Politics & Power Quote by Stephen Harper

Harper’s warning reads like a calm briefing, but it’s really a pressure tactic dressed as prudence. “Worst case scenario is obvious” tries to foreclose debate by pretending the conclusion is self-evident; if you disagree, you’re not just wrong, you’re naive. The repetition of “I think” softens the edges, letting him sound reasonable while delivering a hard message: whatever arrangement is on the table is illegitimate, temporary, and economically reckless.

The operative word is “unstable.” In parliamentary politics, stability isn’t only about whether a government falls; it’s a moral credential. Harper uses instability as a proxy accusation: the alternative coalition (or minority cooperation) isn’t merely a different mandate, it’s a threat to order. That frame matters because it shifts the argument away from policies and onto legitimacy and endurance, where incumbents tend to have the advantage.

Then comes the real audience: not voters but markets. “Raises taxes” is political shorthand, but “destroys the image we’re building for Canada as a strong place to invest” is a brand-management claim. Canada becomes a product; government becomes the marketing department. The subtext is that social spending, regulation, or redistributive choices aren’t debated on their merits, they’re treated as reputational risk.

Placed in the Harper era’s post-90s consensus - deficit paranoia, competitiveness talk, and an obsession with being “open for business” - the line captures a governing philosophy: economic confidence is fragile, and democratic experimentation is something to be contained before it spooks the people who move capital.