Canada’s former Tory PM Stephen Harper quits politics after 18 years in public service
The awkward career-politician will go into consulting for industries such as tech, finance, energy and infrastructure
Canada’s former prime minister Stephen Harper announced on Friday he was quitting politics, 10 months after voters tossed his Tories out of office in a general election.
The awkward career-politician, who was more at home ploughing through economic theory than glad-handing voters on the campaign trail, said in a statement that he was stepping down as a member of parliament after nearly 18 years of public service.
Summarising the previous Tory government’s accomplishments over nearly 10 years with him at the helm, Harper pointed to tax cuts, stiffer criminal sentences, and steering the economy “through the worst global recession since the Great Depression” in 2008.
Of the Group of Seven industrialised nations, he noted, Canada “came out in the strongest position of them all”.
Harper’s spokeswoman Anna Tomala said the former prime minister has formed a consulting group to provide advice to international clients.