BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW

Breaking the Ottawa consensus

Paul Wells, The Longer I’m Prime Minister: and Canada, 2006- (Random House Canada, 2013).

Review by David Emerson

aul Wells has written a fascinating, feat in the House of Commons while as it battled the constant fear, stoked must-read book that details how slowly gaining the trust and support of a by some of its own members as well as PStephen Harper has managed to growing plurality of Canadians, particu- its enemies, of a “hidden agenda” of hold power through minority govern- larly those whose values were innately conservative extremism. Wells shows ments and consolidate it with his current conservative but who had not tradition- us how Harper’s refusal to be knocked majority. With detailed accounts from his ally voted Conservative. This paved the off stride on his message and strategy trove of sources, Wells describes a period way for the Conservatives’ eventual ma- reflects a powerful political logic, one of politics in a style that is at times hil- jority, on which the jury is still out. that eluded those rival leaders from arious, often biting and always informa- Refreshingly, Wells avoids the knee- other parties who could never figure tive. I was a political neophyte in the eye jerk criticism of Conservative informa- out why they couldn’t beat him. of the storm for part of this period, from tion control so popular among Ottawa The book continuously reinforces Photo: cp photo 2004 when Harper was in opposition to insiders. Instead, he helps us understand the dichotomy between the philosophic- becoming a member of his government — as Harper does — the critical import- al and intellectual incest of the “Ottawa It’s a smug embrace of government as the tism, particularly the traditional west- were for loyalty, partisanship and com- through 2008. And yet Wells has given ance of message control in developing bubble” and the issues, ideas, preoccupa- central nervous system of the country, ern conservatism and alienation that petence, not friendship. He was what I me a new and richer understanding of and solidifying a political brand. For the tions and values that resonate with Can- and it’s one that Harper equated with the animate Harper. would call an “executive party leader,” the political machinations of the past politically uninitiated, one of the great adians where they live. Harper paid atten- Liberal Party’s DNA. having more in common with a corpor- decade in Canada with this book. frustrations of public life is the necessity tion. Refusing to “go along to get along” Wells does an important service in his is not a flattering, sycophantic ate CEO and certainly not a hail-fellow- The Longer I’m Prime Minister does to park your brain while in public, and became a signature Harper approach to teasing out of relative obscurity some Tportrait of any of the party leaders of well-met, backslapping politician. I a superb job of developing a portrait of repeat a few simple messages over and UN initiatives, such as the Kyoto Proto- of the writings and history behind the the Harper era. Wells draws out Harper’s do think he can be very personable in Harper as a brilliant, often aloof, but over until you’re sick of hearing yourself. col, that lacked commonsense appeal for western Reform/Alliance movement. strengths but also his weaknesses and private, but it never coloured his judg- highly disciplined political tactician. But Wells portrays Harper as a politician grassroots Canadians. Having grown up in northern , idiosyncrasies. The Harper that emerges ment on decisions to be made — and it Through two minority Parliaments, the with the consistency and discipline to This blunt, straight-talking ap- I recall well the deep sense of western in the book is a loner, prone to explo- was best to remember that. Prime Minister was a master at focused, stay on message. proach to international relations would distrust and resentment toward east- sions of temper but always inscrutable, Harper clearly emerges as Canada’s incremental initiatives that avoided de- Some of this springs from Harper’s be sneered at by the Ottawa cognoscenti ern corporations, politicians and power even to those who work most closely political master of the past decade. But bedrock distrust of the media. But strict but it resonated with many Canadians, elites in the media and professions. with him. He does not come across as a Wells is equivocal on the Conservatives’ event message control over “freelan- especially the Conservative base. By com- Wells captures this visceral dimension man with a lot of friends. performance to date and doesn’t pull David Emerson is a former minister in the cing” commentary by their own can- parison, the Ottawa bubble is portrayed beautifully. He also cites the writings In my experience, I never saw the punches in assessing the government’s Government of Canada, public servant didates and party luminaries helped as an elite network of politicians and their of Peter Brimelow (The Patriot Game), temper, but I saw plenty of long-time policy program as getting a little tired and business leader. He continues to be the Conservatives avoid pitfalls as they cadre of handlers and advisers, lawyers, Russell Kirk (editor of the American acquaintances who thought friendship (though the Comprehensive Economic involved in public policy and serves as a built their brand into one Canadians public servants, academics, people in the magazine National Review) and Irving would benefit them with cabinet posts Trade Agreement is a signal event since director on several corporate and not-for- could trust to be competent. This was media and others whose values and way Kristol as providing a more analytical and preferred positions. As near as I the book was written). While underscor- profit boards. a challenge in the early Harper years of thinking permeate the Capital Region. paradigm for understanding conserva- could tell, it never did. Harper’s rewards ing the Prime Minister’s personal role in

62 OPTIONS POLITIQUES POLICY OPTIONS 63 NOVEMBRE-DÉCEMBRE 2013 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013 book review BOOK REVIEW als watched, lacking the resources — or the on-the-ground intelligence — to ef- fectively counterattack. That’s not marketing Harper’s success has led all party o good book on politics is com- leaders to position themselves as Nplete without a little gossip about backstage nastiness on a personal level. friends of the middle class. Wells does not disappoint. From the Susan Delacourt, Shopping for Votes: fallout between Harper and Tom Fla- nagan after publication of Flanagan’s How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them book Harper’s Team to a variety of (Douglas and McIntyre, 2013). quotes about Dion and Ignatieff from Conservative successes, Wells also argues al of the direct taxpayer subsidy to pol- frustrated Liberal insiders, The Longer Review by Jaime Watt and Will Stewart that the bad patches have frequently itical parties based on House of Com- I’m Prime Minister delivers the inside been, and continue to be, of his own mons representation was a final nail stuff on politics that are, as I can attest, making. While this may be true, I felt the in the coffin of old-time, deep-pocket all too real and familiar. depth and experience of the Prime Min- fundraising. But the book’s value is in its por- ister’s political staff was variable. There Meanwhile the Reform, Alliance and trayal of Harper that gets beyond the were times it felt like some decisions were Conservative machines were built on caricatures. Wells sees the Prime Minister the product of too much like-minded a party bedrock of small contributions as a shrewd tactician with unusual skill, partisanship, with insufficient challenge from individual supporters. Monitoring discipline and focus on winning, a sur- from other, more balanced voices. Harper this support, virtually in real time, be- vivor against long odds. He is credited does stick to his positions through thick came a valuable way of gauging the pol- with shifting the framework of political and thin, so getting the initial decision itical mood of the party base. The Con- discussion from an elitist one in which right is critical. servative machine is adept at identifying, the Liberals were seen as the natural gov- But the book is also an excellent measuring and probing its potential sup- erning party, almost synonymous with play-by-play chronicle of the last sev- port base. The work of people like Patrick Canada and the flag, to one that focus- re you a Tim Hortons Canadian than a vision of consumers to be ma- Party from the mid-’60s to mid-’80s, en years in Canadian politics, from the Muttart, the PM’s go-to person on pol- es on middle-class Canadians and the or a Starbucks drinker? Do you nipulated. to the emergence of the Conserva- inside of election campaigns to the per- itical pulse taking and positioning, was issues that touch them where they live. Asee yourself as a voter, a con- It is a terrific look behind the tive Big Blue Machine in that petual political warfare now waged in be- deep and granular. Imitation is flattery. Today, all oppos- sumer or a taxpayer? Where do you curtain at how political parties now found its own marketing gurus in Dal- tween. Wells takes us into town hall meet- The knowledge base helped the Con- ition leaders are positioning themselves land in the Phineas T. Barnum versus operate and sell themselves. Dela- ton Camp and Norman Atkins. Every ings and events where a few moments of servatives identify their potential appeal as friends of the middle class, working John Powers debate? Does your lifestyle court is not merely focused on how technological advance or new theory passion by party leaders would have the to ethnic communities, seeing opportun- Canadians, busily reshaping their party make you a “Zoe” or a “Dougie”? present-day politics employ the tools on how to get inside voters’ heads crowds on their feet. Then he shows how ities in shared family, social and econom- political machinery to win them over. This is the grammar of modern of marketing. She tells us how we got has precipitated a generational strug- fervour in a crowded, partisan room can ic values. It was then that Wells does not project whether marketing and advertising, and Su- here, taking us through the evolution gle within the parties themselves, look strange and disconnected from real- became the hyperactive politician, bond- Harper can win again. Readers look- san Delacourt tells us that the master- of how marketing has found its way pitting an old guard distrustful of ity to large swaths of Canadians viewing ing with these communities on behalf of ing for a bead on likely outcomes in minds of Canadian political parties to the very heart of Canadian politics. new techniques against the younger it through clips on the evening news. the Conservatives. Kenney was tireless the next election will get only a good care more about which category to Shopping for Votes fittingly starts in evangelists of new possibilities (well and he was everywhere, making Can- understanding of potential fault lines slot us into than about how we see the years following the Second World chronicled in Delacourt’s portrait of ells also leaves us with some adians of Chinese, Indian, Filipino and and not much more. But Wells has the issues of the day. Or apparently War: Delacourt cites Mackenzie King Allan Gregg’s disruption of the fed- Wtakeaways about the shifting Jewish origin a significant part of the given us an early indication of how we that’s how the most successful parties as being the first to micro-target votes eral Conservatives’ operation). And landscape of Canadian politics. Conservatives’ political base. may remember the Harper years. By operate. In Shopping for Votes: How Pol- with the introduction of the baby it leads eventually to the two young For one thing, we are seeing the re- As Wells notes, this modernization refusing to bow to the conventional iticians Choose Us and We Choose Them, bonus system. stars of the current Conservative gov- sults of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s of the Conservative organization has Ottawa consensus, this prime minister Delacourt draws from her years of daily She then maps the rise in the ernment, Stephen Harper and Jason move to limit political contributions changed the way Canadian politics is has brought a degree of harmony to the reporting on Canada’s politicians and consumer culture against the track Kenney, who she says have married and Harper’s further restricting of tax- done, making it faster, more micro in its federation. Today, western Canadians their advisers to argue that consumer records of successful political parties, a sophisticated — and to Delacourt payer support, which has tilted the field outlook and too easily distracted by the are less angry and frustrated than has marketing has infiltrated our politics, from the role of Toronto ad men like an overly cynical — understanding of strongly in the Conservatives’ favour. need for constant political messaging. been the case through much of our his- turning democracy’s once-lofty regard Martin Goldfarb and Keith Davey in political marketing to the raw power The traditional Liberal fundraising base But the superiority and sophistication of tory. They feel more a part of the gov- for the electorate into nothing more the dominance of the federal Liberal of Reform’s western populism. was heavily corporate, while the NDP the Conservative fundraising machine ernance of Canada in both the public relied more heavily on union support. was a key enabler for party operatives and private sectors. While east and west elacourt sees a link between de- Both were weakened by these elector- busily crafting their devilishly effective will always display shades of difference, Dclining voter engagement and al funding reforms that sharply limited media buys. The ads would effectively those are less stark today than at any this rise in the marketing world’s the eligible contributions of unions, destroy the brands of both Stéphane time I can recall. Paul Wells has gone a Jaime Watt is the executive chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a principal at Ensight penetration of politics. Her thesis sets companies and individuals. The remov- Dion and Michael Ignatieff as the Liber- way to helping us understand why. n Canada. Will Stewart is a principal of both Navigator Ltd. and Ensight Canada. up a chicken-and-egg debate for the

64 OPTIONS POLITIQUES POLICY OPTIONS 65 NOVEMBRE-DÉCEMBRE 2013 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013