Stephen Harper Quotes

“Harper had so wanted to destroy the Liberal Party, to reshape Canadian politics along American or British or Australian lines, with a dominant party of the centre right – his – and a dominant party of the centre left – the NDP, or the Liberal New Democrats, or whatever emerged; he really didn’t care. He might have pulled it off, had Patrick Brazeau landed a lucky knockout punch against Trudeau in the first round.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“One of the fundamental priorities of the Harper government is to shrink the size of the state. Permanently. Shrinking the size of the state is Harper’s single greatest imperative. It is what makes him a genuinely conservative prime minister, and this Conservative government the first truly conservative government in Canada’s history.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“As someone with an M.A. in economics, Harper knew that economists would howl. The GST is a highly efficient tax – well nigh impossible to avoid and virtually immune to loopholes. But Harper wasn’t after the economist vote.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“Politics and the stock market are the two most ruthless environments outside an actual battlefield. The market creates and destroys wealth; politics creates and destroys power. Power and wealth are both highly prized, and those who acquire large amounts of either are unlikely to be gentle souls.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“we have never had a politician who divides people the way Harper has divided us. Partly it’s the times; partly it’s the man.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“Harper paid a political price for the robocalls affair, as he deserved to. His own secretive, suspicious nature and his relentless determination to do everything within the legal limit to discredit and defeat his opponents created the win-at-all-costs culture that convinced Sona, and possibly others, to cross the line. And Harper’s lack of remorse – he is a man who simply doesn’t do remorse – meant that the same no-holds-barred culture he created would remain in place for the 2015 campaign.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“all that was on offer was a “strong, stable, national, majority Conservative government.” All we had were fights over the real cost of the F-35, and accusations of contempt for democracy and the promise of a balanced budget and more tax cuts down the road. Was there no one who could dream Canada, rather than just manage it? Was there no one who could inspire us to be greater than ourselves?”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“But because of that asymmetricality of power, the Canadian prime minister is subordinate to the U.S. president. And as we have seen time and time and time again, Stephen Harper simply cannot stand being told what to do. All his life he has chafed against authority. People who think they know more than he does annoy him. He cannot defer. And that may well be part of the reason for the dysfunctionality of the relationship between the Langevin Block and the West Wing during the Harper–Obama years.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“The majority of the population in Ontario and the West was of the opinion that they should not have to work harder and longer to pay for people in the East not to work at all.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper

“This outrageous spending power gave rise to domineering and paternalist federalism, which is a serious threat to the future of our federation,” he lamented. “… the functioning and the very spirit of the Canadian federation are at stake.” He pledged “to build a stronger Quebec within a better Canada.”
― John Ibbitson, Stephen Harper