The Meaning of Harper

(4 of 5)

4. The West Is In
Oil-rich Alberta is already a major driver of Canada's economy. With the ascent of a western-based Prime Minister, the region may now play a far larger role in driving national politics. The Harper government will be power-packed with influential Albertans, many of them (like the Prime Minister-designate) graduates or acolytes of the University of Calgary's libertarian political-science department. Westerners have been dreaming of such access for decades. "We're moving from the kids' table of Confederation to sit with the adults," gloats Western Standard publisher Levant.

But don't expect cowboy boots and Bible Belt philosophies to suddenly dominate Ottawa's gray corridors. The Conservative win heralds the arrival on the national stage of sophisticated, western-incubated thinking on trade, energy and international affairs, expertise that until now has been largely invisible to eastern Canadians. Albertans believe "it's better to experiment than to plan your way to perfection," says Dinning, who is the front runner in the race to succeed Premier Ralph Klein. "The new Conservative government attitude is rooted in an Alberta attitude that if you need to get something done, you don't Royal Commission it--you just get on and do it."

Achieving power could generate a new sense of national responsibility. With the prime reason for western alienation gone, "western Canadians will have to reinvent themselves" as more active contributors to the national dialogue, says Roger Gibbins, head of the Canada West Foundation in Calgary. Gibbins, who points out that Alberta's C$9 billion-plus surplus is as large as the federal government's surplus, suggests that westerners will have to develop "thoughtful" ideas for sharing the revenues derived from their booming oil and gas reserves. "We are already working on new ideas, like a nationwide sustainable energy project," says Gibbins. Other west-based concepts that could get a national airing include the development of a new north-south transportation corridor, upgrading skill training for new immigrants and the elimination of barriers to interprovincial trade.

But Alberta does not represent the entire west. British Columbia pointedly elected five fewer Conservatives to Ottawa this month than it did in 2004, and its longstanding competition with Alberta may spell trouble for Harper's government. Even some Albertans wonder whether they may end up regretting their upturn in political fortune. Alberta commentator Ted Byfield fears that the province's fierce sense of self-reliance will be weakened under a Harper government that expects the province to subordinate its resources to the national interest and allows its wealth to "drain" away to other provinces with little in return--especially as it tries to reshape Confederation. Says Byfield: "We've had to contend with villainous easterners, but we may have to contend with a potentially villainous westerner now."

5. Border Thaw
Harper wasted no time last week in establishing his government's approach to Canada's most important trade partner and political ally--by sounding like a Liberal Party nationalist. He startled reporters at his first press conference by declaring he took exception to a remark made earlier in the week by U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, who questioned Canada's claim to sovereignty over Arctic waters. "It is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador from the United States," Harper snapped, noting his government has "significant plans" for asserting its Arctic rights.