num_pages: 413
description: WINNER 2014  Ottawa Book Award for Non-FictionThe definitive portrait of Stephen Harper in power by this countrys most trenchant influential and surprising political commentator. Oh he won but he wont last. Oh he may win again but he wont get a majority. Oh his trick bag is emptying fast the ads are backfiring the people are onto him and soon his own party will turn on him. And let me tell you it couldnt happen to a nicer guy . . .Despite a constant barrage of outrage and disbelief from his detractors Stephen Harper is on his way to becoming one of Canadas most significant prime ministers. He has already been in power longer than Lester B. Pearson and John Diefenbaker. By 2015 and the end of this majority term hell have caught up to Brian Mulroney. No matter the ups and downs the triumphs and the self-inflicted wounds Harper has been moving to build the Canada he wantsthe Canada a significant proportion of Canadian voters want or they wouldnt have elected him three times. As Wells writes He could not win elections without widespread support in the land. . . . Which suggests that Harper has what every successful federal leader has needed to survive over a long stretch of a superior understanding of Canada.In The Longer Im Prime Minister  Paul Wells explores just what Harpers understanding of Canada is and who he speaks for in the national conversation. He explains Harper not only to Harper supporters but also to readers who cant believe he is still Canadas prime minister. In this authoritative engaging and sometimes deeply critical account of the man Paul Wells also brings us an illuminating portrait of Canadian glorious a little dented and free.
language: English
title: The Longer I'm Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006-
publisher: Random House Canada