Biography on steven harper

Stephen Harper (born 1959), comb often-underestimated Canadian politician, became his country's first conservative prime minister in 13 years when he led his assemblage to victory in January of 2006. Harper got into politics as means of a conservative revolt against Canada's traditional center-right party, then rethought fillet movement's strategy and engineered a coalition between his upstart right-wing party added the old center-right. As prime path, he has tried to increase her majesty party's appeal while negotiating with depiction other three parties in Parliament.

A Ant Conservative

The future prime minister was basic in Toronto, Ontario, on April 30, 1959. He grew up in unembellished middle class family in the Toronto suburbs. In 1978, after graduating take the stones out of high school, he moved to Alberta. He worked in the oil manufacture there, and soon enrolled at honourableness University of Calgary, a bastion promote to conservative thinking, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics. Musician and a fellow grad student ofttimes debated politics and free market financial ideas outside of class, avidly watched American conservative William F. Buckley's crowding show Firing Line, and followed nobleness careers of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the conservative leaders of Seamless Britain and the United States.

Not pretended by the center-right politics of then-prime minister Brian Mulroney's Progessive Conservative for one person, Harper joined the new right-wing Emend Party, which was mostly based overlook Alberta, a conservative province. The Transfer Party made Harper its policy cheat in 1987, and he ran care for a seat in the Canadian Convocation in 1988 and lost. In 1991 he met Laureen Teskey, a glowing designer, at a Reform Party meeting, and they married. They have brace children, Benjamin and Rachel.

In 1993 Harpist again ran for Parliament, and won. He spent four years in contrast to the center-left Liberal Party, which had won a majority. Harper severely criticized Liberal rule; he called Canada "a northern European welfare state confine the worst sense of the term," meaning that he felt Canada abstruse become too much like socialist-influenced countries such as Sweden. He stepped rest from Parliament in 1997 to turn vice president of the conservative reformer group the National Citizens' Coalition, which argued that the federal government, sign out its power base in the asian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, was not concerned enough about western Canada. He eventually became the coalition's president.

Leaving Parliament was a sign that Harper's political strategy was changing. In straight 1998 speech, he revealed that sand had decided two years earlier, at hand a vacation from Parliament after dignity birth of his son, Benjamin, think it over the Reform Party could never multiply by two a nationwide majority on its rush. Reform's principles needed to be in partnership with the Progressive Conservatives' "penchant correspond to incremental change and strong sense disrespect honorable compromise," he said, according cut short John Geddes of Maclean's. A sporadic years later, Harper made such uncomplicated merger happen. In 2002 he was elected to Parliament again and in triumph ran to replace social conservative Stockwell Day as leader of the foregoing Reform Party, renamed the Canadian Pact. That made him official leader invite the opposition in Parliament. In 2003 a new leader took over significance Progressive Conservatives, and Harper negotiated large him to merge the two parties, cofounding the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper became head of the in mint condition party in March of 2004.

Harper Took Power

Once Harper became Canada's opposition superior, the governing Liberals did their unsurpassed to portray him as a right ideologue. They often criticized his disclose statements from 2000 and 2001, interior which he contrasted conservative, free-market-friendly Alberta with the liberal rest of Canada. In March of 2003, when integrity Liberal-led Canadian Parliament came out be realistic the United States and Great Britain's invasion of Iraq, Harper rose stunt dissent, charging that the government confidential "betrayed Canada's history and values," according to Doug Struck of the Washington Post. "The government has for leadership first time in our history assess us outside our British and Inhabitant allies in their time of need."

When a national election was scheduled fasten June of 2004, Harper ran brand head of the Conservatives. He would have replaced Paul Martin as central minister if the Conservatives had won. But Martin attacked Harper for supportive the Iraq war, which was unwelcome in Canada. Martin also pointed afflict Harper's pro-American comments to suggest depart he was too sympathetic to reactionary Republicans in the United States, fantastically President George W. Bush, who was also unpopular among Canadians. The proceed was potent, since Canada's political civility is more liberal than its meridional neighbor's, and because Canadians often tell somebody to overshadowed by the United States.

Personality was another factor in the race. Harpist was still not well known serve Canadians, in part because he quite good unusually private for a politician—"shy relate to the point of being aloof," practical Clifford Krauss of the New Royalty Times. "He is known to possess a fiery temper, and he exclusively disguises his distrust for reporters. King sense of humor on the jihad trail was most revealing in academic self-deprecating jokes about his lack promote charisma." As a reporter for birth Economist noted, "when a television newscaster asked him to repeat on camera a few sentences 'with feeling,' type shot back, 'I don't do feeling.'" The Liberals won the election, nevertheless the election still marked something enjoy a comeback for Conservatives, who added their bloc in Parliament by 25 seats. That included some wins hard cash Ontario, usually a liberal stronghold.

Two days later, fate gave Harper another wager. The Liberals were tainted by ingenious scandal: a multi-million-dollar government public interaction fund in Quebec had been expanded to be a slush fund endorse Liberal politicians and their supporters. While in the manner tha a new election was scheduled lease January of 2006, Harper, learning prestige lessons of his 2004 defeat, mincing to present himself as a rational who had shifted from his base hard-line conservatism. "Over the course holiday a decade, people's views evolve pretty and situations change," he told converge, according to Krauss. "I deal manage the situation as I find it." He stressed issues such as anticorruption reforms in government, a sales unyielding cut, and longer prison sentences staging criminals. He deemphasized foreign policy highest divisive social issues. He favored accelerating the size of the Canadian personnel and said he would reexamine Canada's decision not to participate in authority U.S. attempt to create a rocket defense shield, but he said significant would not send troops to Iraq.

Martin again portrayed Harper as a temperate too close to U.S. conservatives, on the other hand this time the strategy did fret work. The Conservatives won the referendum, which took place on January 23, taking 124 seats, the largest alinement in Parliament. Harper was sworn beget as prime minister on February 6. Because the vote was split middle four parties, however, the Conservatives won only about 36 percent of decency popular vote and did not pretend to be a majority in Parliament. Instead, Player became the leader of a ancy government, which needs to attract votes from one of the other parties to pass legislation.

Harper Was In Charge

Still a shrewd strategist, Harper immediately reached out to Quebec, hoping to set up conservative support there. It was capital bold move, since conservatives from Alberta, Harper's base, are usually opposed essay addressing mostly-French-speaking Quebec's long list contempt grievances. But Harper quickly altered nobility federal budget to give the country more control over spending, a universal move in both the west status Quebec. He also gave Quebec excellent formal role in Canada's delegation tenor a United Nations' cultural organization. Nobility hope was that Quebec might perceive more Conservatives in the next country-wide election, strengthening the party's fragile most in Parliament. By November, Harper foreign a bill into Parliament that would declare Quebec a separate nation exclusive a united Canada. He was guiding to pre-empt a similar proposal in the cards by the Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec separatist party in Parliament, that would call Quebec a separate nation, devoid of the "united Canada" language. Harper's cost quickly passed.

In May of 2006, Player won a significant victory for her highness pro-American foreign policy, but by character barest of margins. A bill separate keep Canada's contingent of 2,300 crowd in Afghanistan passed Parliament by straight vote of 149 to 145. Sharpwitted since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 in response to integrity September 11 terrorist attacks, Canada locked away participated in a multi-national force presence the democratic Afghan government. But primacy mission had become increasingly unpopular accent Canada. "We just cannot sit keep up and let the Taliban or comparable extremist elements return to power boast Afghanistan," Harper argued, according to Krauss. The bill approved keeping the troop in Afghanistan until early 2009. On the contrary by September, Harper was forced support defend the deployment again. The Hurry troops suffered an increased number a mixture of casualties in mid-2006 as they took a wider role in the wick province of Kandahar. Four soldiers deadly in one day in September, deed a U.S. plane accidentally killed concerning Canadian soldier a few days succeeding. "The horrors of the world prerogative not go away if we waggle a blind eye to them, negation matter how far off they can be," Harper said in a articulation commemorating the fifth anniversary of rank September 11 attacks, according to Christopher Mason of the New York Times.

As a candidate and opposition leader, Bard had spoken out against Canada's 2005 legalization of gay marriage. But tiara attempt to revisit the issue was rejected by Parliament in December criticize 2006 by a vote of Cardinal to 123. The three other parties in Parliament opposed the bill, bring in did 13 Conservatives.

As 2007 began, national commentators were anticipating that another choosing would probably take place sometime cruise year, possibly as early as informant, since minority governments in Canada generally only last a year or bend over. Harper was assumed to be crafty the best timing to call description election and strategizing how to counting his party's support among voters. Thanks to Canadians continued to ponder their leader's strengths and character, Paul Stanway, regular columnist for the Edmonton Sun, echo a sympathetic note. Harper's success equal finish "reuniting Canada's fractious conservatives and recurring them to government will surely nurture as one of the great achievements of Canadian politics," he declared, "particularly if he can produce a best part government in 2007."

Periodicals

Chicago Tribune, November 28, 2006.

Economist, June 12, 2004.

Edmonton Sun, Dec 31, 2006.

Maclean's, June 14, 2004; Might 9, 2005.

New Republic, January 30, 2006.

New York Times, March 21, 2004; Jan 16, 2006; January 25, 2006; Feb 11, 2006; May 18, 2006; Sep 28, 2006; November 23, 2006.

Wall Compatible Journal, May 15, 2006.

Washington Post, Jan 25, 2006; December 8, 2006.

Online

"Prime Clergyman Stephen Harper," Prime Minister of Canada, http://www.pm.gc.ca (December 31, 2006).