A Psycho-Political Analysis of Stephen Harper's Delusions of Grandeur
[Harper] scored a fantastic coup when Mr. Teneycke became head, courtesy of Mr. Péladeau, of Sun Media’s political coverage. It’s not every day that a prime minister sees his one-time spokesperson taking control of a giant media chain’s coverage of his government. What, one wonders, will our journalism schools be telling their students about that?
Probably something to do with rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
I have a theory. I don’t think Harper is running to be prime minister anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’d be just ecstatic if he won again, but I honestly believe Harper has transformed himself in his own eyes. Perhaps buoyed by his teflon polling numbers that very rarely slip below the Liberal’s, or maybe driven by pure boredom with his current position (having to deal with democracy and whatnot) Stephen Harper seems much more intent on radically altering the country than he does in governing it.
This has become strikingly apparent in the past few weeks. I don’t buy that Harper didn’t see any backlash from axing the census, I think he just didn’t care.
Harper is an ideologue. He was the one intent on destroying the Progressive Conservatives because they didn’t believe in his lunacy. His gamble paid off, for sure, but I think he’s become fed up with concessions and diplomacy in recent months. Harper is not a team player, as has become glaringly obvious from his obsessive-compulsive top-down style.
It seems to me that the PM wants to become a Napoleon of Canada. His grip on power is reinforced by his abuse of that power. He seeks to redefine what it means to be Canadian. He wants to set out his own Haperific code.
This code is marked by a distaste and distrust for a perceived threat posed by public services, by a hated for anti-corporate forces and a general disinterest in having any sort of powerful federal government. It is perhaps in that last plank that his own suicide mission takes root. I’m sure the irony hasn’t been lost on his that he is the most fiercely anti-establishment prime minister Canada has had in decades.
Kamikaze Harper wants a legacy. He wants to scrap as many programs as he can. He wants to establish his own radio station, using the PMO as his launching point. He wants to stack government with his allies. Basically, Harper wants to create a neo-Conservative parliament hill that will fight tooth and nail against anyone with a moderate or left-wing agenda.
Harper won’t need a portrait or a statue inside the House of Commons; the building itself will be the testament to his legacy.
