20 years after he took office, it's clear that Harper built the Conservative Party of Canada to last

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Before Stephen Harper, Canada’s democracy was very similar to a one-party state. There may have been other parties on the federal election ballot, but it was the Liberals who usually amassed the most votes. 

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Two decades after first becoming prime minister on Feb. 6, 2006, Harper’s legacy is very much alive and kicking in the shape of a modern and powerful political force: the Conservative Party of Canada. 

But in the early years of the 21st century the thought that Harper might become Canada’s 22nd prime minister, let alone unite the right into a new and dynamic conservative movement, seemed the height of improbability. 

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Conservatives across the country were fractured and hostile and the Liberals were still seen as the natural governing party of Canada despite being beset by scandals. 

However, in a few short years, Harper, through vision, practicality and pragmatism, turned a shattered, discordant political movement into a party that challenged Liberal hegemony, espoused conservative values and gave Canadians a new democratic voice. 

“It was an extraordinary political achievement by Stephen Harper,” said James Moore, who served as industry minister in Harper’s cabinet, in an interview with National Post. 

Peter MacKay, who headed justice, national defence and foreign affairs under Harper, told National Post in a video interview last week, that Harper ensured the return of a united conservative movement after almost “14 years in the wilderness.” 

In the 20th century, the Liberals dominated the Canadian political landscape, spending 68 years in power, a stunning achievement for any party in a democracy. 

A major interregnum was Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives who gained power in a landslide in 1984. But when Mulroney resigned almost nine years later, the conservative movement was in disarray and the 1993 federal election saw the party plunge from 153 seats to just two. 

But 1993 was quite the banner year for Harper. As the candidate for Calgary West, he was elected to Parliament as a member of Reform, a party based on conservative ideology and driven by western discontent, that he helped found. He also married his wife, Laureen, the same year. 

Four years later, he decided not to run again and went on to become the president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative public advocacy group. 

Meanwhile, the hapless conservative movement, if not exactly moribund, was looking decidedly sick and tired. Reform may have become the official opposition, but was seen as a western party that couldn’t secure support from the rest of the country. 

In 2000, Reform changed its name, but not its fortunes, when it became the Canadian Alliance. 

And then came the debacle of 2001, when the Alliance, under the troubled leadership of Stockwell Day, tore itself apart. Day resigned and then un-resigned in the face of........

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