Stephen Harper

Who is Stephen Harper?

Stephen Joseph Harper is a Canadian politician who is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and the Leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister in 2006, forming a minority government after the 2006 election. He is the first prime minister to come from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, which formed after a merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance.

Harper is an evangelical Christian with a power base in Alberta, home of Canada's oil boom. Known as an ally of Canadian fossil fuels, he has promoted their export to the U.S. and China. He has helped the federal government to dismantle some environmental restrictions on economic growth. Harper increased federal defense spending by nearly $1 billion annually in his first four years in office, with more projected. Canada has amassed a federal debt over $600 billion by mid-2013.

Harper has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition. In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004.