Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper: biography, state and political activities

Stephen Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and leader of her Conservative Party. Its victory in the general election in January 2006 ended the twelve-year period of the formation of the government by the Liberal Party. In turn, Canadian conservatives gave way to the Liberals in the elections of 2015, interrupting the nine-year term of Harper's tenure as head of government.

The origin, childhood and years of study of Stephen Harper

Where does his biography originate? Stephen Joseph Harper was born in Toronto, the family of the accountant of the oil company Imperial Oil. He had two younger brothers. Stephen first attended a public, and then a private school, in which he first became interested in politics, becoming a member of the circle of "young liberals", supporters of the famous Canadian prime minister of the 70-80s. Pierre Trudeau. After graduation in 1978, he entered the University of Toronto.

However, his studies did not work, and a couple of months, 19-year-old Stephen Harper moved to the province of Alberta to work in the same oil company as his father. Later he entered the Economics Department of the University of Calgary, after studying there before obtaining a bachelor's degree.

The beginning of political career

It was held in 1985. It all started with the work of an assistant to the deputy of the parliament, the conservative Hawks. In a couple of years, our hero becomes one of those who founded the Canadian Reform Party. And already in 1988, the future Prime Minister Stephen Harper first ran for election to the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament from this party. Having suffered defeat in these elections, he again began to work as an assistant to the acting deputy. During this period, Harper Stephen continued his studies in Calgary, becoming in 1993 a master in economics. Finally, he tried once again to elect the parliament in the same year in 1993 for the Calgary-West constituency from the Reform Party, and this attempt was crowned with success.

From the reformer - to the conservatives

After a three-year stay in parliament, Harper Stephen was disappointed in the policy pursued by the leadership of the Reform Party, and said he would not take part in the next parliamentary elections. He did not like the too obvious liberal bias in party politics, in particular he opposed the support of benefits for same-sex couples. In 1997, he voluntarily left the parliament and became vice-president of the conservative public organization "National Coalition of Citizens." In 2002, he returned to the House of Commons of Parliament after transforming the Reform Party into a Canadian alliance, taking the lead of the opposition to the liberal majority. In 2003, he led the alliance between the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance and was elected president of the re-established Conservative Party of Canada. In February 2006, after her victory in the parliamentary elections, the country was replaced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The program of the first prime minister's term

Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented to the parliament his government's program of five key points. These were:

• Increase the effectiveness of combating common crime by reforming justice for prisoners sentenced to imprisonment for a term of five to ten years. For those who are convicted of crimes involving the use of firearms, a ban on parole. For prisoners who served two-thirds of the sentence, if they had good behavior, the possibility of rehabilitation was provided.
• Purification of the government and local administrations from corruption elements on the basis of the Law on Responsibility, which inter alia provided for the prohibition of secret donations in favor of political candidates.
• Reducing the tax burden for employees, based on a gradual reduction in the tax on goods and services (GST) from 7 to 5%.
• Increase government spending on child support by providing direct financial assistance to parents of preschool children and expanding the network of kindergartens.
• Improve the quality of the medical insurance system (Medicare) based on reducing waiting times for treatment.

In addition to these five priorities, Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper's program envisaged maintaining a budget surplus, resolving the public debt problem, refusing to review laws on abortion and same-sex marriage, strengthening the position of French-speaking Quebec as an integral part of Canada, by giving the province greater autonomy.

Re-election

In the general election in October 2008, Harper's Conservative Party won 37.63% of the vote; While the main opposition Liberal Party received 26.22% of the vote. Thus, Stephen Harper won the election and was re-elected for a second term as prime minister.

In 2008, it was the year of the worst global economic recession in the last half-century. During his second term as prime minister, Mr. Harper and his government worked hard to ensure the economic recovery of Canada. The Prime Minister also contributed to the promotion of Canadian interests and the strengthening of the country's prestige in the international arena. To this end, Canada held the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2010, the G8 and G20 summits.

After a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council on March 18, 2011, which authorized permission to conduct military operations in Libya, if the Libyan armed forces attacked the rebels, Canada stated that its CF-18 military aircraft would go on supporting the no-fly zone regime over Libya.

On March 25, 2011, the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament passed a resolution of no confidence in the Harper government, with 156 members of the opposition parties voting for their mistrust, while 145 members of the ruling party voted against it. As a result, the next day (March 26), Harper announced a call for early parliamentary elections.

Third mandate

On May 2, 2011 Harper's Conservative Party won in early elections, and he himself was re-elected for a third term as prime minister; Of his three consecutive wins, it was the first in which the Conservatives received an absolute majority.

The Conservative Party received 39.62% of the vote and 166 of the 308 deputies that make up the House of Commons of Canada, while the New Democratic Party (which claimed to be the main opposition force) received 30.63% of the vote and 103 deputies. The Liberal Party received 18.91% of the vote and only 34 deputies, which was the worst result in its history, and thus was relegated to the third place. The Independence Party of Quebec took the fourth place in the elections, receiving 6.04% of the vote and four deputies. The Green Party of Canada (environmentalists) came fifth in the fifth place with 3.91% of the vote and one deputy.

The war against the "Islamic state" and the consequences

In 2014, Canada sent military assistance to Iraq in order to combat IGIL. On October 22, 2014, a young Canadian Islamist attacked and killed a soldier guarding the memorial in Ottawa, near the Canadian parliament. Later another terrorist killed one soldier and wounded another in the province of Quebec. The incident coincided with the dispatch from Quebec of six Canadian fighters to Kuwait to participate in an international coalition that carried out bombing of territories captured by IGIL in Iraq.

Defeat in the 2015 election

At the next parliamentary elections held on August 2, Harper's Conservative Party won 99 seats in parliament (versus 166 in the previous convocation) and became the official opposition of the victorious Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau. Former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper again returned to the "back benches" of the parliament and continues parliamentary activity as one of the leaders of the opposition.

Personal life policy

Stephen Harper is married to Lauren Tiskey since 1993. They have two children: Benjamin and Rachel. The former prime minister is an avid fan of hockey. And even published a documentary about his development in Canada, mainly in Toronto.

About his other likes, he knows that he owns a large collection of vinyl records and is a big fan of The Beatles and AC / DC bands.

Since Harper is no longer prime minister, his family moved to his former place of residence again - in Calgary (Alberta province), where he constantly travels to parliament.