Stephen Harper out of Parliament

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This article covers Stephen Harper's activities from 1997 to 2002, when he was not a Member of Parliament. Main article: Stephen Harper.

[edit] 1997-2000

Soon after leaving parliament, Harper and Tom Flanagan co-authored an opinion piece entitled "Our Benign Dictatorship", which argued that the Liberal Party only retained 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.[1]

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".[2] In late 1999, Harper called for the federal government to establish clear rules for any future Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[3] Some have identified Harper's views as an influence on the Chrétien government's Clarity Act.[4]

As NCC leader, Harper launched an ultimately unsuccessful legal battle against federal election laws restricting third-party advertising.[5] He also led the NCC in several campaigns against the Canadian Wheat Board,[6] and supported Finance Minister Paul Martin's 2000 tax cuts as a positive first step toward tax reform.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] He also expressed concern that the UA would dilute Reform's ideological focus.[12]

[edit] 2000-2001

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".[13] Harper endorsed Tom Long for the leadership, arguing that Long was best suited to take support from the Progressive Conservative Party.[14] 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".[15]

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".[16] Harper subsequently accused Trudeau of promoting "unabashed socialism", and argued that Canadian governments between 1972 and 2002 had restricted economic growth through "state corporatism".[17]

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.[18] Alberta Premier Ralph Klein agreed with some of the letter's recommendations, but distanced himself from the "firewall" comments.[19]

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.[20] In the 2001 Alberta provincial election, Harper led the NCC in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign.[21] Some articles from this period described him as a possible successor to Klein.[22]

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.[23]

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.[24] Harper announced his resignation from the NCC presidency in August 2001, to prepare a campaign.[25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stephen Harper and Tom Flanagan, "Our Benign Dictatorship", Next City, Winter 1997.
  2. ^ Susan Delacourt, "Seeds planted for opposition to unity plan", Globe and Mail, 18 September 1997, A1.
  3. ^ Stephen Harper, "Why Chrétien mustn't flag", Globe and Mail, 2 December 1999, A17.
  4. ^ Chantal Hebert, "Harper takes pragmatic approach to Quebec", Toronto Star, 26 April 2002, A25.
  5. ^ Daniel Leblanc, "Groups vow to fight new election bill", Globe and Mail, 8 June 1999, A4; "Gagged by statute", National Post, 8 June 2000, A19.
  6. ^ National Citizen's Coalition, "NCC To Back New Court Challenge To Wheat Board Monopoly", Canada NewsWire, 9 February 1998, 11:15 report; National Citizen's Coalition, "NCC to blitz prairies with anti-Wheat Board radio ads", Canada NewsWire, 25 August 1999, 14:29 report.
  7. ^ no title, Toronto Star, 29 February 2000, p. 1.
  8. ^ Full text of Stephen Harper's 1997 speech, CTV.ca, 14 December 2005; Susan Riley, "Harper's suspect evolution", 16 December 2005, A18.
  9. ^ Jack Aubry, "Battle lines being drawn up for ideological heart of Tories", Hamilton Spectator, 7 April 1998, C3. David Frum was also mentioned as a possible supporter.
  10. ^ Scott Feschuk, "Harper rejects run at Tory leadership", Globe and Mail, 10 April 1998, A1.
  11. ^ Rosemary Spiers, "Preston Manning's fork in the road", Toronto Star, 18 February 1999, p. 1; "But who will lead it?", Globe and Mail, 22 February 1999, A10.
  12. ^ Michael Taube, "United Alternative needs policy, not Reform party lite", Hamilton Spectator, 25 February 1999, A14.
  13. ^ Tim Harper, "Bible belts", Toronto Star, 17 June 2000, p. 1.
  14. ^ "That sound you hear is the shifting of conservative ground", 21 April 2000, Globe and Mail, A12.
  15. ^ Paul Adams, "Front-runner rides tide of religious conservatism", Globe and Mail, 26 June 2000, A1.
  16. ^ Stephen Harper, "On second thought", National Post, 5 October 2000, A18.
  17. ^ Stephen Harper, "Get the state out of the economy", National Post, 8 February 2002, A14.
  18. ^ Stephen Harper, Tom Flanagan et al, "The Alberta Agenda", National Post, 26 January 2001, A14.
  19. ^ Jill Mahoney, "No 'firewall' needed around Alberta, Klein says", Globe and Mail, 8 February 2001, A9.
  20. ^ Stephen Harper, "Separation, Alberta-style: It is time to seek a new relationship with Canada", National Post, 8 December 2000, A18.
  21. ^ National Citizens Coalition, "NCC Ad Campaign Urges Albertans Not to Vote Liberal", Canada NewsWire, 13 February 2001, 11:45 report.
  22. ^ Chantal Hebert, "Alberta, Quebec sing from same complaint book", Toronto Star, 14 February 2001, p. 1.
  23. ^ Richard Mackie, "School tax-credit plan hailed as a money saver", Globe and Mail, 19 June 2001, A5.
  24. ^ Sheldon Alberts, "Harper mounts campaign to lead the right: Behind the scenes", National Post, 30 June 2001, A06.
  25. ^ National Citizen's Coalition, "Stephen Harper to Step Down as NCC President", Canada NewsWire, 13 August 2001, 13:43 report.
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