You do not necessarily think of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a quiet person. When you see television news clips of him in the House of Commons or addressing a Conservative crowd, he is talking. That is your image of him.
But that public image is wrong. We were presented with a much more accurate picture of Harper in the 2008 and 2011 election campaign debates. He was not totally silent but, in the English-language debate, we saw a man who was completely contained and who stuck tightly to his prepared talking points.
In 2008 there was a proverbial 600-pound gorilla at the table in the form of the looming economic crisis. Harper was fully aware of the seriousness of the financial crisis that we faced. Yet when Green Leader Elizabeth May repeatedly asked him about it, he never replied to her questions. And their failure to add fuel to the economic concerns cost the other leaders any chance to gain on him.
His lack of communication was even more pronounced in the 2011 English Leaders’ Debate. In that debate, Harper kept his gaze steady and off camera. By ignoring his opponents and sticking to his preplanned dialogue, he set himself apart from the fray. The Conservative attack advertising had firmly locked in Liberal Michael Ignatieff’s academic credentials and it was Jack Layton’s common-man approach that did all the damage. Ignatieff did not seem to have a planned response to what Layton was doing.
Tackling a weak and disorganized Liberal Party through 2006, 2008 and 2011 was what finally put Stephen Harper in the driver’s seat with a majority government. It is his silence in how he handles his office, his cabinet, his caucus, the Senate and the government that will deny him further terms as Prime Minister. While he can be a deft manipulator, he is no leader. He is now reacting instead of setting the agenda. He is putting out fires instead of challenging Canadians. He is reaching into the past for solutions instead of looking forward. He continues to try to sell an economic action plan that now lacks any credibility. He has made no pact with Canada’s environmentalists. His acceptance by women is crumbling. His attacks on Liberal Justin Trudeau fall flat.
By early 2014, Stephen Harper will be a lame duck Prime Minister. He will have little choice but to resign to give his successor time to try to rescue the party’s position. If he stays for the 2015 election, he will be defeated.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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