Gerry Nicholls worked with PM Harper for years. He knows him better than McDonald ever will.
Harper did not have much affinity for social conservatives. He viewed them as “culturally isolated” and a dwindling political force in Canada. That’s why he also believed a conservative political party would be successful only if it talked less about social and moral issues and more about economic and fiscal issues. In other words, he was a libertarian. (…)
Indeed, many social conservatives I have talked to have expressed frustration at Harper’s failure to promote their agenda. (…)
Such unrest could have potentially caused the Prime Minister some trouble. And that’s why he should thank McDonald for her book. With her over-the-top hyperbole, she has cast Harper as a social conservative hero, a champion who will recast Canada as some sort of social conservative utopia.This will only serve to drive social conservatives into Harper’s camp. And he won’t even have to lift a finger.
