The Man Behind Stephen Harper

The new Conservative Party has tasted success and wants majority rule. If Tom Flanagan and his Calgary School have their way, they’ll get it without compromising their principles

Courtesy of Barry CooperCourtesy of Barry CooperMembers of the Calgary School (some of whom are pictured here) are bound as much by their macho derring-do as by their deeply held political conservatism

In fact, Cooper didn’t come to U of C until 1981 — the last of the group to arrive — after ten years teaching at York University, where Jack Layton was one of his students. His friends from those days can’t recall him showing any interest in politics until he moved west. “Barry’s ideas were shaped by Alberta,” says Edward Andrew, a political-science professor at the University of Toronto, who dismisses his old pal as “a poseur. Partly he just likes to be a bad boy,” Andrew says. “The only influence on Cooper was that he didn’t get a job at U of T, despite my best efforts, so he became a Western chauvinist.”

Andrew is not so indulgent about Flanagan, whose flinty reserve and dry wit often earn him the label “chilly.” Unlike Cooper or Bercuson, Flanagan appears never to have strayed from a conservative path. As he likes to point out to startled Canadians, that path began in Ottawa — Ottawa, Illinois, a blue-collar town 130 kilometres southwest of Chicago. What he seldom mentions is Ottawa’s chief claim to fame: on August 21, 1858, ten thousand people gathered in the town square to hear the state’s young senatorial candidate, Abraham Lincoln, square off against his rival Stephen Douglas in the first of their legendary debates on slavery.

Flanagan shrugs off the Lincoln-Douglas debates as meaningless in shaping his political world view — just a plaque in the park. Shirley Hiland, a fellow student at Marquette High, is not surprised. Hiland recalls that the nuns on the Roman Catholic school’s teaching staff avoided such potentially charged chapters of history. Instead, they focused on the heroic feats of the French missionary who gave the school its name: Father Jacques Marquette who teamed up with the voyageur Louis Jolliet to become the first Europeans to discover and trace the Mississippi. “The emphasis was on Father Marquette,” Hiland says, “and how he brought Catholicism to the Indians.”

In a town where almost everybody worked for Libby Owens Ford, Flanagan’s father had a white- collar job, man¬aging the outlet of an auto-parts chain, that put the family a notch up the local social ladder. The defining influences on the household were the Roman Catholic Church and the Republican Party, two forces that did not always mix. Most U.S. Catholics then voted Democrat, but the only time Flanagan’s father made that radical gesture was in 1960 when a fellow Irish Catholic named John Kennedy ran for president.

Popular and known for taking on any teacher he thought had made a mistake, Flanagan graduated from Marquette in 1961 as class valedictorian, winning a $500 scholarship from the Retail Clerks of America — more than half his college tuition — a reward for his after-school labours at the town A & P. His father wanted him to go to Harvard, but he opted for the Catholic bastion of Indiana’s Notre Dame, where political science meant Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas.

On every side, the social glue of America was coming unstuck: Kennedy was assassinated, Martin Luther King marched on Washington, and protests against the Vietnam War were breaking out like wildfires. But at Notre Dame, Flanagan found a haven of tradition and certainty. There he met his first wife and was captivated by another figure who would shape his career: Eric Voegelin, a German-born philosopher who had fled Hitler and blamed a flawed utopian interpretation of Christianity for spawning totalitarian movements like Nazism and Communism. In Voegelin’s complex Weltanschauung, Flanagan found a philosophical framework that reconciled his Roman Catholic faith with his family’s conservative politics. He confided later that he felt he’d been drifting leftward. Suddenly, Voegelin pulled him back from that perilous course.

Flanagan went on to pursue his PhD at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where John Hallowell, one of Voegelin’s disciples, presided over the political science department. Among his fellow grad students was an ebullient Canadian with whom he found himself sharing real estate at the campus library. “I show up in the carrel I’ve been assigned,” Cooper recalls, “and Flanagan’s in it.”

They worked out shifts — Flanagan, by then married, got the cubicle by day, Cooper at night — laying the foundations for a forty-year friendship. In 1996, at the height of Flanagan’s notoriety for Riel-bashing, Cooper thumbed his nose at his pal’s critics by nominating him to the Royal Society of Canada. “I don’t think I disagree with Tom on anything,” Cooper says. “Political or intellectual.”

In Durham, a North Carolina radio host named Jesse Helms was constantly denouncing desegration on air, cloaking his rage in the mantra of federal decentralization: states rights. But classmates can’t recall Flanagan or his Duke pals ever debating lunch-counter sit-ins or other Sixties’ hot-button issues when they met for barbecue and hush puppies on Friday nights. “I don’t remember any discussion of the civil-rights movement or the draft,” says Elliot Tepper, a Carleton professor who was Cooper’s roommate. “We were not into sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. We were into witty exchanges of bons mots.

The closest brush Flanagan had with the hurly burly of live politics was the friendship he struck up with one of Cooper’s professors, Allan Kornberg, Duke’s expert on decoding the statistical mysteries behind voting patterns — a science then still in its infancy. A native of Manitoba, Kornberg was celebrated on campus for financing his academic career not only as a lineman for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but as a professional wrestler, the “Kosher Krusher.” He was a key influence on Duke’s Canadian studies program, and since 1964 has charted the political winds in Canada, including those that swept through the last election. Now, at 73, the self-confessed “registered Republican” applauds Flanagan and Cooper’s increasing clout. “Given the left-of-centre intellectual climate in Canada,” he says, “I’m delighted. It’s good for debate.”

Kornberg has been periodically seconded to ply his expertise on Canada for the U.S. government, probing the risk of a destabilizing crack-up on America’s northern flank. Before the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty, he was on loan to Washington’s National Science Foundation, constantly measuring Lucien Bouchard’s péquiste troop strength. Later, he took the pulse of Reform Party voters. Beneath the yawn-inducing titles of his studies — A Polity on the Edge: Canada and the Politics of Fragmentation — his work has surveyed the national psyche through every tremor that might send U.S. bureaucrats scrambling for a foreign-policy Plan B. Those governmental gigs are listed on Kornberg’s curriculum vitae, along with consulting stints to the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon. But in a phone interview, he adds one detail: during the Vietnam War he was “a consultant on psychological operations and counter-insurgency” — a rare intelligence assignment for a political numbers cruncher.

In 1967, Flanagan’s burgeoning friendship with Kornberg spawned his first scholarly paper: a joint study of the ultra-conservative voters who backed Barry Goldwater’s abortive 1964 bid for the White House. Even then, Kornberg regarded Flanagan as one of Duke’s most conservative students. “He believes many people want a risk-free society,” Kornberg says. “He is sort of like Goldwater: he believes people have to take care of themselves.”

What brought Flanagan to Alberta where that bootstrap ideology would find such fertile ground? He says only that he needed a job: he and his wife had already started a family (last year his oldest daughter, Melissa, retired from a twelve-year communications career with the U.S. Army). At the time, new Canadian universities were hatching across the country, prompting a hiring spree that outstripped the national crop of PhDs. But Flanagan didn’t apply for the post. In the spring of 1968, when he was offered an assistant professorship — just as Pierre Trudeau came to power — he was researching his thesis on an obscure German novelist in the turbulent com¬pound of the Free University of West Berlin, a U.S.- funded institution briefly shuttered by anti-American protests. When the offer arrived in the mail, Flanagan had to go to the library to look up Calgary on a map.

The invitation came from E. Burke Inlow, another American, and the first head of U of C’s political-science department. An expert on Iran and the Far East who died last year, Inlow himself had been recruited directly from an assignment with the Pentagon. There, according to his son, Brand, a Calgary lawyer, he was engaged in “cultural work — providing intelligence to people we (the U.S. government) were sending to the Middle East.”

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11 comment(s)

AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 14:48 EST

What puts my nose out of joint is the idea that one group of white, rich males, who are members in a few departments at a low rated university are heralding themselves as the voices of "Western Mentality". I don't think so. We can and do have very different opinions here in the West, as Saskatchewan's political landscape over the last 50 years is evident. As there is no one opinion in the St. Lawrence region, there is no one "Western View" here. Unfortunately, that go-along-with-the-crowd approach in politics/media in Canada keeps people voting for one party only, like in Alberta, where the Conservative government remains in power. I urge others in the west of all political stripe including Conservatives to think and speak for themselves.

AnonymousMarch 09, 2009 01:35 EST

They're not really going out of their way to call themselves the "Western Mentality." In fact, left-wing media outlets (such as the Walrus, CBC, Macleans, etc) have essentially stated they are. I mean...this article clearly DOES NOT focus on other western views. It isolates a select few and infers they're the ones running the show when it comes to Conservative politics at a federal level. Try to strive for a bit more objectivity there, Walrus. Ridiculous.

AnonymousNovember 01, 2009 13:09 EST

I don't think so. We can and do have very different opinions here in the West, as Saskatchewan's political landscape over the last 50 years is evident. As there is no one opinion in the St. Lawrence region, there is no one "Western View" here. Unfortunately, that go-along-with-the-crowd approach in politics/media in Canada keeps people voting for one party only, like in Alberta, where the Conservative government remains in power.

Neal Norris Edson AlbertaJune 28, 2010 18:03 EST

I just heard what Tom said about the Protesters in Toronto I think He is a GOOF ..... And this guy is allowed to teach Students Maybe we should let some Immigrant teach his class after He is FIRED !!!

AnonymousAugust 31, 2010 16:33 EST

Neal Norris Edson wrote:" Maybe we should let some Immigrant teach his class..."

But Flanagan IS an immigrant. He's from an ultra-right wing country called Texas.

AnonymousSeptember 14, 2010 11:27 EST

Flanagan is pure intolerance. He has a mission that must be completed. He wants aboriginal people to un-exist on paper. Assimilation has been Canada\\\\\\\'s act since the 1600\\\\\\\'s and only in recent decades have they been embracing the different cultures found in Canada, Aboriginals as well as citizens from other countries. Flanagan is here only to put his piss mark in the snow. He has no brain or heart, just an objective that will solifidy his mark on history regardless if he completes his mission or not. This is the worst kind of man that has a strangle-hold on Canada\\\\\\\'s future, a capitalist.

Flanagan, deals were made, papers were signed and they must be upheld. Just because you don\\\\\\\'t like them doesn\\\\\\\'t me they should be destroyed. Swallow it.

AnonymousNovember 30, 2010 23:00 EST

It's very insulting to have ex yanks like Flanagon involved in Canadian politics. The only party that would accept him are the Hopeless Harper bunch. It's also very insulting to have people like Flanagon and Richards taking cheap shots at our native Indians.. It comes natural to people like Flanagon when you consider how the religious republican whiteys treated the black people in the US. Blacks were raped robbed and murdered by Yankee white terrorists. Religious scam artists have no place in Canadian politics. Their specialty lies in child molesting.
You Flanagon will have trouble accepting the fact that right wing governments are very very corrupt, and are considering helping the MAFIA to get more involved with CRAC(cons,reform,alliance coalition). Hopeless is a brainwashed .liar and cannot be trusted. You would do Canadians a lot of good if you and your Yankee friends that are destroying Alberta would go back where you came from. What religious groups are involved with the
possible war in north and south Korea? Hopeless has to be a twisted psycho to allow and support what is happening in Alberta BC and Saskatchewan. Are these politicians getting paid under the table? No NDP government would allow it..
You must be very happy with the US gov people that are making a profit from the oil they are stealing from Iraq. Of course they had to slaughter a 100,000 Iraqi people and Saddam
Hussien.. Now Exxon can get in there and steal all the oil they want. Yes this was all planned.
Capitalists,communists and the Mafia have a lot in common.






AnonymousDecember 01, 2010 15:39 EST

@anonymous, but there is no mention of Texas in his bio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Flanagan_(political_scientist)

AnonymousDecember 08, 2010 11:05 EST

From Macleans magazine:

Tom Flanagan
Tom Flanagan is the only person ever to have lived in both Ottawa, Illinois, and Ottawa, Ontario. Born and educated in the United States, he immigrated to Canada in 1968. He is professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In the years 2001-06, Tom held various positions for Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada - including chief of staff, campaign manager and political adviser.

Latest articles commented on by Tom Flanagan

Nadine LumleyDecember 21, 2011 16:42 EST

Steve Harper, President, the Corporate Party of Canada


Harper’s Neoconservatism: This entire “hard right” movement is a crock.

It is not a religious evangelist movement, **OR a moral movement.
It is a corporate movement.

http://pushedleft.blogspot.com/2010/11/democracy-for-sale-and-my-epiphany.html

?
From Emily Dee:

Nadine LumleyDecember 21, 2011 16:42 EST

Ten things you don’t know about Steve Harper, the leader of Canada’s “Corporate Party”

1. Harper’s an Evangelist (i.e. a Holy Roller, but he doesn’t believe in it, it’s just for show, it’s actually just a front for “corporate interests”)
1. Harper’s church rejected divorcee Laureen, so after living common-law together, they married in a civil ceremony on December 11, 1993. So much for his religious shtick.
2. He's getting divorced (check out his website, all pics of Harper and Laureen together have been removed; note I don’t care they broke up, I care how he lies about it for 3 /4 years
2. His “personal assistant” Ray Novak used to live in Harper’s backyard above the garage… FOR YEARS… what wife would put up with THAT?
3. Member of the fundamentalist Christian Alliance Church (they don't like gay people)
4. Member of the Northern Foundation (I think they don't like black people)
5. Member of the Calgary School of Political Science (they don’t like science)
6. Leader of the Reforma/Alliance Party (they don't like women)
7. Former Head of the National Citizens Coalition (they want to kill our national health care)
8. Supporter of The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (AstroTurfers who want to kill Canada’s social safety net while running a pyramid scheme cheating taxpayers out of revenue from wealthy corporate donors)
8. He’s not a real Red Tory Conservative; he’s a Reforma Alliance CRAP Party thing
9. His grandfather (Harper’s family is from Moncton, New Brunswick) either offed himself after becoming mentally ill or ran off with a woman, the truth is never talked about for some reason
10. The asthmatic Harper wears a $3,000 weave on top of his head (he's obsessed with his own image and has a special salt & pepper one for elections, brown other times)
11. Steve hates to travel and didn’t get a passport until he could travel at the public’s expense
12. Steve hates being a politician, is uncomfortable in groups, really dislikes glad-handing
13. Steve Harper was president of his high school's Young Liberals Club at Richview in Toronto; he also appeared on Reach for the Top t.v. program. Harper is not dumb, he just works for the interests of rich corporations / big business instead of for you
14. Spends every second of every waking moment plotting his scorched earth policy against Canada’s Natural Governing Party, The Liberals

Shouldn’t Steve Harper be working on other things? Like help for struggling families.

C.R.U.S.H.
- Canadians Rallying to Unseat Steve Harper
Multi-Partisan Discussion Group of 7,500+ People
http://www.facebook.com/groups/292671928599/

www.shitHarperdid.ca.ca

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