Former PM Who Normalized Regional Grievance Now Concerned About Regional Grievance
Former prime minister Stephen Harper returned to Parliament Hill Tuesday to urge national unity, delivering the message beneath a freshly unveiled portrait from an era many Canadians now associate with the early construction phases of the country’s current divisions.
Speaking at the ceremony, Harper warned that Canada faces two existential threats: an increasingly imperial-minded president to the south and renewed separatist rumblings in Alberta and Quebec. While urging Liberals and Conservatives to put aside partisan differences, Harper framed unity as a moral obligation, a striking appeal from a leader whose political success once depended on sharpening regional grievances into reliable electoral tools.
Prime Minister Mark Carney praised Harper’s attentiveness to regional cleavages, noting that separatist sentiment was comparatively muted during his tenure, a period that also saw western alienation carefully nurtured, categorized, and stored for future use.
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien was less subtle, warning that Donald Trump “would like to take it over,” but added that Canada remains protected by the Clarity Act and a sudden, Trump-induced surge in Canadian patriotism.
The event ultimately doubled as both a call for unity and a reminder that today’s fractures did not materialize spontaneously – they were built patiently, election by election, and are now being politely asked to disappear.
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