Beginning with his Ontario high school days and the decision to leave Toronto for Calgary in his late teens, Mackey traces the life of Stephen Harper—a life which has seen Harper, among other things, serve as legislative assistant to Progressive Conservative Jim Hawkes, earn an MA in economics from the University of Calgary, write policy for Preston Manning’s Reformers, serve as Reform MP Deborah Gray’s legislative assistant, serve as a Reform MP in the western sweep that decimated the Mulroney Conservatives, rise to the leadership of the Alliance Party, and finally achieve the unbelievable—reunite Canada’s splintered conservatives under the Conservative Party of Canada banner.

In many ways, Harper’s pilgrimage is a popular history of the Conservative movement in Canada during the last 20 years.

Incrementalist approach

No one is surprised at the dismay with which left-leaning liberals view Harper’s faith-informed conservatism. However, many right-leaning conservatives, particularly those from within Canada’s evangelical Christian community, also struggle with Harper because of his incrementalist approach to doing politics.

Two decades of political experience has taught Harper that democratic reforms and socially conservative policies are not achieved overnight, but through patient step-by-step decisions. This is not a welcome thought to Christians viewing the world in living black and white.

Mackey’s book provides a great window to what Canadians might expect from the country’s first economist-prime minister, should Harper’s Conservative Party win the day with Canada’s electorate. Harper’s MA thesis developed the idea that “governments spend money in the run-ups to elections so as to skew the natural business cycle that is part of a healthy market economy.”

This explains why Harper was so opposed to the last federal budget cobbled together by the Liberals and the NDP.

Most of the interviews conducted in writing this book were done following the 2004 federal election, giving us an updated picture of a man who never really aspired to lead the country, but was continually nudged toward the task by leading Canadian conservatives.

With a 37-year journalism career emphasizing the interaction of faith and politics, Lloyd Mackey was the right person to pen this book. A man of faith himself, Mackey understands Christian faith belongs to no particular political party. As such, while he clearly appreciates Harper’s journey, he is able to cover it objectively.

Given the potential for Stephen Harper to remain in political leadership for many years to come—he is in his mid-40s—all Canadians would benefit from the picture Mackey provides of this “increasingly less reluctant leader.”

David Daniels is the book reviews coordinator ChristianWeek. He can be reached at books@christianweek.org.

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