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Stephen Harper New Leader of New Tories

© David Newman

After a Leadership convention earlier this month, The membership of the New Conservative Party elected Stephen Harper as leader of the party. The Conservative Party of Canada is the merger of Canada's oldest party, the Progressive Conservatives (themselves a merger of the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party in 1942) and of the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance Party, a previous and failed attempt at merging the Conservatives and the former Reform Party.

Using a bizarre election system using Equal Representation to each riding association, no matter how many members are in each riding (e.g a riding in Quebec where there are 100 members gets the same voice as a Alberta riding where there are 5,000 members - these are hypothetical numbers by the way), Stephen Harper won with 55.5% of the points versus two opponants, Ontario's Belinda Stronach, former CEO of Magna International, and Tony Clement, former Minister of Health in Ontario during the Ernie Eves government, which included the SARS crisis. Stronach got 35% of the points while Clement got 9.5%.

The merger of the two Right-Wing parties came late last year following pro-merger PC leader Peter McKay despite his written promise to opponant Red Tory David Orchard that no merger would take place, nor any merger talks. Stephen Harper was Leader of the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (aka. Canadian Alliance).

Stephen Harper plays uphis Western roots despite his birth in Toronto, Ontario (Much like George Bush plays up his Texan roots while born in Connecticut and Windsor's Paul Martin playing up his Montreal roots). He was born in 1959 and grew up in Leaside and Etobicoke, then part of Metropolitan Toronto. He only moves to Alberta following the end of his secondary education, as he goes to the University of Calgary and completes a Bachelor in Economics.

Like many Reformers, He began his political career with the Progressive Conservatives during the 1980s. After a general western disillusionment with Eastern parties -which saw many a reform party grew up in the West over the history of this country: CCF, NDP, Social Credit, Progressive Party, and of course the Reform Party - Harper leaves the Tories behind and joins Preston Manning's Reform Mouvement. and becomes Chief Policy advisor for the new Party.

Harper ran twice in Calgary losing to his former Tory boss in 1988, and winning against him in the 1993 election which saw the Reform Party conquer the west and the end of the Conservative rule of the Right Wing.