HRM Resident
2018-10-12 15:17:24 UTC
<https://nationalpost.com/opinion/andrew-coyne-stephen-harper-reveals-himself-as-banal-in-his-effort-to-claim-mantle-of-populism>
Andrew Coyne: Stephen Harper comes across as banal in effort to claim
mantle of populism
Harper’s book is largely an attempt to portray his own government, not
as the cynical power-seeking machine it appeared to be, but as populist
before its time.
That presumably settles that.
Throughout his time as prime minister, theories abounded as to what
philosophy of government, if any, could explain Stephen Harper’s
apparently rudderless course. A few die-hards on the left persisted in
describing his government as ideological or hard-right, even as it was
borrowing billions, adding new regional development agencies and
nationalizing the auto industry.
Others insisted he was a libertarian at heart who was either forced or
tempted, by reality or expediency, to alter his approach once in power.
A couple of loyalists essayed a reconstruction after the fact, in which
the Harper government’s many disparate and contradictory policies were
somehow made to fit into a single philosophical template called “ordered
liberty.”
Well now we have it from the proverbial horse’s mouth. The young
firebrand who famously deserted Preston Manning for being too populist
and not enough of a conservative now claims the mantle of populism for
himself: if not as a whole-hearted adherent, then as the statesman who
understands where others only condemn. His new book Right Here, Right
Now, is indeed in large part an attempt to portray his own government,
not as the cynical power-seeking machine it appeared to be, but as
populist before its time. In defending populism, he defends himself.
And yet the mind it reveals is not that of the subtle, sometimes rueful
voice of experience he clearly wishes the reader to imagine. It is,
rather, all too conventional, even banal. What are presented as
iconoclastic insights, in which the rise of populism is explained in
terms of the failings of conservatism — former Conservative prime
minister breaks with decades of conservative orthodoxy! — are a mix of
received wisdom and undergraduate shibboleths, many of them long debunked.
Andrew Coyne: Stephen Harper comes across as banal in effort to claim
mantle of populism
Harper’s book is largely an attempt to portray his own government, not
as the cynical power-seeking machine it appeared to be, but as populist
before its time.
That presumably settles that.
Throughout his time as prime minister, theories abounded as to what
philosophy of government, if any, could explain Stephen Harper’s
apparently rudderless course. A few die-hards on the left persisted in
describing his government as ideological or hard-right, even as it was
borrowing billions, adding new regional development agencies and
nationalizing the auto industry.
Others insisted he was a libertarian at heart who was either forced or
tempted, by reality or expediency, to alter his approach once in power.
A couple of loyalists essayed a reconstruction after the fact, in which
the Harper government’s many disparate and contradictory policies were
somehow made to fit into a single philosophical template called “ordered
liberty.”
Well now we have it from the proverbial horse’s mouth. The young
firebrand who famously deserted Preston Manning for being too populist
and not enough of a conservative now claims the mantle of populism for
himself: if not as a whole-hearted adherent, then as the statesman who
understands where others only condemn. His new book Right Here, Right
Now, is indeed in large part an attempt to portray his own government,
not as the cynical power-seeking machine it appeared to be, but as
populist before its time. In defending populism, he defends himself.
And yet the mind it reveals is not that of the subtle, sometimes rueful
voice of experience he clearly wishes the reader to imagine. It is,
rather, all too conventional, even banal. What are presented as
iconoclastic insights, in which the rise of populism is explained in
terms of the failings of conservatism — former Conservative prime
minister breaks with decades of conservative orthodoxy! — are a mix of
received wisdom and undergraduate shibboleths, many of them long debunked.
--
HRM Resident
HRM Resident