Product Description

Stephen Harper is the first prime minister to represent the new Conservative Party, and the first to declare that his goals include nothing less than changing Canada by entrenching conservative values and replacing the Liberals as the countrys natural governing party. After nine years of a closed-door governing style, his agenda is no longer hidden. As Brooke Jeffrey outlines in compelling detail in Dismantling Canada, Harpers agenda is driven by a desire to impose order and tradition at home, and to take firm stands on emerging issues abroad. With only thirty-nine per cent of the popular vote in 2011, his government appears to have gone a surprisingly long way towards achieving those objectives, with little or no concerted public opposition. Illuminating the importance and influence of British and especially American right-wing conservatives on Harpers strategies, the book explains how he has achieved so much through a combination of stealth, pragmatism, and ruthless determination. Providing fascinating insight into the origins of a new conservative vision for the economy, federalism, and domestic and foreign policies, Dismantling Canada explores Harpers successes and failures, and evaluates the likely outcome of his long-term agenda to change Canada into a country most Canadians would not recognize.