Stephen Harper

Biography

Stephen Harper was born in Leaside, now part of Toronto, in 1959 and studied economics at the University of Calgary, earning a bachelor's degree in 1985 and a master's in 1991. He spoke at the founding convention of the Reform Party of Canada in 1987, became its chief policy officer, and was elected MP for Calgary West in 1993. He resigned his seat in January 1997 to join the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative advocacy group he led as president from 1998 to 2002.

In 2002 he won the leadership of the Canadian Alliance and returned to the Commons as Leader of the Opposition. He agreed with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay to merge their parties into the Conservative Party of Canada and was elected its first leader in 2004. After losing the 2004 election, he won a minority government in January 2006.

As prime minister from February 2006 to November 2015, Harper cut the GST, passed the Federal Accountability Act and, after the 2008 election, prorogued Parliament to avoid defeat by an opposition coalition. His government answered the Great Recession with tax cuts and infrastructure spending, was found in contempt of Parliament in 2011, and then won a majority. He withdrew Canada from the Kyoto Protocol and sent forces against ISIL. Defeated by Justin Trudeau's Liberals in 2015, he left Parliament in 2016; he has chaired the International Democracy Union since 2018 and the Alberta Investment Management Corporation since 2024.