What was the Stephen Harper era?

The Stephen Harper era was Stephen Harper's tenure as Prime Minister of Canada from February 6, 2006 to November 4, 2015. Harper led the Conservative Party of Canada (formed by the December 7, 2003 merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party). He led three minority parliaments (2006 to 2008, 2008 to 2011) and a majority parliament (2011 to 2015), reorienting Canadian fiscal, foreign, and Arctic policy. Harper served as the longest-tenured Conservative Prime Minister since Sir John A. Macdonald.

Harper rose through the Reform Party (entered as Calgary West MP in 1993, served as Reform's senior policy adviser), was elected Canadian Alliance leader on March 20, 2002, and became Conservative Party leader on March 20, 2004 after the merger with the Progressive Conservatives. He led the Conservatives to a 124-seat minority in the January 23, 2006 federal election, defeating Paul Martin's Liberal government. Subsequent elections produced 143 seats (2008 minority), 166 seats (2011 majority), and 99 seats (2015 defeat).

Major Harper-era policies included: federal GST reduction from 7 to 5 per cent (2006 to 2008); Universal Child Care Benefit (2006); the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA, 2009); the federal apology for Indian residential schools (June 11, 2008); the federal apology for the Chinese Head Tax (June 22, 2006); the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008); a Strong Cities Agenda; counter-cyclical stimulus during the 2008 to 2009 Great Recession (the Economic Action Plan, January 2009); the Federal Accountability Act (2006); the creation of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (2008); aggressive Arctic sovereignty assertion through the Canada First Defence Strategy (2008) and Operation Nanook (annual Arctic exercises); withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol (December 2011); termination of the long-form census (2010, restored 2016); and tough-on-crime legislation including the Safe Streets and Communities Act (2012).

Harper's foreign policy emphasised closer alignment with Israel, the United States (particularly during the George W. Bush and early Barack Obama administrations), and the United Kingdom. Canada participated in the NATO 2011 Libya intervention (Operation Mobile) and the 2014 onward anti-ISIS coalition (Operation Impact). Harper negotiated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union (signed October 30, 2014, in force September 21, 2017) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (October 5, 2015, completed by Trudeau as the CPTPP). Justin Trudeau's Liberals defeated Harper's Conservatives in the October 19, 2015 federal election (184 Liberal seats to 99 Conservative seats). Harper resigned as Conservative leader on election night and as MP on August 26, 2016. He has worked since on the International Democrat Union (former IDU Chairman), as a consultant, and in international affairs advisory.