The shelf life of successful contemporary political leaders in Canada, at all levels, is rarely more than 10 years. They win two or three elections, baggage accumulates and then they are hounded or voted out of office so that, as Lester Pearson said when he gave way to Pierre Trudeau in 1968, “another Superman can be erected on the ruins.”
By this measure, the clock is ticking on the career of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. By October 2015, the expected date of the next federal election, he will have served nine years and nine months. It will be his fourth election, following the minority victories of 2006 and 2008, and the big majority win in 2011. He will be the sixth-longest serving prime minister in Canadian history and his brand will be severely tarnished by real and imagined errors and failures.
During his annual northern tour this summer, Harper was asked for the first time if he intends to lead his party into the next election. “Of course,” he said. “I’m actually disappointed you feel the need to ask that question.” No doubt he was. For it is the question that often heralds the beginning of the end of political careers.
The fate of the Harper government mattersto Alberta and Edmonton, a lot. We have never known such power and influence in Ottawa as in the last seven years, and it is decidedly in our interest to extend our political hegemony in the nation’s capital. Along with the prime minister, we are represented by cabinet heavyweights Jason Kenney and Rona Ambrose, and junior ministers Tim Uppal, Michelle Rempel and Kevin Sorenson. There are also numerous Albertans staffing the PMO and ministers’ offices. Moreover, many of the national policy objectives that originated with the old Reform party still dominate the government’s agenda.
Reducing taxes, cutting regulation and red tape, keeping debt-to-GDP ratios in check, pension and EI reform, aggressively pursuing international trade, reforming the immigration system, and expanding natural resource development: All these came right out of the old Reform playbook, and are in sync with Alberta’s economic interests. The crackdown on income trusts and the refusal to bankroll Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid were rare examples of Alberta snubs.