Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper, Leader of the Conservative Party, spoke to the CNP in Montreal in June 1997 at one of its tri-annual meetings, when Mr. Harper was Vice President of the National Citizens Coalition.[1] The content of Mr. Harper’s address is notable given his recent stratement that he is fundamentally the same thinker he was 10 years ago: “I don’t think my fundamental beliefs have changed in a decade,” Mr. Harper told the Globe and Mail in the beginning of January.[2]

During that appearance, Mr. Harper made a number of statements denigrating Canada and Canadians: “Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the word,” said Mr. Harper;[3] “In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don’t feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don’t feel bad about it themselves, as long as they’re receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance,” continued Mr. Harper.[4]

Mr. Harper was also critical of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms:  “[W]e have a Supreme Court, like yours, which, since we put a charter of rights in our Constitution in 1982, is becoming increasingly arbitrary.”[5]

On specific policy issues, Mr. Harper demonstrated his contempt for ideas at the heart of Canadian society, including public health care and international cooperation. For example, the Charlottetown Agreement, he explained to his audience, included “some [things] that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution, and feminist rights.”[6] Mr. Harper also showed dissatisfaction with Canada’s strong support for the UN, and the pride Canadians take in their country’s status at the UN:  “This distresses conservatives like myself quite profoundly, but I will warn you, it’s a widespread view, and I will always say, one that could only be maintained as long as [Americans] basically provide us with military protection.”[7]

Mr. Harper also provided the CNP audience with a glimpse of his opinion of future political reform in Canada. He called the Reform Party a “conservative Republican” organization that espoused “a constitutional agenda that challenges the way our entire political system operates.”[8] Most revealingly, Mr. Harper shared his view that the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties would ultimately merge and “[o]ne party is going to win out….And Reform is not going to lose that contest in the long term.”[9] The Edmonton Journal agreed in December 2003 when commenting on the prospects of a new Conservative Party: “The [social conservative] bogeymen won't go away just because they'll be hidden from the public inside a new Conservative Party. They'll still be there, under the bed, waiting for a chance to spring up and spout their offensive anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-immigration, pro-gun, pro-death penalty views.”[10]

            Mr. Harper’s speech before the CNP appears to have served as a galvanizing moment in American social conservative interest in Canada. The Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, the National Rifle Association and Concerned Women for America have all increased their focus on Canadian public policy issues upon his ascension to lead the Conservative Party, as well as their connections with high-ranking members of Mr. Harper’s party. These connections are important, not simply because they indicate the nature of the beliefs of members of the Conservative Party, but because they are likely to be the views determining the actions of a Conservative government should it ever gain power given the important position of these members within the party. As Mr. Harper has said, "I have a history, in terms of reuniting the [Canadian] Alliance and the Conservative party in being able to bring people together without asking people to sacrifice their most fundamental beliefs."[11] Coupled with Mr. Harper’s CNP remarks about the Reform Party winning out over the Progressive Conservatives in a combination between these two parties, Mr. Harper clearly seems to indicate the future direction of his Conservative Party.