The phoney

Stephen Harper: Roots of a rebel (1959–1978)

How politics changed the prime minister, and how he is changing Canada

OTTAWA — On the morning of Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Prime Minister Stephen Harper walked into Room 237-C at the heart of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block to speak to members of the Conservative caucus.

He was met with a standing ovation from the MPs and senators jammed inside, many anxiously hoping their leader would work his magic – and make a political hurricane disappear.

Forty-eight hours earlier, Harper had reluctantly announced the resignation of his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, who had given $90,172 of his own money to Sen. Mike Duffy. The money was meant to repay Duffy’s ineligible Senate housing expenses, and those present at the caucus meeting expected some explanations.

For years, Harper – long an advocate of Senate reform – had promised never to appoint anyone to the Senate. Yet, by 2013, he had appointed dozens. On one day alone, he made 18 appointments — including Duffy, former broadcaster Pamela Wallin, and aboriginal leader Patrick Brazeau.

Now all three were enmeshed in controversy over their expense claims — and thanks to Wright’s cheque, the prime minister’s office had been drawn in.

Harper walked to the podium that looked out over his caucus. Against a backdrop of four Canadian flags, he spoke.

“I don’t think any of you are going to be surprised to hear that I am not happy,” he began.

From their leather-backed seats in the room, its towering walls bedecked with historic murals from the 1920s, MPs and senators listened intently. Crowded at the back of the room, after receiving a rare invitation to attend a caucus speech, stood reporters, photographers and television-camera operators.
“I’m very upset with some conduct we have witnessed — conduct of some parliamentarians and the conduct of my own office,” Harper continued.

Then, abruptly, he changed the subject — reiterating old pledges about ethical government and Senate reform and telling Conservatives they must not let “distractions” push them off their political agenda. And he took his seat at a table at the front of the room.

The vagueness of Harper’s remarks, at such a critical moment, left journalists incredulous.

“What about the cheque?” some shouted.

“What about Nigel Wright?”

“What did you know?”

Harper, his frozen smile followed by an almost blank expression, ignored them. Caucus members tried to drown out the questions with cheers, and one former Harper aide — ironically, a senator he had appointed — moved in to shield him from TV cameras as party officials shooed the media out.

READ MORE: http://o.canada.com/news/national/stephen_harper_day1