Do we like Stephen Harper?
Our score: 4 out of 10. A 2004 record against same-sex marriage and friendly ties with Orbán's party weigh against an Indigenous apology and a steady line on sovereignty.
Harper is the bloke who dragged the Conservatives from opposition to government, and in 2026 Ottawa marked 20 years since his first election win with a portrait unveiling. Poilievre told the crowd they look back on his successes “not just in nostalgia but with hope.” That's the fan version; the rest of this is the ledger.
On Indigenous Canadians, Harper's 2008 apology acknowledged the assimilation policy behind residential schools, which was a genuine moment. Critics at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives later argued the Harper-era crime bill C-10 cut against it, with the Civil Liberties Association saying it would “fundamentally change every component” of the justice system. That's advocacy-group territory, so weigh it accordingly.
The Duffy affair is the big stoush from his years in office. In 2016 a judge cleared Senator Mike Duffy of all 31 charges and called the Prime Minister's Office conduct “mind-boggling and shocking”. Global News reported it got no comment from Harper. Separately, a 2012 defamation and conspiracy suit by ex-minister Helena Guergis against Harper was dismissed by an Ontario judge on jurisdiction grounds, so it says nothing either way about the allegations.
The company he keeps is the harm-test question. As chair of the International Democrat Union, Harper met Hungary's Viktor Orbán in 2023 and talked up centre-right parties “strengthening their collaboration”. Human Rights Watch accuses Orbán's government of attacks on the rule of law, and Orbán has called asylum seekers “a poison”. Those are Orbán's words and HRW's charges, not Harper's, but it's the company he chose.
Last year's row was about India. Harper told a Brampton gala that parties should shun Sikhs who support Khalistan, and said his caucus was told to have “no contact whatsoever” with them. The World Sikh Organization says that echoes Indian disinformation, and noted his firm has business interests in better India ties. The piece carries no reply from Harper, so where you land depends on whether you read it as security hygiene or as tarring a community.
The good stuff is real: that apology, and a consistent line lately that Canada must defend its independence from US pressure, which many Canadians across parties applaud. Put together, he's a hard-right-of-centre politician with a mixed ledger rather than a villain, and a long way from a hero for a page like ours. Support with eyes open, not with a flag.