Canadas most loathed leader quits politics

CANADA’S  former Prime Minister Stephen Harper,  the man who even friends found hard to swallow,  is bowing out of politics and likely heading for a job in the US, where he will  be warmly welcomed by Republicans whom he admired and whose  advice he often sought during election campaigns.

Biographer John Ibbitson in a balanced and largely sympathetic biography wrote: “no prime minister in history and no political party have been loathed as intensely as Stephen Harper and the Conservative party.”

Harper, who served as prime minister for nearly a decade, is deciding his future as the Conservative Party prepares to meet for its national convention in Vancouver starting Thursday.

Harper has offers from multiple U.S. companies, including private equity giant KKR, reports The CBC News.

Conservatives will honor Harper with a tribute Thursday night before they look to chart a new course for the party he helped create.

Until an official announcement is made, Harper’s colleagues are shying away from weighing in on the former prime minister’s next career move.says the CBC

Harper stepped down as leader following his party’s defeat in last October’s federal election, but was re-elected as the MP for Calgary Heritage.

The former prime minister has since kept a low profile but has shown up in the Commons for key votes.

Harper was in attendance as recently as last week, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s physical encounter with two opposition MPs resulted in a melee on the floor of the Commons.

Harper lives in Calgary with his wife Laureen and daughter Rachel. His son, Ben, is studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

Harper was first elected to Parliament in 1993 as a Reform MP, but chose not to stand in the next election. He returned to the House of Commons in a by-election in 2002, and two years later won the leadership of the Conservative Party after the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservatives.