Stephen Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician, the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and the leader of her Conservative Party. Her victory in the general election in January 2006 ended the twelve-year period of government formation by the Liberal Party. In turn, the Canadian conservatives lost the lead to the liberals in the 2015 elections, interrupting Harper’s nine-year tenure as head of government.
Origin, childhood and years of study of Stephen Harper
Where does his biography originate? Stephen Joseph Harper was born in Toronto into the family of an accountant for the oil company Imperial Oil. He had two younger brothers. Stephen first attended a public and then a private school, in which he first became interested in politics, becoming a member of the circle of "young liberals", supporters of the famous Canadian prime minister of the 70-80s. Pierre Trudeau. After leaving school in 1978, he entered the University of Toronto.
However, his studies did not work out, and after a couple of months, 19-year-old Stephen Harper moved to Alberta to work in the same oil company as his father. A little later, he entered the Department of Economics at the University of Calgary, having studied there until receiving a bachelor's degree.
The beginning of a political career
It took place in 1985. It all started with the work of assistant conservative member of the Hawks parliament. After a couple of years, our hero becomes one of those who founded the Canadian Reform Party. And already in 1988, the future Prime Minister Stephen Harper ran for the first time in the elections to the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament from this party. Having suffered a defeat in these elections, he again began to work as an assistant to the current deputy. During this period, Harper Stephen continued his studies in Calgary, becoming in 1993 a master's degree in economics. Finally, he tried once again to be elected to parliament in the same 1993 in the Calgary West constituency from the Reform Party, and this attempt was a success.
From reformer to conservative
After a three-year tenure in parliament, Harper Stephen became disillusioned with the policies pursued by the Reform Party leadership and said he would not take part in the next parliamentary election. He did not like the overly obvious liberal bias in party politics, in particular, he opposed the support of benefits for same-sex couples. In 1997, he voluntarily left parliament and became vice president of the conservative public organization National Coalition of Citizens. In 2002, he returned to the House of Commons of Parliament after the Reform Party became a Canadian Alliance, taking the post of opposition leader to the liberal majority. In 2003, he led the alliance between the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance and was elected president of the reconstituted Conservative Party of Canada. In February 2006, after her victory in parliamentary elections, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared in the country.
First Premier Program
Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented his Government with five key points to Parliament. These were:
- Improving the effectiveness of the fight against common crime through the reform of justice for prisoners sentenced to five to ten years. For those convicted of crimes involving the use of firearms - a ban on parole. For prisoners who served two-thirds of the sentence, if they had good behavior, the possibility of rehabilitation was provided.
- Clearing the government and local administrations of corruption elements on the basis of the Law on Responsibility, which, inter alia, provided for a ban on secret donations to political candidates.
- Reducing the tax burden for employees, based on the gradual reduction of the tax on goods and services (GST) from 7 to 5%.
- Increasing government spending on supporting children by providing direct financial assistance to parents of preschool children and expanding the network of kindergartens.
- Improving the quality of the health insurance system (Medicare) by reducing the waiting time for treatment.
In addition to these five priorities, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s program included maintaining a budget surplus, resolving public debt, refraining from revising abortion and same-sex marriage laws, and strengthening French-speaking Quebec as an integral part of Canada by providing the province with greater autonomy.
Re-election
In the general election in October 2008, the Harper Conservative Party received 37.63% of the vote; while the main opposition Liberal Party received 26.22% of the vote. Thus, Stephen Harper won the election and was reelected for a second term as prime minister.
2008 was the year of the worst global economic downturn in the past half century. During his second term as Prime Minister, Mr. Harper and his government worked hard to ensure the economic recovery of Canada. The prime minister also contributed to the advancement of Canadian interests and the strengthening of the country's prestige in the international arena. To this end, Canada held the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, G8 and G20 Summits.
Following a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on March 18, 2011, which gave permission to conduct military operations in Libya if the Libyan forces attack the rebels, Canada said its CF-18 military aircraft will go to maintain a no-fly zone over Libya.
On March 25, 2011, the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament adopted a resolution of no confidence against the Harper government, with 156 members of opposition parties voting for no confidence and 145 members of the ruling party voted against. As a result, the next day (March 26), Harper announced a call for early parliamentary elections.
Third mandate
On May 2, 2011, the Harper Conservative Party won early elections, and he himself was re-elected for a third term as prime minister; of his three consecutive victories, this was the first in which the conservatives received an absolute majority.
The Conservative Party received 39.62% of the vote and 166 of the 308 MPs that make up the House of Commons of Canada, while the New Democratic Party (which claimed to be the main opposition force) received 30.63% of the vote and 103 members. The Liberal Party received 18.91% of the vote and only 34 deputies, which was the worst result in its history, and thus was reduced to third place. The Quebec Independence Party took fourth place in the elections, receiving 6.04% of the vote and four deputies. The Green Party of Canada (environmentalists) came in fifth with 3.91% of the vote and one deputy.
The war against the Islamic State and the consequences
In 2014, Canada sent military assistance to Iraq to combat ISIS. On October 22, 2014, a young Canadian Islamist attacked and killed a soldier guarding a memorial in Ottawa, near the Canadian Parliament. Later, another terrorist killed one soldier and wounded another in the province of Quebec. The incident coincided with the dispatch of six Canadian fighters from Quebec to Kuwait to participate in an international coalition bombing territories captured by ISIS in Iraq.
Lost in the 2015 election
At the August 2 regular parliamentary election, the Harper Conservative Party won 99 seats in parliament (up from 166 in the previous convocation) and became the official opposition of the victorious Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau. Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has once again returned to the “back benches” of parliament and continues parliamentary activity as one of the opposition leaders.
