Stephen Harper Quotes

For [Stephen] Harper, a national daycare plan bordered on being a socialist scheme, a phrase he had once used to describe the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. For [Paul] Martin, whose plan would have transferred to the provinces $5 billion over five years, the national program was what Canadianism was all about. "Think about it this way," [Martin] said. "What if, decades ago, Tommy Douglas and my father and Lester Pearson had considered the idea of medicare and then said, 'Forget it! Let's just give people twenty-five dollars a week.' You want a fundamental difference between Mr. Harper and myself? Well, this is it. ~ Lawrence Martin

I believe that all taxes are bad. ~ Stephen Harper

The continued increase in many crime indicators and the fact that the overall crime rate has not seen a marked decrease while the Liberals have been in power is a clear indication that the Liberal approach to combating crime, as on so many other issues, has failed. ~ Stephen Harper

I think in Atlantic Canada, because of what happened in the decades following Confederation, there is a culture of defeat that we have to overcome. ~ Stephen Harper

We got into a recession because the global economy went into the recession and we're a big exporting nation. ~ Stephen Harper

We have in this country a federal government that increasingly is engaged in trying to determine which business, which regions, which industries will succeed, which will not through a whole range of economic development, regional development corporate subsidization programs. ~ Stephen Harper

The conservatives had started bringing demagoguery to the table on the [Afghan] war issue the previous fall [fall 2006]. Whenever opposition members criticized the war policy, assorted Tories accused them of being disloyal and of failing to support the troops ... [Harper] was gaining the reputation of a leader who couldn't see a belt without wanting to hit below it. ~ Lawrence Martin

I don't know if for sure in absolute terms if Jim Flaherty is the best Finance Minster in the world, but I am sure that he is the best Finance Minster per inch in the world. ~ Stephen Harper

It's past time the feds scrapped the Canada Health Act. ~ Stephen Harper

I think what everybody believes and agrees with, and to be frank myself, is that the current approach [to the drug trade] is not working, but it is not clear what we should do. ~ Stephen Harper

I'm not trying to be diplomatic. I'm trying to be more nuanced and realistic. I think there has to be a serious examination of the shortcomings of the Euro structure. Euro central institutions, whether it be fiscal policy, monetary policy, financial regulation, are simply not as robust as they are in a currency that has a national government behind it. ~ Stephen Harper

The Liberals, apparently, want to prorogue the House. They want to run out of town, get out of town just one step ahead of the sheriff. Is the Liberal government committed to staying here as planned throughout the month of November so that it can be held accountable in the House for its actions? ... Now is it true that the government will prorogue the House so that it will not be held accountable for its shameful record ~ Stephen Harper

Evil comes in many forms and seems to reinvent itself time and again. But whatever it calls itself - Nazism, Marxist-Leninism, today, terrorism - they all have one thing in common: the destruction, the end of human liberty. ~ Stephen Harper

Make no mistake. Canada is not a bilingual country. In fact it is less bilingual today than it has ever been. ~ Stephen Harper

As a religion, bilingualism is the god that failed. It has led to no fairness, produced no unity, and cost Canadian taxpayers untold millions. ~ Stephen Harper

Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it ~ Stephen Harper

Look, I think the worst case scenario is obvious. I think first of all it doesn't work for very long. It's an unstable government that raises taxes and destroys the image we're building for Canada as a strong place to invest. ~ Stephen Harper

Withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan ... Collect our own revenue from personal income tax ... Resume provincial responsibility for health-care policy. If Ottawa objects to provincial policy, fight in the courts ... [E]ach province should raise its own revenue for health ... It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta ... ~ Stephen Harper

Canada is a vast and empty country. ~ Stephen Harper

I just think it would be unrealistic to suggest we're going to eliminate every last domestic insurgent in Afghanistan. Certainly, the history of the country would indicate that's not a very realistic objective, and I think we have to have realistic objectives. ~ Stephen Harper

I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans. ~ Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper is probably the most dangerous human being ever elevated to power in Canada. ~ Farley Mowat

We also support the exploration of alternative ways to deliver health care. Moving toward alternatives, including those provided by the private sector, is a natural development of our health care system. ~ Stephen Harper

After all, enforced national bilingualism in this country isn't mere policy. It has attained the status of a religion. It's a dogma which one is supposed to accept without question. ~ Stephen Harper

If George Bush can't get along with Stephen Harper, he can't get along with any world leader. They're ideological cousins, if not twins. ~ David Taras

What the government has to do, if it wants to govern for any length of time, is it must appeal primarily to the third parties in the House of Commons to get them to support it. ~ Stephen Harper

As opposition leader, [Stephen Harper] wrote in the Montreal Gazette in the year before he came to power: 'Information is the lifeblood of a democracy. Without adequate access to key information about government policies and programs, citizens and parliamentarians cannot make informed decisions and incompetent or corrupt governments can be hidden under a cloak of secrecy.'
When he became prime minister, his attitude appeared to undergo a shift of considerable proportions. It often took the Conservatives twice as long as previous governments to handle access requests. Sometimes it took six months to a year. ~ Lawrence Martin

It was probably not an appropriate term, but we support the war effort and believe we should be supporting our troops and our allies and be there with them doing everything necessary to win. ~ Stephen Harper

Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society ... It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff. ~ Stephen Harper

First of all, I can't forget my first responsibility - which is to be the Leader of the Opposition and that's to provide an alternative government. ~ Stephen Harper

Faith teaches that there is a right and wrong beyond mere opinion or desire. Most importantly, it teaches us that freedom is not an end in itself, that how freedom is exercised matters as much as freedom itself ~ Stephen Harper

The Leader of the Opposition's constitutional obligation - the obligation to Parliament - it's the reason we did the merger! - is to make sure Canadians have an alternative for government. ~ Stephen Harper

But I've been very clear in this campaign - I don't believe the party should have a position on abortion. ~ Stephen Harper

[Stephen] Harper had said he would use all legal means, and what [John] Baird suggested was an option the prome minister was considering. If the governor general had refused his request, he could have replaced her with a more compliant one, making the case to the Queen that the people of Canada were opposed in great numbers to a coalition replacing his government. ~ Lawrence Martin

We want to see oil and gas regulations on a continental basis given the integrated nature of this industry, with the current conditions in the oil and gas sector, this government will not consider unilateral regulation. ~ Stephen Harper

We're not going to scrap the budget and make up some totally new platform the day after the election. So it's certainly willingness to compromise but we're not going back on the fundamental things we're running on in this campaign. ~ Stephen Harper

Now 'pay equity' has everything to do with pay and nothing to do with equity. It's based on the vague notion of 'equal pay for work of equal value,' which is not the same as equal pay for the same job. ~ Stephen Harper

The jackasses at Elections Canada are out of control. ~ Stephen Harper

Canadians know that the promise of a recession didn't happen because of anything we did here. If you look at all the causes of the recession, problems in mortgage markets, the problems in the banking sector, the problems in government finance in countries like Greece, none of those problems were in present Canada. ~ Stephen Harper

I think first and foremost everybody should understand that Canadians are strongly committed to the system of universal health insurance, to the principle that your ability to pay does not determine your access to critical medical service. ~ Stephen Harper

If Ottawa giveth, then Ottawa can taketh away. ~ Stephen Harper

Whether Canada ends up with one national government or two governments or 10 governments, the Canadian people will require less government no matter what the constitutional status or arrangement of any future country may be. ~ Stephen Harper

There's unfortunately a view of too many people in Atlantic Canada that it's only through government favours that there's going to be economic progress, or that's what you look to That kind of can't-do attitude is a problem in this country but it's obviously more serious in regions that have had have-not status for a long time. ~ Stephen Harper

That's my personal view I would say most in my caucus agree with that but there are some who don't and I've always said that on these kinds of moral issues, people have the right to their own opinions. ~ Stephen Harper

Redirect federal spending aimed at fulfilling the terms of the increasingly irrelevant Kyoto Protocol. ~ Stephen Harper

Don't indulge your theories, think of your children and listen to the experts. ~ Stephen Harper

Earlier in [2007] the [Prime Minister's Office] had also drawn criticism for trying to muzzle the judiciary. The reproach came from Antonio Lamer, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court ... 'I must say I was taken aback,' said Lamer, who sat on the Supreme Court for twenty years. 'The prime minister is going the wrong route as regards the independence of the judiciary. He's trying to interfere with the sentencing process. ~ Lawrence Martin

Stephen Harper, who's the prime minister of Canada, he is saying that this - we have to give him a majority government, otherwise there will be a Separatist coalition. And he says it every minute. ~ Rick Mercer

I think I have been perfectly clear in saying that I hope Canadians do elect a majority government. I think this cycle of election after election, minority after minority is beginning to put some of the country's interests in serious jeopardy. ~ Stephen Harper

I intend to lead my party, which is the only party that has a serious policy on the No. 1 priority of the people and that is the economy. ~ Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper is trying to load the dice between now and the next election in his own favour. Never before in the history of Canada has a government tried to use its majority to unilaterally change Canada's election laws with no support from any political party. ~ Thomas Mulcair

A transition is taking place in Egypt. In my judgement, there is no going back. I think the old expression, They're not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube on this one. ~ Stephen Harper

The government can only be brought down because it alienates several parties in the House. ~ Stephen Harper

I was asked to speak about Canadian politics. It may not be true, but it's legendary that if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians. ~ Stephen Harper

Restoring accountability will be one of the major priorities of our new government. Accountability is what ordinary Canadians, working Canadians, those people who pay their bills, pay their taxes, expect from their political leaders. ~ Stephen Harper

As I constantly remind Canadians, there isnt really a Canadian economy anymore. It is a global economy. ~ Stephen Harper

Having hit a wall, the next logical step is not to bang our heads against it. ~ Stephen Harper

Canada receives the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden with sober satisfaction. Sadly, others will take his place. ~ Stephen Harper

I introduced Putin to our Scottish terrier, Barney. He wasn't very impressed. On my next trip to Russia, Vladimir asked if I wanted to meet his dog, Koni. Sure, I said. As we walked the birch-lined grounds of his dacha, a big black Labrador came charging across the lawn. With a twinkle in his eye, Vladimir said, "Bigger, stronger, and faster than Barney." Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada [said], "You're lucky he only showed you his dog. ~ George W. Bush

I think people should elect a cat person. If you elect a dog person, you elect someone who wants to be loved. If you elect a cat person, you elect someone who wants to serve. ~ Stephen Harper

I believe very strongly that in this world you have to have values and you have to stand up for your interests and if you don't do those things you're not going to get anywhere. ~ Stephen Harper

America, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world, ~ Stephen Harper

We have to remember we're in a global economy. The purpose of fiscal stimulus is not simply to sustain activity in our national economies, but to help the global economy as well, and that's why it's so critical that measures in those packages avoid anything that smacks of protectionism. ~ Stephen Harper

It was the removing of a regime that was hostile, that clearly had the intention of constructing weapons systems. ~ Stephen Harper

Whether Canada ends up as o-ne national government or two national governments or several national governments, or some other kind of arrangement is, quite frankly, secondary in my opinion. ~ Stephen Harper

I do not intend to dispute in any way the need for defence cuts and the need for government spending cuts in general. I do not share a not in my backyard approach to government spending reductions. ~ Stephen Harper

It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta, to limit the extent to which an aggressive and hostile federal government can encroach upon legitimate provincial jurisdiction. ~ Stephen Harper

The single most important duty of the federal government is to protect and defend our national sovereignty. There are new and disturbing reports of American nuclear submarines passing though Canadian waters without obtaining the permission of, or even notifying, the Canadian government. ~ Stephen Harper

If you want to diminish the number of abortions, you've got to change hearts and not laws. ~ Stephen Harper

You don't defend national sovereignty with flags, cheap election rhetoric, and advertising campaigns. ~ Stephen Harper

There is no greater fraud than a promise not kept. ~ Stephen Harper

Is Stephen Harper using the imagined fear of widespread security threats to score political points before the next election? ~ Elizabeth May

Until that moment, Canada had been a secular and progressive nation that believed in transfer payments to better distribute the country's wealth, the Westminster model of governance, a national medicare program, a peacekeeping role for the armed forces, an arm's-length public service, the separation of church and state, and solid support for the United Nations. Stephen Harper believed in none of these things. ~ Michael Harris

My own views on abortion, I'm not on either pole of that and neither of the interest groups on either end of this issue would probably be comfortable with my views. ~ Stephen Harper

This party will not take its position based on public opinion polls. We will not take a stand based on focus groups. We will not take a stand based on phone-in shows or householder surveys or any other vagaries of pubic opinion. ~ Stephen Harper

I don't believe an Alliance government should sponsor legislation on abortion or a referendum on abortion. ~ Stephen Harper

If you want to be a government in a minority Parliament, you have to work with other people. ~ Stephen Harper

Carbon dioxide does not cause or contribute to smog, and the Kyoto treaty would do nothing to reduce or prevent smog. ~ Stephen Harper

Canada is in budgetary deficit now only because of the recession, only because of stimulus measures, and we will come out of it. We will go back into surplus position when the economy recovers. So there is no need in Canada to raise taxes. ~ Stephen Harper

We should have been there shoulder to shoulder with our allies. Our concern is the instability of our government as an ally. We are playing again with national and global security matters. ~ Stephen Harper

For taxpayers, however, it's [pay equity] a rip-off. And it has nothing to do with gender. Both men and women taxpayers will pay additional money to both men and women in the civil service. That's why the federal government should scrap its ridiculous pay equity law. ~ Stephen Harper

Canada appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country, boasting ever more loudly about its economy and social services to mask its second-rate status ... ~ Stephen Harper

Today, we are tabling a motion seeking the support of the House for the government's decision to renew our military mission against ISIL for up to an additional 12 months. Our objectives remain the same: we intend to continue to degrade the capabilities of ISIL, that is, to degrade its ability to engage in military movements of scale, to operate bases in the open, to expand its presence in the region, and to propagate attacks outside the region. ~ Stephen Harper

Even if people are suspicious of the motives I think that learning and speaking two languages can only be a good thing for people. ~ Stephen Harper

The Liberals may blather about protecting cultural minorities, but the fact is that undermining the traditional definition of marriage is an assault on multiculturalism and the practices in those communities. ~ Stephen Harper

[Harper] once told a friend, "I think about strategy twenty-four hours a day," and it was only a small exaggeration. ~ Lawrence Martin

There is a dependence in the region that breeds a culture of defeatism, ~ Stephen Harper

I think the Liberals are doing everything they can to do turn it around, but the reality is that we're at the point right now where only Stephen Harper can lose this election. Only some major mistake by Harper or someone close to him can derail the Conservative juggernaut. ~ Nik Nanos

In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance. ~ Stephen Harper

There's going to be a new code on Parliament Hill: bend the rules, you will be punished; break the law, you will be charged; abuse the public trust, you will go to prison, ~ Stephen Harper

Bill C-9 was supposed to be a budget bill, but it came with innumerable measures that had little or nothing to do with the nation's finances. It was, as critics put it, the advance of the Harper agenda by stealth, yet another abuse of the democratic process. The bill was a behemoth. It was 904 pages, with 23 separate sections and 2,208 individual clauses ...
As a Reform MP, [Stephen Harper] ... said of one piece of legislation that 'the subject matter of the bill is so diverse that a single vote on the content would put members in conflict with their own principles.' The bill he referred to was 21 page long
or 883 pages shorter than the one he was now putting before Parliament. ~ Lawrence Martin

Buying pollution credits is folly; it doesn't help the environment. Instead of using tax dollars to buy credits overseas, we'll use them at home. ~ Stephen Harper

I do think that all economies need a sense of fiscal discipline especially over the midterm and if you are in the middle of a debt crisis you can't borrow your way out of a debt crisis. That's logically impossible. ~ Stephen Harper

For anyone approaching any one of the cast albums, if they don't like what they hear, it's not the performer's fault. ~ Stephen Sondheim

They had become a fixed star in the shifting firmament of the high school's relationships, the acknowledged Romeo and Juliet. And she knew with sudden hatefulness that there was one couple like them in every white suburban high school in America. ~ Stephen King

What I'm saying is that you can't run from it for ever, pretending you'll always have another chance. Life doesn't always work that way. Sometimes you've got to be brave and grab it while it's there in front of you. ~ Fiona Harper

We're only as sick as our secrets. ~ Stephen King

I've learned you can't write on a computer on a bus. It jiggles too much, especially an Apple. The keyboard jiggles around too much, and there are too many typos. ~ Stephen Stills

That this is Russian-A flu, not the more dangerous Swine flu. ~ Stephen King

I firmly believe in what Stephen Hawking says - that if we don't get off this planet, we're going to go berserk. We have to have more space. ~ Jolene Blalock