2014 Honorary Doctorate Recipients

The Right Hon. Stephen Harper

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper was sworn in as Canada’s 22nd Prime Minister on February 6, 2006. An economist with a passion for political life, Prime Minister Harper was first elected to Canada’s House of Commons in the 1993 federal election. He left Parliament in 1997 to become Vice President (and later President) of the National Citizens Coalition, a prominent Canadian advocacy group for freedom and democracy. Prime Minister Harper returned to active politics in 2003. He became Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition and played a key role in reuniting Canada’s conservative parties, which had been fractured into factions for a decade. In March 2004, he became Leader of the new Conservative Party of Canada. Less than two years later, on January 23, 2006, he led the Conservative Party to victory in Canada’s 39th federal election. Since taking office, Prime Minister Harper’s Government has enacted the most stringent political accountability measures in Canadian history, reduced personal and business taxes to their lowest levels in 40 years, launched major reforms of the criminal justice system, and bolstered Canada’s international reputation as a dependable ally in the defence of freedom, democracy, and human rights. Stephen Harper was born on April 30, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario. He moved to Alberta in 1978 to work in the petroleum industry and went on to obtain both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Calgary. He and his wife, Laureen (née Teskey) Harper, have two children, Benjamin and Rachel. Prime Minister Harper is an honorary member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, a non-governmental organization named after the Swedish diplomat who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews during World War II. The foundation develops educational programs and public awareness campaigns based on the values of solidarity and civic courage, the ethical hallmarks of those who came to the aid of Jews during the Holocaust.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso