Stephen Harper was praised as a champion of Western Canada Friday as the former prime minister stepped down as MP for Calgary Heritage.
Harper, the second Calgarian to serve in Canada’s top political job and the longest-serving PM from the west, resigned as Conservative leader last October after his government fell to Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.
On Friday, he issued a video and short statement announcing he was resigning his House of Commons seat and thanking his constituents, Conservative party members, and Canadians.
Rick Billington, who served as president of Harper’s constituency association board for three years, said the ex-PM’s nearly 10 years in office marked a sea change from the “western alienation” that was so long a factor in Canadian politics.
“It was a phrase that was commonly used in just about any discussion of the political scene,” said Billington.
“Harper came in to Ottawa with ‘the west wants in,’ and, my goodness, he succeeded in droves.”
“He had listened to western Canadians, to Albertans, to Calgarians. He brought their concerns to the national agenda in a way we really hadn’t seen from governments in my adult lifetime.”
Billington, a Calgary lawyer considering a run for the Conservative nomination in Calgary Heritage in the byelection that must be set in the next three months, pointed to issues such as the Conservative government’s support of the energy industry and its ending of the long gun registry and Canadian Wheat Board monopoly.
Harper was originally from Toronto but came to Calgary in his 20s. Along with R.B. Bennett, he is one of two prime ministers who represented the city.
He was originally elected as a Reform MP in 1993, serving one term. Harper returned to politics in 2002 by winning the Canadian Alliance leadership and was one of the chief architects of the merger with the federal PCs that formed the Conservative party.
The cool and cerebral Harper became prime minister in 2006, steering Canada through the economic downturn of 2008-09 and overseeing an administration that focused on reducing taxes and the size of government.
Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald CALGARY, AB: November 1, 2013 – Calgary member of parliament, and Minister of State responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, Michelle Rempel at the Conservative Party of Canada convention at the BMO Centre in Calgary, Alberta Friday, November 1, 2013. (Stuart Gradon/Calgary Herald) (For City story by James Wood) 00050290A
Michelle Rempel, the Calgary Nose Hill MP who served as a junior minister in Harper’s cabinet, said the former prime minister is an “intensely smart and intensely dedicated” man who had a national vision that recognized the importance of all regions, ensuring the west’s voice was heard in the corridors of power.
“Alberta was never forgotten under Stephen Harper,” she said.
Harper will now make a move into consulting on international issues alongside two of his most trusted former advisers, Ray Novak and Jeremy Hunt.
The trio is listed as directors of a corporation first set up in December called Harper and Associates Consulting.
Harper, who often shunned the media while PM, remained characteristically silent in his time as an MP since the fall election, doing no interviews.
He did not speak in the House of Commons but made two major speeches in the last few months, addressing the Conservative convention this spring and backing Jason Kenney’s call for a united provincial right at his Calgary Heritage Stampede barbecue in July.
Kenney, one of Harper’s top lieutenants who is now running for the leadership of Alberta’s Progressive Conservatives, issued a statement saying that Harper’s “brilliant leadership led to a renaissance of the conservative movement and Conservative Party in Canada.”
Alberta Wildrose Party Leader Brian Jean comments in Edmonton on May 30, 2016 on the suspension of Alberta Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt for comments that he made on social media about Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. (
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, who also served as a Conservative MP under Harper, thanked Harper for his service.
“History will remember your steady hand bringing us through tough global economic times,” said Jean in a statement.
While Harper was known as a hard-nosed political fighter, his opponents also paid tribute to him Friday.
Trudeau thanked Harper for his service while Premier Rachel Notley — who came under attack from Harper during the federal election campaign last year — also wished him and his wife Laureen well.
“It’s probably safe to say we didn’t agree on every single policy but there is absolutely no detracting from the fact that he worked extremely hard for the public and the citizens of this province and the citizens of this country,” she said in an Edmonton news conference.
— With files from The Canadian Press
