Is the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper too powerful - Essay Example

Is the Prime Minister too powerful?  Trisha Ordona  Ryerson King  POG 210  number # 500575981       Is the Prime Minister too powerful?  Power constitutes the ability to hold immense influence over a place or the behaviour of people. Politics and power go hand in hand. Politicians, who campaign for political seats, in most countries head state affairs of their respective countries. In Canada, the prime minister is the head of government. The country, however, is a monarchy. The queen is the head of the country and the current queen is Elizabeth II. The queen has ruled since 1952. Stephen Harper is the current prime minister since the year 2006 (Delacourt, 2013, p. 53). Stephen Harper is the 22nd person to serve as a prime minister in Canada. Harper also leads the conservative party, which has formed the government (Whitney, 2008, p. 18). In Canada the party with the most seats in parliament forms the government. Stephen Harper is considered a powerful prime minister in Canada. This paper will argue that The prime minister, Stephen Harper, is too powerful because he has the majority members in parliament, has the power to appoint the senators, he is a party leader, and has full control over the media. To begin with, Harper’s party won most seats in parliament in the 2011 elections; they captured 166 seats in parliament (Gray, 2011, p.37). According to Delacourt (2013), members of parliament in Canada are always loyal to their party and stick to the party’s views and guidelines (54). Unlike other countries where parliamentarians chose a leader among themselves, party members in Canada chose their leader. This gives the leader absolute power and control in the party. In most countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, the party controls its leader. Parliamentary members in Canada are bound to vote according to Harper’s guidelines. Members who do not vote according to Harper’s guidelines lose the chance to serve in the party or cabinet. This kind of directives inhibits the principles of democracy and the general democratization of the country. Harper’s control over legislatures has made it easy for the government to pass bills in parliament. These Bills are passed in through force and coerce. Harper’s party has a majority of 166 members and they all vote for the bills, which favour Harper’s administration.  Parliament has given Stephen Harper the chance to flex his political strength by introducing draconian laws. Harper is known to have introduced a law that permits law enforcement officers to detain suspects for seventy hours without pressing charges (Creek, 2014, p.41). He also introduced a law that gives judges the power to force witnesses to testify during a trial (Creek, 2014, p.43). Miles (2014) states that these two laws faced opposition from parliamentarians in the years 2001 and 2007 (17); however, Stephen Harper intends to introduce them again because he enjoys massive support in parliament and is assured that they will pass through. Harper is unstoppable and does what he pleases because he enjoys support in parliament. He faces little or no opposition at all in parliament and senate because he has full control over the government. A massive support in parliament has contributed to Harper’s reign as a powerful prime minister.  Secondly, the Viceroy appoints senate members after consultations with the prime minister. The senate comprises of 105 members (Miles, 2014, p. 19); these members are allowed by the law to serve until they are seventy-five years old (Creek, 2014, p.41). The senate is also known as the upper house in Canada. This, however, does not make the senate more powerful than parliament (Gray, 2011, p. 37). Parliament is more powerful than the senate. The primary purpose of the senate is to pass legislation just like parliament does. Parliament, however, is more dominant than the senate because most of the bills originate from the senate. Harper influences the viceroy to appoint people of his own choice. This has given him an upper hand in the senate because the person he appoints seems to obey him to the latter. The appointed senators are loyal to their master, Harper, who appoints them. This has ensured that Harper and his administration do not face any obstacles when introducing bills to the floor of both houses.  In 2004, Harper was of the view that the senate is made up of people with close ties to the prime minister. This means that the senate is full of cronies who can be easily influenced into passing bills introduced by the government (Miles, 2014, p. 18). Harper’s appointments in senate reflect his statement. The senate is full of senators from Harper’s party, the conservative party. This has given Harper’s administration an advantage since he exercises full control over his senators. In a nutshell, Harpers control over the senate has made him too powerful as compared to other worldly leaders.  Thirdly,Harper is the political leader of the conservative party. The party is also known as the Tories (this is a colloquial name given to the party). Although the party was a minority party prior to 2006, it rose to prominence in 2006 when it formed a new government (Creek, 2014, p.44). The party captured the most seats in parliament after elections in 2011 and its current leader is Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, who is the first leader of the party (Miles, 2014, p. 16). The party is, thus, greatly associated with him. This has made it possible for him to influence tactics and policies in the party. In Canada, the party leader wields immense power unlike other countries such as the United Kingdom, where parties control their leaders (Gardner, 2012, p. 20). Elected parliamentarians select their party leader among themselves. In Canada however, members of the party choose their leader. This gives the leader immense power. The conservative party has known Harper as their leader ever since 2006 when he rose to prominence. He has, thus, been able to build an authoritarian figure in the party.   Harper has been able to use his place as the leader of the conservative party to influence parliamentarians allied to the party. Members of parliament allied to the party always support government bills that are introduced in parliament. This is because Harper yields control over them. Harper’s ability to control parliamentarians has also given him power to stamp his authority in the cabinet and in agencies owned by the government. Heads of agencies that disagree with his administration are easily ousted. Control of parliamentarians has made it impossible for accountability in Harper’s administration. Parliamentarians allied to the party seem to represent the government more than the people who elected them (Creek, 2014, p.42). The ability to control the governing party and its members has given Harper power.  Thirdly, the media is the eye of the society. It plays a great role in our society and whoever controls the media in large controls the society (Reilly, 2011, p. 503). The media is provides information to the public on matters relating to them. Harper knows the role of the media in governance. Initially there was just one person who acted as a link between the media and the government. Harper’s administration has, however, employed 1500 communication officers who work in offices and departments held by various ministries (Miles, 2014, p. 19). Reilly (2011) identifies that Harper’s office has 87 communication officers working for his office (505). According to Creek (2011), their main work is to prepare messages and information for the media on behalf of the government (42). This implies that the work of the communication officers is to manipulate information and create a positive image for the government in the media. This has made it easier for Harper to influence the media. The media always reports what the government wants. The communication officers also choose which reporters can cover an interview. They do not select reporters who do not support the government. Harper has also kept his parliamentarians and ministers away from the media. Interviews are stage-managed by ministers and Harper’s caucus. The stage managing creates a positive image in the public.  The zeal to control information being relied to the media has spread to all agencies within the government including the military. The military provides information to the media in accordance to guidance from Harper’s administration. Members of parliament allied to his party also shun the media. Harper has also barred journalists from asking too many questions. He controls the kind of information that flows from his office to the media and what the media says about his administration. Communication officials in his office also release information late to the media thus rendering it useless (Creek, 2011, p.44). Harper’s ability to control the media has given him much power, which has made him a “king”.  Overall, Harper, as Canada’s Prime Minister represents an important leadership role accompanied with many obligations. He is expected to perform as a symbolic, parliamentary and national leader (Mints et. al, 2014, p. 427). Harper is able to use his power in relation to the economy and the military. Since he began his reign as Prime Minister, Canada’s military spending has been at its highest due to a massive military spending of 21.8 billion Canadian dollars per year; this was ranked sixth highest in NATO (Smith, 2014). Consequently, Harper plays performs a key role in issues such as elimination of war and poverty in the across the world. Whether the outcome is positive or negative, Harpers role as the prime minister of Canada grants him the ability to control the interactions of resources in foreign countries, for instance, aiding countries such as Israel in the past, and present. This not only which presents the image of wealthy, authoritative force that dramatically affects not only his home country but those countries outside of Canada.   Ultimately, power is everything to most people. It is every politician’s dream to yield power over others. Harper rose to power in 2006 when his party formed the government (Daina, 2007, p.1). In the 2011 elections, he formed a government which enjoys support in parliament. He controls both houses using his party, the conservative party. He is in no doubt powerful and yields immense power more than any other prime minister before him. He enjoys massive support in parliament since his party has more members than any other party. He is allowed to appoint senators and he recently made appointments that increased the number of conservatives in the senate. This has made it easier for him to control the senate. Harper is also a party leader (Paul, 2006, p.18).  He is the leader of the conservative party which gives him power because he is able to control policies and tactics within the party. Parliamentarians allied to the party are bound to party policies. Harper’s ability to control the ability has also empowered him. He is able to decide what the media says about him (Fillmore, 2012, p. 20). Harper’s administration has the highest number of communication officials compared to any other administration before him. The communication officials control communication in the government. All in all, Harper is, thus, in no doubt one of the most powerful prime ministers in the world.  References  Creek, B. (2014). The Political Predator. The Economist, 53(12), 40-45.  Daina, L. (2007). Stephen Harper Canada’s conservative man of action. Financial Times, 118(30), 1.  Delacourt, S. (2013). How Will History remember Stephen Harper. The Star, 145(20), 53-54.  Fillmore, N. (2012). Is Stephen Harper displaying fascist like tendencies? Canadian dimension, 48(11), 20-22.  Gardner, D. (2012). A Prime Minister more powerful than any. Ottawa Citizen, 121(45), 20-21.  Gray, J. (2011). The Americas: Stephen Harper and that Elusive majority, Canada’s general election. The Economist, 399(8731), 37-38.  Mintz, Eric, Livianna Tossutti and Christopher Dunn, Democracy, Diversity and Good Government: An Introduction to Politics in Canada (Toronto: Pearson Canada, 2014)  Miles, J. (2014). Party of One Stephen Harper and Canada’s Radical Makeover. Global Research, 100(23), 18-20.  Paul, W. (2006). THE MIND OF STEPHEN HARPER. Business Daily, 119(44), 18-22.  Reilly, I. (2011). Amusing ourselves to Death? Social Media, Political Satire and the 2011 Election. Toronto News, 36(3), 503-511.  Whitney, M. (2008). Harper’s Coup, Power grab in Ottawa. Global Research, 6(12), 18-22.  Read More