There are many things for which we can condemn the Liberal Party of JeanChrétien and Paul Martin. Right now the one that comes to mind is the tragicpossibility that their apparent corruption could lead Canadians to be sodistracted they would bring to power a party led by a man who would try toundo everything Canadians actually support. If Canadians fail to rememberwhat Stephen Harper stands for they could end up trading agovernment tainted by past corruption for a government run by the GrimReaper of Canadian politics.

After years of indulging himself in his visceral contempt for what Canada isand has been, Harper seems finally to have learned to keep his true feelingsto himself. He no longer openly expresses the disdain for the country hesays he wants to govern. But as the polls suggest he might be withinstriking distance of the Liberals, it seems like a good time to remindpeople just what kind of earth-scorching government we could get with thisman and his not-so-new party.

Harper is not a man who readily changes his views and it has long beenhis conviction that he has a duty to reshape Canada regardless of what itscitizens want. When he joined the Reform Party in the late 1980s hedemonstrated his scorn for the so-called “grass roots” of the party, tellinga reporter that policies coming from the “bottom-up” were “simple and lowquality.” And the main source of his admiration for Preston Manning was theleader’s uncanny ability to get Reform members to abandon some of theirpassionately-held beliefs: “It’s amazing what you can persuade them (partymembers) to do once you convince them it’s the leader who is telling them.”

Virtually all of the policies of the Reform Party were written by PrestonManning and Stephen Harper. They included the elimination of the CanadaHealth Act, draconian immigration policies, massive decentralization toeliminate universality in social programs, and huge cuts to federal fundingfor such programs. While they were never the government, the party providedboth pressure and support for Paul Martin’s radical restructuring of thecountry’s finances and social legislation.

Harper was well aware of the party’s role in taking the country backwards.In a speech to the National Citizens Coalition while still MP for CalgaryWest, Harper assessed Reform’s influence, boasting “the Liberal governmentin Ottawa has announced… no new major social spending programs.Universality has been severely reduced: It is virtually dead as a concept inmost areas of public policy. The family allowance program has beeneliminated and unemployment insurance has been seriously cut back.”

Harper left the Reform Party in 1997 over strategic differences withManning. It is very revealing of the man’s politics that he took theposition of president of the National Citizens’ Coalition (NCC) — the mostferociously right-wing lobby group in the country. Founded originally tofight public medicare, the NCC was Reform’s soul-mate. Harper praised theorganization because it “criticizes, attacks and gives alternatives to suchthings as official multiculturalism, enforced national bilingualism, apro-criminal justice system, anti-family social policies, open doorimmigration…”

It is ironic, given Harper’s outrage over a political scandal involvingcorporate money, that he spent much of his time at the NCC in a successfulcourt challenge of federal election finance reform. The reform (now inplace) would have prevented corporations from contributing to politicalparties. While no law can guarantee corruption will end, the law Harperfought so hard against — he dismissed it as a “gag law” — would arguablyhave reduced the opportunities and changed the political culture.

But it was an article in the National Post a few days after the 2000election that exposed the real Stephen Harper. In the article, Harperrevealed his admiration for free-enterprise Alberta and his contempt for therest of Canada: “Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialisticcountry, boasting ever more loudly about its …social services to mask itssecond-rate status.”

There is nothing on the public record to suggest Stephen Harper has changedhis radical views. He just has been much more careful about expressing them.The Conservative leader is a man totally enamoured with the U.S. — whosupported the Iraq war and ballistic missile defence (despite his coyness),admires George Bush, detests social programs and the equality principlewhich drives them, and is a proud believer in America’s culture ofpossessive individualism. As such he is more at odds with Canadians’ valuesthan any national party leader in 60 years.

Handing over the reigns of government to a man who has contempt for his owncountry would be a catastrophic mistake. Scandal or no scandal, Canadiansneed to keep their eyes on the prize: the future of their country.

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Murray Dobbin

Murray Dobbin was rabble.ca's Senior Contributing Editor. He was a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for over 40 years. A board member and researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy...