Harper: Realist or Idealist?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has decided that the G8 focus this year should be to help pregnant women and their children in under-developed countries. Although this seems like an ideal being pushed by an idealist, Harper is actually a realist. Hobbes describes that humans are in a constant state of war, in which an authority is needed to keep order. For this authority to be respected and followed by the people however, they must have absolute power that cannot be overthrown. Harper is presently heading a minority government, which is not the best situation as he wants to maintain his title as Prime Minister. He is using his seemingly selfless and generous act of compassion to gain support and win votes in the next election. He is also using this to make up for Canada’s position on climate change that had been recently scoffed at by most of the world at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. Because of the prorogation of parliament, his poll numbers dropped substantially. The conservatives had so much support prior to that decision, that if an election had been called, they may have won a majority. After the prorogation, liberals and conservatives were considered tied. Harper wishes to draw attention away from the decisions he has made that do not make him favorable so that he can maintain power. Since Canada is hosting the G8 summit, Harper had to throw something on the table that other countries could embrace, and that Canadians would be proud of. Also, as he approaches a time when an election will soon likely be called, he is conscious of his image. This is not a strong point in his electability, as he is often seen as “stiff”, “mechanical”, and “rather uncaring”. The topic of pregnant women and children in under-developed countries helps to change that image. He also chose a topic that the opposition leaders would have problems to flat out disagree with. Ignatieff can only argue the fringe of the topic, ie: the contraception and abortion angle, which makes him unpopular with half the electorate. Harper chose this specific topic to help boost his popularity and in turn his power because he is a realist. He realizes that there have recently been many things that have made him lose some support and is using this as a way to gain it back and distract from it. He is trying to avoid Hobbes’s constant state of war by gaining support, and more power, that could help him eventually win his majority government, the closest thing to absolute power and unquestionably authority that can exist in a democracy like Canada’s.