the International Democracy Union.
Born in Leaside, now a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Harper studied economics, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1985 and 1991, respectively, from the University of Calgary. He was a founder of the Reform Party of Canada and was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1993 federal election in the riding of Calgary West. He did not seek re-election in 1997 and instead joined and later led the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative lobbyist group. In 2002, Harper defeated Stockwell Day to become leader of the Canadian Alliance, the successor to the Reform Party, and returned to Parliament as the leader of the Opposition. In 2003, Harper and Progressive Conservative Party leader Peter MacKay agreed to merge the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected as the party's first leader in 2004. He led the Conservatives in the 2004 federal election, which it lost to Paul Martin's Liberal Party. In the 2006 federal election, Harper led the Conservatives to a minority government.
During Harper's premiership, he faced the In and Out scandal, reduced the goods and services tax (GST) to 5%, and passed the Federal Accountability Act, the Québécois nation motion, and the Veterans' Bill of Rights. Harper led the Conservatives to a larger minority government in the 2008 federal election, after which he prorogued Parliament to avoid defeat by a proposed coalition of opposition parties, advanced the Economic Action Plan of personal income tax cuts and infrastructure investments in response to the Great Recession, introduced the tax-free savings account, and authorized military intervention during the First Libyan Civil War. In March 2011, Harper's government was found in a vote of no confidence to be in contempt of Parliament, triggering a federal election in which he led the Conservatives to a majority government. He subsequently repealed the long-gun registry, privatized the Canadian Wheat Board, enacted the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, and reduced Canada's budget deficit from $55.6 billion in 2009 to $2.9 billion in 2015. In foreign policy, Harper withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol, launched Canada's Global Markets Action Plan, negotiated free trade agreements, and authorized Operation Impact against ISIL and Operation Unifier following the Russian annexation of Crimea. Harper's Conservatives also faced controversies in the Robocall scandal and the Canadian Senate expenses scandal, and confronted the Idle No More movement.
In the 2015 federal election, the Conservative Party was defeated by the Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau. Harper officially stepped down as party leader in October 2015, and resigned his seat in August 2016. Since then, he has taken on several international business and leadership roles, including founding a global consulting firm, appearing in U.S. and British media, and being elected as chairman of the International Democracy Union, an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. The longest-serving conservative prime minister since John A. Macdonald, Harper ranks average to above-average in rankings of prime ministers of Canada.
Early life and education Harper was born and raised in the Town of Leaside, now a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, the first of three sons of Margaret (née Johnston) and Joseph Harris Harper, an accountant at Imperial Oil.William Johnson, Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, p. 7 The Harper family traces its ancestral roots back to Sledmere, a village in Yorkshire, England, with Harper's 4th great-grandfather Christopher having emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1774, where he later served as justice of the peace in the area that is now New Brunswick.Al Smith, "Prime Minister Harper's Tantramar Roots", in The White Fence: Newsletter of the Tantramar Heritage Trust, Issue # 45, April 2010. Accessed April 10, 2021.
Harper attended Northlea Public School in Leaside and, later, John G. Althouse Middle School and Richview Collegiate Institute, both in Etobicoke, Toronto. He graduated from high school in 1978, and was a member of Richview Collegiate's team on Reach for the Top, a televised academic quiz show for high school students.O'Connor, Naoibh,, The Vancouver Courier, August 5, 2004. Retrieved October 9, 2006. Harper first enrolled at the Trinity College of the University of Toronto.William Johnson, Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, p. 12 In an attempt to establish independence from his parents, Harper dropped out of the University of Toronto and then moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he found work in the mail room at Imperial Oil. Later, he advanced to work on the company's computer systems. He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics in 1985. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in economics, completed in 1991.Harrison, Trevor W., (2012) "Stephen Harper." The Canadian Encyclopedia Historica Canada last ed. June 11, 2015. Throughout his career, Harper has kept strong links to the University of Calgary. Trained as an economist, Harper was the first prime minister with an economics degree since Pierre Trudeau and the first prime minister without a law degree since Joe Clark.
Political 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.William Johnson, Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, p. 19 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 of Brian Mulroney, citing the administration's economic policy. He left the PC Party the next year.
Harper was then recommended by the University of Calgary's economist Bob Mansell to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the right-wing populist Reform Party of Canada. At that time, Harper "didn't see himself as a politician", Mansell told CBC News in 2002, adding, "Politics was not his first love."
Manning invited him to participate in the party, and Harper gave a speech at Reform's 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg. He became the Reform Party's chief policy officer, and he played a major role in drafting the 1988 election platform, otherwise known as the Blue Book, which helped form the principles and policies of the party. Harper was influenced by his political mentor, Tom Flanagan, when writing the book. Harper is credited with creating Reform's campaign slogan, "The West wants in!"
Harper ran for the House of Commons in the 1988 federal election in Calgary West and losing by a wide margin to Hawkes, his former employer. After Reform candidate Deborah Grey was elected as the party's first MP in a 1989 by-election, Harper became Grey's executive assistant, serving as her chief adviser and speechwriter until 1993.Geoff White, "Ottawa will be hearing from Reform MP", Calgary Herald, April 21, 1989, pg. A5. He remained prominent in the Reform Party's national organization in his role as policy chief, encouraging the party to expand beyond its Western base and arguing that strictly regional parties were at risk of being taken over by radical elements.Paul Gessell, "The "other' parties are picking up big followings", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, October 26, 1990, A9. He delivered a speech at the Reform Party's 1991 national convention, in which he condemned extremist views.George Oake, "Reform Party tries to avoid appearance of extremism", Toronto Star, April 6, 1991, pg. A12
Harper's relationship with Manning became strained in 1992, because of conflicting strategies over the Charlottetown Accord. Harper opposed the accord on principle for ideological reasons, while Manning was initially more open to compromise. Harper also criticized Manning's decision to hire Rick Anderson as an adviser, believing that Anderson was not sufficiently committed to the Reform Party's principles.William Johnson, Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2005), pp. 179–83 Harper resigned as the policy chief in October 1992.
Harper stood for office again in the 1993 federal election and defeated Jim Hawkes amid a significant Reform breakthrough in Western Canada. The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) ran a $50,000 print and television campaign against Hawkes but did not endorse Harper directly.Kenneth Whyte, "The right-wingers duke it out in the Calgary West corral", The Globe and Mail, October 2, 1993, pg. D2
Reform Party 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 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.Neville Nankivell, "Reform's voice will grow louder", Financial Post, October 31, 1995, p. 23 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."Harris joins other leaders in calling for change", Hamilton Spectator, October 31, 1995, pg. A1
Harper has expressed some socially conservative views on certain 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."Marta Gold, "Same-sex fight going to Ottawa", Hamilton Spectator, June 10, 1994, pg. A3 Harper also spoke against the possibility of the Canadian Human Rights Commission or the Supreme Court changing federal policy in these and other matters.Joan Crockett, "Robinson lays equality complaint", Hamilton Spectator, June 22, 1994, pg. A12
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".Edward Greenspon, "Stephen Harper: a neo-con in a land of liberals", Globe and Mail, March 23, 2002, A17. He 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".Johnson, Stephen Harper, p. 222
Harper was the only Reform MP to support the creation of the Canadian Firearms Registry at second reading in 1995, although he later voted against it at third reading stage. He said at the time that he initially voted for the registry because of a poll showing that most of his constituents supported it, and added that he changed his vote when a second poll showed the opposite result. 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.Susan Delacourt, "Charest, Manning dismiss reports of parties' merging", Globe and Mail, April 4, 1995, pg. A5