Former prime minister Stephen Harper will be out of electoral politics by the end of today.
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Harper issued a statement Friday morning 10 months after he lost the federal election and stepped down as Conservative party leader.
After months of rumours, Harper has chose to leave politics and launch an worldwide business development firm.
Those will include working on various corporate boards, as well as spooling up a consulting firm he incorporated late previous year with two of his longtime advisers Ray Novak and Jeremy Hunt.
“We gave everything we have to give, and we have no regrets whatsoever”, Harper said last October in his election-night concession speech to supporters.
More than anything, Prime Minister Harper loves his family, and we thank Laureen, Ben and Rachel for sharing him with us for over 20 years.
Harper has been residing in Calgary since last fall.
“Stephen’s brilliant leadership led to a renaissance of the conservative movement and Conservative Party in Canada”. We took principled decisions in a complex and risky world.
“For a total of almost eighteen years, I have had the tremendous honour of representing Calgary in the Parliament of Canada”.
“Our country must continue to serve as a model of prosperity and freedom”, he said.
“I took the opportunity to thank him for everything he has done – for the people of Calgary Heritage and Calgary Southwest before that, for proud conservatives everywhere and for all Canadians”.
“Greetings, fellow Calgarians and fellow Canadians”, his farewell on Facebook began.
Harper encouraged Canadians to pursue the principles the country has stood for in the past at home and overseas for the future children of the country. – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Twitter. And, whether at home or overseas, we were always proud to stand up for Canada.
Elliott, a partner at Portal Strategy, credits the way Harper’s handled himself in the House over the past ten months since losing the election and resigning as leader. On the domestic front, Ambrose said, he steered the country through the 2008 great recession.
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Harper was first elected as a Reform MP in 1993 and would go on to become the first leader of the modern day Conservative Party in 2003.
