Stephen Harper celebrated his eighth anniversary as prime minister Thursday but celebrate is probably the wrong word. There was no public acknowledgment of the milestone because that wouldn't be Harper's style.
That's one of the areas where the job clearly hasn't altered the man. Harper somehow became the most powerful politician in the country, even though he's a dull public speaker, a policy wonk, an unashamed intellectual snob and a fella who would give a tree stump a real run for its money in a personality contest.
He has turned his boring character into a strength, however, saying Canada doesn't need populists in love with their own words and charisma but someone calm and cool at the helm to manage the economy and focus on jobs.
Yet there's no doubt living at 24 Sussex Drive and working in the Langevin block across Wellington Street from Parliament Hill has changed Harper.
Both his political supporters and enemies have to acknowledge Harper's evolution as a leader, as a politician and as a manager.
He's made moves as prime minister that have not only caught his opponents off-guard but have shocked supporters and people who thought they knew him well. When faced with an NDP-Liberal coalition takeover of his minority government, Harper went to the Governor-General to shut down Parliament. If anyone else had pulled that stunt, Harper would have furiously called it an abuse of power and an assault on democracy.
Yet Harper did it to preserve democracy and the will of the electorate who granted the most seats in Parliament to his party, not to the Liberals and the NDP. He did it to prevent a constitutional crisis that would have paralyzed the country. He did it to calm already jittery economic markets.
And, let's not kid ourselves, he did it to preserve his hold on power and save his own bacon.
Some might call that a flip flop but others would call it situational leadership. It's easy to be principled in opposition but power brings with it competing interests and having to make difficult decisions where there's no right way, only the choice of finding the least worst solution.
Harper's evolution during his time as prime minister hasn't just been into a more savvy political player who knows when and how to exploit the mistakes of his adversaries. Sophisticated politicians, particularly the ones in power, recognize when their opponents have good ideas and then take these concepts for themselves. He issued a formal and heartfelt apology to the members of Canada's aboriginal community who were subjected to the horrors of residential schools. His core supporters were even more confused when it turned out that it was Jack Layton's suggestion.
It may have bewildered members of his party but for Harper, the apology was an olive branch to First Nations after the Conservatives refused to pass the Kelowna Accord and it showed the voting public that a Conservative government wasn't a group of right-wing lunatics who planned to outlaw abortion, legalize guns and bring back the death penalty.
Still with Layton, the death of the NDP leader allowed Harper to show his grace and his decency. The prime minister ordered a state funeral for Layton, the first time in Canadian history such an honour had been bestowed on the Leader of the Opposition. Harper despised Layton's politics but he clearly held the man in high regard for his devotion to his principles and his love for Canada.
It's too soon to see how Harper has grown from the Senate expense scandal but, if recent history is an indicator, he most certainly has learned a few hard lessons from the political mess. Those lessons probably involve empowering your staff but making sure they don't abuse that power and being more careful about choosing political allies. The enemy of your enemy doesn't always make a trustworthy and reliable friend.
What's clear is that Harper hasn't become complacent in any way as prime minister. He still has a long list of goals and he still feels he has something to prove, both to his supporters and to the country. That makes him a dangerous opponent for Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair in next year's federal election.
