By Gerry Nicholls
It’s often pointed out these days that Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t face much organized opposition from the political left.
But equally noteworthy, is that Harper doesn’t face much organized opposition from the political right either.
This got me to thinking about who in Canada’s conservative movement possesses the ideological toughness and political savvy needed to take on the Harper government.
I could only come up with a single name: Stephen Harper.
Or to be more precise, I believe the best person to criticize the Stephen Harper of today would have to be the Stephen Harper who lived in the year 1999.
The 1999 Stephen Harper was president of the National Citizens Coalition, an advocacy group which at the time was a leading voice for conservatism inCanada.
I worked with Harper during his NCC days and got to see him in action at close range. And let me tell you, he was an uncompromising critic of conservative politicians.
If Mike Harris or Preston Manning or Stockwell Day, deviated even the slightest from conservative ideology, Harper would blast them good.
So what if we could magically transport the 1999 Harper to the present day? How would he rate the 2011 Harper?
Of course, we can’t really answer that question? But I can make an educated guess.
First off, I am certain Harper ’99 would heartily congratulate Harper ’11 for dismantling the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly. In fact, Harper ’99 thoroughly hated the monopoly which he saw as an attack on the individual freedoms of Western grain farmers.
Likewise, Harper ’99 would be pleased with the ending of the long-gun registry and with the scrapping of public subsidies for political parties (which he called welfare for politicians.)
However, I suspect Harper ’99 would be quite critical of Harper ’11 over other issues.
Here’s five examples:
The Deficit
I have no doubt Harper ’99 would tear a strip of Harper ’11 over how he allowed the government to spend itself into a record federal deficit. After all, Harper ’99 was a firm believer that government should live within its means. He also rejected the idea that government spending could “stimulate” the economy or create jobs. Rather Harper ’99 believed only the free market could properly allocate resources and create jobs.
Size of Government
If there’s one thing Harper ’99 believed it was that Canadians needed smaller government. Indeed, as a Reform MP he pushed for $25-billion in government spending reductions and the elimination of the federal role in health and education through the transfer of tax points to the provinces. So he would be none too happy, I suspect, with the way Harper 2011 has actually government bigger not smaller.
Quebec
Harper ’99 was dead set against appeasingQuebecnationalists. He believed all Canadian citizens should be treated equally. That’s why he opposed theMeechLakeand Charlottetown Accords. And so Harper ’99 would certainly be appalled at how Harper ’11 panders toQuebec. The Conservative government’s recent decision to grant La Belle Province three more seats in the House of Commons, for instance, would especially have raised his ire.
Election Gag Laws
While NCC president, Harper ’99 went to court to challenge what he called the “election gag law.” This law imposes severe legal restrictions on how much money citizens can spend on political advertising during elections. Harper ’99 saw this gag law as a serious infringement on free election speech. And were he here today, Harper ‘99 would be demanding Harper ’11 scrap this law as soon as possible.
MP Perks
Harper ’99 decried what he viewed as MP perks. And one perk he especially opposed was the “gold-plated” MP pension, a pension plan, far richer than anything people in the private sector could ever enjoy. This is why Harper ’99 would push Harper ’11 to replace the MP plan with one that’s more in line with what regular Canadians can afford.
Of course, we can’t bring back Harper ’99 to the present.
And that’s too bad because Canada’s conservative movement needs a strong voice to keep the Harper Tories on the straight and narrow.
(Gerry Nicholls is editor of Freedom Forum.)