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 Stephen
Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd Prime
Minister on February 6, 2006.
Mr. Harper
was first elected to the House of Commons in the
1993 federal election as the Reform Party’s
candidate in Calgary West. He left Parliament in
1997 to become Vice President (and later
President) of the National Citizens’ Coalition,
a prominent Canadian advocacy organization. In
2002, he became Leader of the Opposition after
winning the leadership of the Canadian Alliance
and a subsequent by-election in Calgary
Southwest.
In 2003,
Mr. Harper co-founded the Conservative Party of
Canada and went on to contest and win the new
party’s leadership.
As
Conservative leader, Mr. Harper ran in the 2004
federal election and increased the
Conservatives’ standing in the House of Commons
by 25 seats, including an important breakthrough
in Ontario. On January 23, 2006, Mr. Harper led
the Conservative Party to power by winning 124
seats in Canada’s 39th federal election.
As Prime
Minister, Mr. Harper is committed to building a
Canada that remains strong, united, independent
and free. He is committed to enacting
accountability measures for government, lowering
taxes for working families, reforming the
criminal justice system, helping parents cope
with the costs of child care and negotiating a
patient wait times guarantee with the provinces.
 Stephen Harper
was born on April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario.
He moved to Alberta in 1978 to work in the
petroleum industry and went on to obtain both a
bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics
from the University of Calgary. Stephen Harper
is an honorary member of the International Raoul
Wallenberg Foundation. Mr. Harper and his wife,
Laureen (Teskey) Harper, have two children,
Benjamin and Rachel, and maintain a permanent
home in Calgary.
Prime Minister's website
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