Harper Can't Change His Spots

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Harper Can't Change His Spots

This week, even as polls showed the leader of the newly united Conservative Party gaining on the Liberals, Mr. Harper did not disavow any of his hard-line positions on abortion, gay marriage, bilingualism, the death penalty and erecting a "firewall" around Alberta to keep out grasping feds. He would just rather not discuss such radioactive matters with the Rest of Canada. Nor will he let friends or family talk to the media.

The Evolution of Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada is a solid, unbiased look at a man who could very well become our next Prime Minister and a man who Johnson says is “better than any other leader on the federal scene since Pierre Trudeau.”

What is truly interesting about this book, however, is the way it reminds us of the no nonsense conservative Stephen used to be before he took control of the Conservative Party.

That Stephen Harper quit the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in the 1980s because it veered from its conservative principals that Stephen Harper led the NCC in its fight for “more freedom through less government” and that Stephen Harper became leader of the Canadian Alliance because he wanted to ensure Canada had a pro-free market alternative to the Liberals.