I have to confess to having been a bit oblivious to what was going on when Harper was in power, probably at least in part the result of having two kids under five, plus a lot else going on in my life. Now I'm trying to understand his time in office and this was a really good summary, with a chapter devoted to each of the ways in which he tried to remake Canada.

Most of the book concerns the weird symbiotic relationship between Harper and the CPC, the network of neo-liberal think tanks (e.g., the Fraser Institute), and the right-wing media (i.e., pretty much every newspaper :( ). This covers everything from the concept of 'economic freedom' (see also Poilievre's claim that he'll 'make Canada the free-est country in the world'), through suppressing environmental science that might get in the way of the oil industry, to denying income inequality by instead talking about 'income mobility'. Where the book really took off for me was in the last chapter, concerning Harper's neo-conservatism, in particular an increased focus on the military. Particularly grim was the way the CPC re-wrote the Chretien/Martin-era guide for the citizenship test to eliminate anything about the environment, peace, and social justice, in favour of Canada's experience of war.

In conclusion, a wide-ranging, if rather depressing, overview of the principal characteristics of Harper's politics.