Implementing the Reform Party agenda: the roots of Stephen Harper’s foreign policy

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role of the Reform Party in the foreign policy of the Stephen Harper government. Through a comprehensive analysis of various Reform Party documents, called “Blue Books,” from the 1980s and 1990s, this paper assesses the degree to which the Harper government implemented these policy proposals in its foreign policy (foreign affairs, international trade, defense, foreign aid and immigration). It shows that, to a surprising degree, many of these Reform Party foreign policy proposals were implemented. An evaluation of the 10-year record of the Harper government shows that of the 31 priorities identified in the Blue Books, 15 were achieved, three were attempted, 11 were avoided, and two were not applicable.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article examine le rôle du Parti réformiste dans la politique étrangère du gouvernement de Stephen Harper. À travers une analyse complète de divers documents du Parti réformiste, datant des années 80 et 90, et appelés « Livres Bleus », il évalue jusqu'à quel point le gouvernement Harper a intégré ces propositions dans sa politique étrangère (affaires étrangères, commerce international, défense, aide extérieure et immigration). Il démontre qu'à un point étonnant, beaucoup de ces propositions de politique étrangère du Parti réformiste ont été adoptées et mises en œuvre. Une évaluation des dix années du gouvernement Harper montre que sur les 31 priorités identifiées par les Livres Bleus, 15 ont été concrétisées, trois ont été tentées, 11 ont été évitées et deux étaient inapplicables.

KEYWORDS:

• Canadian Foreign Policy
• Reform Party
• Stephen Harper

Acknowledgements

Previous versions of this paper were presented at the conferences of the Canadian Political Science Association (Calgary, 31 May–2 June 2016) and the Prairie Political Science Association (Banff, 9–11 September 2016). I would like to especially thank Chris Kukucha and David McGrane for their comments. I would also like to thank Chris and Bob Murray for helping to code the recommendations. Finally, the anonymous referees provided several suggestions that strengthened this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Here is the list of documents: Reform Party of Canada, Platform and Statement of Principles of the Reform Party of Canada (1988); Reform Party of Canada, Principles and Policies (1990); Reform Party of Canada, Principles and Policies (1991), Reform Party of Canada, Principles, Policies & Election Platform (1993); Reform Party of Canada, Principles and Policies: The Blue Book 1995 (1995); Reform Party of Canada, 1996–97 Principles and Policies of the Reform Party of Canada (1996–97); Reform Party of Canada, Principles and Policies of the Reform Party of Canada – 1999 – as authorized by Reform Party members: Assembly ’98 (1999). All of these documents can be accessed at http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/reform&CISOPTR=2156&REC=7

2. Important secondary sources that have evaluated the Harper government’s foreign policy include International Journal and the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal as well as the following books: Smith and Sjolander (2013), Bratt and Kukucha (2015), Nossal, Roussel, and Paquin (2015), and Chapnick and Kukucha (2016).