RD FACE TO FACE WITH STEPHEN HARPER
Man With a Plan
The Prime Minister is fearless, committed—and having the time of his life

BY CHRISTOPHER GULY AND PETER STOCKLAND

Stephen Harper has been moving at a fast clip since he was sworn into office as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister in February. By July 1, despite the unfolding of an alleged terrorist plot that could have derailed his minority government and its agenda, the Conservatives had reduced the GST from seven to six percent, begun to roll out a $1,200 Universal Child Care Benefit to Canadian families, proposed changes to the Criminal Code to get tougher on crime, and committed our soldiers to a further two years in Afghanistan. Under his government, Canada finally reached a softwood lumber deal with the United States and is now exploring a made-in-Canada alternative to the Kyoto Protocol. Harper and his government show no signs of slowing down.

Many Canadians are just getting to know Stephen Harper. Born in Toronto in 1959, his political philosophy was shaped in the West when he moved to Alberta in 1978, where he obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics and then worked in the petroleum industry. Harper headed to Ottawa in 1985 as a legislative assistant before helping establish the western-based Reform Party of Canada two years later. He was elected as a Reform MP for Calgary West in 1993, but after four years in Ottawa he “retired” from politics and returned to Alberta to become vice-president, and then president, of the National Citizens Coalition. But Harper returned to Ottawa when he was elected leader of the Canadian Alliance party and they formed the opposition in 2002. Two years later he became the leader of the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada.

As that party’s first prime minister, Harper, 47, has reached the pinnacle of Canadian politics. For now, the Prime Minister’s official residence is home to him, his wife, Laureen, 43, and their two children, Ben, ten, and Rachel, seven.

In a recent interview with Reader’s Digest in his office on Parliament Hill, Harper was relaxed and personable, his six-foot-two frame settled comfortably in his chair, his blue-green eyes focused on his interviewers as he answered questions during our half-hour conversation.

RD: Did you ever think you’d be the Prime Minister of Canada?

Harper: Yes, I did. But I didn’t think it was realistically in the cards until we effected the merger of the [Progressive Conservative and Alliance] parties, and when it became obvious to me that the Martin regime was going to be a difficult experience for the country and for the Liberal Party. Then I felt it was possible. In fact, before the election I had no doubt we were going to win.

RD: In July Canadian families should have gotten their first child-care allowance. Critics say this plan isn’t as comprehensive as the Liberals’ proposal to fund daycare spaces.

Harper: First of all, our plan has as an objective the explicit creation of daycare spaces. And, of course, we’re spending more on child care than the Liberals were planning to. Look at what happened when we left the choice with that government. They didn’t spend any of the money on parents: It went to the great support network of the Liberal Party of Canada.

RD: My daughter asked me what happens if someone takes the money to go out and buy breast implants instead of using it to nurture their children?

Harper: There are parents who neglect and don’t spend money on their children when they have it. In cases of true neglect, there’s state intervention. But our program is based on the assumption that parents are responsible and that they are more likely to know what’s better for their children than bureaucrats.

RD: You have built a tremendous and very surprising support base in Quebec. How did that happen?

Harper: For many months, even years, I made frequent visits to Quebec—which the media largely ignored—and it eventually seemed to pay dividends. There are always surprises in this business. I remember we had a big rally in Montreal [in January]. There must have been 1,000 or 1,500 people. There was a moment that I looked into the crowd and realized I recognized a huge portion of them, but I’d never seen them all in one room before. So, different groups I’d met in different contexts were all starting to come to- gether. That was amazing.

RD: It must be a tricky balancing act to continue building that base while pursuing the agenda on things such as Kyoto and Afghanistan.

Harper: Yes, but let’s be clear. In spite of coverage suggesting Quebecers are against the Afghan mission, if you actually read the public opinion data, on balance Quebecers are in favour of it.

We are in favour of reducing greenhouse gases. In terms of Kyoto, what all Canadians want is environmental programs—whether it’s on pollution, greenhouse gases, whatever the issue—and people say they’re in favour of Kyoto, but they don’t really know what Kyoto is exactly. I think in a matter of months people will be saying what we’ve been saying all along—when are we going to get an effective international treaty?

RD: Mr. Charest came out in favour of Kyoto, and you guys work very closely together...?

Harper: Premier Charest is a federalist and I am a federalist. We believe that the jurisdictions of both levels of government should be respected. I believe that the government of Canada will have to work co-operatively with the provinces because environmental jurisdictions overlap. But at the same time, if the government of Quebec wants to undertake its own initiatives, it should be prepared to finance these things, just as the Government of Canada does.

RD: You’ve been compared to Bush for his style as president, yet you’re also known to be into policy and a micro-manager, which is more along the lines of a Bill Clinton or a Jean Chrétien.

Harper: I don’t think I am a micro-manager. I’m a guy who is aware of, or is trying to make himself aware of, the most important portfolios in government. Does that mean I’m trying to run them all? No. I largely let my ministers carry the ball on the individual projects. At my level, if you try to do everything yourself, you won’t get anything done. On the other hand, if the leader is not engaged and knowledgeable on issues, nothing happens, because prime ministerial authority is necessary to move bureaucracies. I didn’t sit around negotiating the softwood lumber agreement myself. I certainly didn’t write the budget. But obviously I provided the appropriate direction and authority for those who did.

RD: Are there comparisons that offend you?

Harper: Yes. The Bush comparisons offend me. And not because I have any kind of personal dislike of George W. Bush. I don’t. It’s that the comparisons generally are not thoughtful. Bush has SUVs in his motorcade, and I have SUVs in my motorcade—“Ha ha, he’s just like George Bush.” Well, of course, this is actually the decision of the RCMP, and I’m sure George Bush

didn’t pick out the cars in his own motorcade either. That kind of thing bothers me because it’s just a stereotype designed for polemical purposes.

RD: You first arrived in Ottawa 20 years ago as a legislative assistant. Has the culture on Parliament Hill changed in terms of the dynamic among MPs?

Harper: Well, I can tell you one piece of the culture that has really changed: the leaking [of information] from caucus and Cabinet meetings. Literally, you could know everybody’s private position on every issue that was going on. Before 1993—and not just the Conservatives, every government before 1993—nobody knew what was said in Cabinet or caucus. People honoured their colleagues’ right to voice their opinions privately. We are trying to re-establish that.

RD: Another culture change is the battle between your office and the press gallery.

Harper: There’s always been tension between the media and government. That’s part of democracy. But it’s a historical fact that tension is always heightened when it’s a Conservative government. Any Liberal prime minister I saw never had difficulty holding his own press conferences. And, you know, [we’ve been] running press conferences in a fair way; virtually everyone who wanted to was getting a question, and yet the press gallery leadership intervened to shut it down. Frankly I think that’s without precedent.

RD: But now the message being sent is that you’re controlling, you’re antidemocratic.

Harper: The press gallery or anybody in the media has a right to their editorial opinion and the right to their criticism; I don’t care. But I do think we have a right to hold a press conference and journalists have a right to participate. The vast majority of journalists here want to.

RD: Switching gears: How is your family handling the months since you’ve been in office—especially your kids, who may hear stories about their dad?

Harper: They’ve all been handling it real well. My kids basically have grown up with this. My daughter doesn’t even remember when I wasn’t in politics, and I was in public life when my son was very young. We have a good support network, and we keep a good association with close friends and family, so they are doing okay. I think it’s easier for younger children than teenagers. And my wife is a very versatile person. She’s made the biggest adjustment: She gave up a business [as a graphic artist] and a very independent life when I got back into politics.

RD: Does it bother you, and your family a bit, when things like the way you said goodbye to your son as he went off to his first day of Grade 4 [in Ottawa] just after the election suddenly make the national news?

Harper: We got a big laugh out of that. The shaking hands thing is kind of a family tradition. We laughed because my son had said to me, “Oh, geez, Dad, don’t hug me in the schoolyard. You’ll really get me in trouble.” [Laughs.]

RD: You are Prime Minister of Canada. Do you ever pinch yourself?

Harper: There are days when it all seems a bit surreal, but I’ve been having the time of my life. This is the job for me. I think I’ll try and keep it for a while.

What do you think? How good a job is Stephen Harper doing as Prime Minister?

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