P.M.#22 – Bush Lite

Name Stephen Joseph Harper
Born: April 30, 1959 in Toronto, Ontario,
Died: not
Party: Currently the “Conservative Party of Canada”
Formerly:

  • Canadian Alliance (2002-2003)
  • Reform (1987-1997)
  • Progressive Conservative (1985-1986)
  • Young Liberals (c.1974-early 1980s)1
Held Office: Feb 6, 2006– present
Best known for:
  • he was a key player in the Reform Party: gave a speech at their founding convention, became the party’s Chief Policy Officer, ran unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1988 as a Reform Candidate, and then ran successfully in 1993
  • he defeated Stockwell Day for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance party (what the Reform Party turned into) – during the campaign he said he wouldn’t work with the Progressive Conservatives as long as they were led by Joe Clark, he supported parents being allowed to hit their kids and he said his potential support base was “similar to what George Bush tapped” (hence the nickname of “Bush Lite”)
  • he merged the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservative Party (then being led by Peter McKay2 to create the “Conservative Party of Canada” (notice that this party likes to keep changing its name).
  • recent reports suggest that Harper gave approval of an attempt to bribe Independent MP Chuck Cadman to vote with the Conservatives on a May 2005 attempt to bring down the Liberal government; Harper is suing the Liberal Party of Canada for libel in relation to this accusation
  • he became the P.M. when the “Conservative Party”3 won the Jan 2006 federal election
  • shortly after the election, while dropping his kids off at school, he shook the hands of his then 9-year-old son and 7-year old daughter.  Shook their hands?  No hug?  “Wtf?!” cried the nation!
  • since becoming P.M., he’s not been very forthcoming with the press – often telling the media at the 11th hour about his trips so that media can’t be there to cover it, and insisting on hand picking which journalists get to ask questions at press conferences
  • he’s a closet Leafs fan
Some Things I Didn’t Know About This P.M.
  • he’s the first P.M. since Pearson to not have gone to law school
  • he’s the first P.M. since Pearson that isn’t Catholic (he’s an evangelical Prostestant)
  • he resigned from Parliament in Jan 1997 to take the VP position (later Prez) of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative think-tank and advocacy group.
If you are just dying to read more about P.M. S.H., check these out:

1This is from Wikipedia, listed as “citation needed,” so I have no idea if it’s true or not.
2McKay had made a deal with PC leadership opponent David Orchard that he would not merge the PC Party with the Alliance if Orchard agreed to step down in the leadership race. Then McKay merged the PC Party with the Alliance. Nice.
3I have trouble referring to this party as the “Conservative Party” as such without the quotations marks. To me, the “Conservative Party” was really the Progressive Conservatives, whereas this party is just the Reform-Party-turned-Canadian-Alliance in sheep’s clothing.

Comments |7|

Re: BethCancel

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  • It’s not that he just hasn’t been “forthcoming” with the press–his administration has effectively shut out the national press by refusing to talk to them unless they effectively are his lap dogs. This allows the freakazoids to better spin their horseshit. It’s a deliberate strategy he is copying from the Republicans.

    It is really incredibly sad and disturbing he’s our PM and that they’ve been in power as a minority for closing in on THREE years now! Gah!

    Reply

  • How did you make it all the way to the present without covering Prime Minister Jean Poutine? If more people fully appreciated his contribution to politics in 2000, who is to say how much brighter recent world history might have been?

    Reply

  • I wish he would man up and call an election already. This morning when they were talking about the three upcoming by-elections, I actually hollered “coward!” at the radio.

    Also, somewhere I have an awesome Rex Murphy quote about Harper at the Conservatives, and the fact that during the first few years he was constantly holding conventions. Sadly, I can’t remember it off the top of my head.

    Reply

  • Reply

  • @Demonweed – Who said I was done with my PM series? Maybe there is a Jean Poutine entry in the works??

    @Rebecca – Find the quotation! Find it!

    @Jan – Gee, did that show through? I thought I was being restrained in my commentary…

    Reply

  • Found it!

    “The affection that the Alliance [Canadian Alliance Party] has for leadership conventions is starting to go beyond mere dalliance and into something quite possibly medical.” Rex Murphy, on Stephen Harper’s call for a joint Tory-Alliance convention, in response to Joe Clark’s retirement.

    Reply

  • OT – And while I was flipping through my notebook in which I write down clever quotes, I came across what should be your hockey team’s cheer:

    Cosine, secant, tangent, sine
    3.14159!
    Gooooooo team!

    Reply

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