The Harper era’s lasting changes

Harper also will be remembered for the tainted election of 2011 because of robo-calls, serial violations of the Canada Elections Act and a host of reckless acts ranging from falsely accusing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada of wrongdoing to proposing a snitch line against “barbarian” cultural practices.

That said, though, there are things that can be remembered as a legitimate Harper legacy. (None of this, of course, involves anything connected to his government’s law-and-order agenda. If there is any part of it that has not been thrown out because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that is because the courts or the government haven’t gotten around to it yet.)

Here are some legitimate accomplishments:

Better democracy. Yes, democracy. Harper may not have practised it much. But he did do some things to make democracy better, chief among them: banning corporate and union political donations. Given what goes on in the U.S. and some of the provinces, this policy now looks very prescient.

Another was the creation of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), even though Harper probably regretted it as soon as the first PBO, Kevin Page, opened his mouth. Page had a rough ride, just as the first auditor general did. But Page’s successor now enjoys a free hand to examine critically the government’s financial commitments, projections and promises, and to report to the taxpayers – just as the Office of the Auditor General won the right to operate independently more than a century ago.

And had Harper made the public prosecutor an officer of Parliament, like the PBO, instead of just another public servant reporting to political masters, maybe the whole ill-fated Duffy prosecution and all its political interference might have been avoided. And maybe Harper would still be prime minister.

Finally, Ottawa’s 5,000 lobbyists may not want to admit it, but their industry is better off today because of Harper’s crackdown with the tough rules of the Federal Accountability Act of 2006. Lobbying in the nation’s capital was like Dodge City in the old days, with lobbyists often more controversial than the politicians. We don’t read about lobbyists in the paper for the wrong reasons much anymore. The lobbying industry should be glad for that development. So should the voters.

The West is in now. Before Harper, “the West wants in” was a rallying cry we heard all too often. Western alienation was a serious problem, with voters west of Ontario increasingly fed up with prime ministers from Central Canada and their East-centric policies.

Harper’s reign ended that long-standing issue. His successor would be wise not to repeat the mistakes of the past, including his father’s.

Pot. History will record that Justin Trudeau legalized marijuana. But Harper’s government laid the groundwork by opening the medical marijuana market to private suppliers and allowing anyone with a prescription to buy pot.

Now, cannabis dispensaries are flourishing in the larger cities. Harper’s government also exempted pot from the Food and Drugs Act, clearing the way for marijuana’s sale without the need for clinical testing or the worry of medical liability. Regardless of when the Trudeau government tables legislation to legalize pot, it effectively is legal now.

Economy. With the help of former finance minister, the late Jim Flaherty, Harper did get Canada through the deep recession of 2008-09 reasonably intact. But Harper seemed content with mediocre growth after that. Canadians now are demanding something better for their economic futures.

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