Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister on February 6,
2006.
Mr. Harper was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1993 federal
election as the Reform Party’s candidate in Calgary West. He left Parliament
in 1997 to become Vice President (and later President) of the National
Citizens’ Coalition, a prominent Canadian advocacy organization. In 2002, he
became Leader of the Opposition after winning the leadership of the Canadian
Alliance and a subsequent by-election in Calgary Southwest.
In 2003, Mr. Harper co-founded the Conservative Party of Canada and went on to
contest and win the new party’s leadership.
As Conservative leader, Mr. Harper ran in the 2004 federal election and
increased the Conservatives’ standing in the House of Commons by 25 seats,
including an important breakthrough in Ontario. On January 23, 2006, Mr. Harper
led the Conservative Party to power by winning 124 seats in Canada’s 39th
federal election.
As Prime Minister, Mr. Harper is committed to building a Canada that remains
strong, united, independent and free. He is committed to enacting accountability
measures for government, lowering taxes for working families, reforming the
criminal justice system, helping parents cope with the costs of child care and
negotiating a patient wait times guarantee with the provinces.
Stephen Harper was born on April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario. He moved to
Alberta in 1978 to work in the petroleum industry and went on to obtain both a
bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics from the University of
Calgary.
Mr. Harper and his wife, Laureen (Teskey) Harper, have two children, Benjamin
and Rachel, and maintain a permanent home in Calgary.