The five years of Harper

Has Harper overstayed his welcome in Parliament?

Lauren Golosky
Contributor

For half a decade now, Stephen Harper has been the prime minister of Canada. His reign has been like much else in Canadian politics: ruled by partisan politics, with supporters on one side and haters on the other.

For the past five years, Harper has been unable to pull off a majority, leaving him with a minority government, something not unprecedented at the federal level. Harper supporter and Conservative party member Sean Wilson, a University of Regina student, believes that Harper has done the best he could under those circumstances.

“Harper has had a very successful run as prime minister, even though he was not able to do everything he wanted because of the minority situations,” said Wilson.

With last year’s prorogation of Parliament still fresh in some people’s minds, many cannot think of too many headline-making policies implemented by Harper. But for Wilson, that is not a reason to write the current prime minister off.

“Harper is not a Trudeau or a Mulroney who had the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and [the North American Free Trade Agreement]. Harper has very much been making small policy changes,” he argued.

Wilson, pushing aside his doubts of Harper’s budget, believes that Harper’s income tax cuts and deregulation of some of Canada’s economy is a positive note for the prime minister. He also credits Harper with decreasing the GST and accomplishing the Federal Accountability Act.

“Harper is the only party leader with really effective policies that benefit all Canadians, be it cutting the GST by two per cent or lowering taxes on small and large business, which creates jobs and encourages investment in the Canadian economy.”

Wilson also openly admires Harper for how he dealt with other issues, such as free trade, the Softwood Lumber Agreement with the United States, and the war in Afghanistan.

“He has been pushing free trade in a big way, which is very important,” stated Wilson. “By the end of February, Harper will have passed five free trade agreements into law with more coming, with places like India, Japan, and the European Union."

But not everyone is so satisfied with Harper’s performance over the last five years. Ian Kielly, another U of R student, is more than unimpressed with Harper’s Canada.

“Harper’s idea of Canadian values do not seem to match those that some Canadians pride themselves of having, such as his view that marriage between one man and one woman is a ‘real, true Canadian value,’” Kielly remarked. “The peacekeeping, democratic, and accepting country we’ve had in the past looks to be heading in the wrong direction.”

“With Harper as [prime minister] for the last five years, I’d classify Canada as being more Americanized. For example, we no longer have the peacekeeping status we once had. The Conservative ‘tough on crime’ attitude is resulting in prison expansion and harsher laws for things like drug offences, increasingly similar to our neighboring country.”

As for the issue of proroguing Parliament, something that will be on the minds of many Canadians for years to come, those on the left and right of the political spectrum perceive it differently.

“One could argue that [Harper] shouldn’t have prorogued Parliament last year, but these are the same people who had no idea what the word even meant before it happened,” said Wilson.

Kielly has a starkly opposite perspective on Harper’s decision to suspend Parliament, deeming it “undemocratic.”

Both sides will also disagree on Canada’s future at the federal level.

“I believe that he has a very good chance at winning his majority next time because of regional issues,” claimed Wilson. He said he believes Harper is the best candidate again for the role of Prime Minister.

Kielly, however, believes that Canada is overdue for a new prime minister, asserting that the leaders of oppositions would be better suited for the nation.

Politics aside, Harper has demonstrated his passion for music and his own talents, performing a Beatles number at a gala.

Love him or hate him, you can at least appreciate his taste in music.