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The Angus Reid Institute polled 1,412 Canadians between Oct. 26 and 28, 2015 on the legacy of outgoing prime minister Stephen Harper. The poll had a margin of error of 2.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Respondents were given a list of actions taken by Harper’s government between 2006 and 2015, and asked to choose its biggest accomplishments and failures. A detailed list of actions can be found online.
Here are the results…
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Harper’s Notable Achievements
NOTE: The second-most popular choice was “none of these.”
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One in three — 36 per cent — chose this as the Harper government’s top achievement.
(Harper stands in front of TVs displaying a 5% GST during a campaign stop in 2005).
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Almost one-quarter — or 24 per cent — highlighted this action as a key achievement.
(Harper poses with then-finance minister Joe Oliver as he arrives to table the 2015 federal budget).
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13 per cent chose this action as a notable achievement.
(Harper gives then-Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine a standing ovation as he responds to the official apology for residential school abuses in 2008).
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12 per cent chose this action as a key achievement.
(Harper greets European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in 2013).
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Nine (9) per cent chose this action as a key achievement.
(Harper drives an ATV across the tundra on Baffin Island, near York Sound, Nunavut).
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UP NEXT: Harper’s Notable Failures
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27 per cent chose this action as the Harper government’s most notable failure.
(A Canada goose stands on railway tracks as a plant operates in the background in Hamilton, Ont.)
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26 per cent of respondents said this action was a failure.
(A protester in a Grim Reaper costume protests cuts to science policies during a 2012 rally on Parliament Hill).
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20 per cent chose this action as a key failure.
(A protester demonstrates against C-51 at a March, 2015 rally in Montreal.)
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16 per cent said the combat mission against ISIS was a failure, while 14 per cent said the same of the mission in Afghanistan.
(Harper and then-defence minister Peter MacKay look out from a bunker at an operating base in the district of Sperwan Ghar, Afghanistan in 2011.)
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13 per cent chose this as a key failure.
(Harper holds up a pile of money during a 2015 campaign event).
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UP NEXT: Defeated Tory Cabinet Ministers
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Though Stephen Harper was re-elected in his Calgary riding in the 2015 federal election, many members of his cabinet went down in defeat.
Here are some key figures from Harper’s inner circle who will not be returning to Ottawa…
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Cabinet position: Minister of citizenship and immigration
Riding: Ajax
First elected: 2011
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Cabinet position: Minister of finance
Riding: Eglinton-Lawrence (Toronto)
First elected: 2011
Oliver also previously served as minister of natural resources
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Cabinet position: Minister of aboriginal affairs
Riding: Madawaska—Restigouche (N.B.)
First elected: 2011 (though he was a Progressive Conservative MP from 1984 to 1993).
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Cabinet position: Associate defence minister
Riding: Vaughan
First elected: 2010
Fantino is probably better remembered for his controversial tenure as minister of veterans affairs.
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Cabinet position: Minister of the environment
Riding: Nunavut
First elected: 2008
Aglukkaq previously served as minister of health, and was the first Inuk in Canadian history named to federal cabinet.
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Cabinet position: Minister of natural resources
Riding: Kenora
First elected: 2008
Rickford previously served as minister of state for science and technology.
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Cabinet position: Minister of fisheries and oceans
Riding: Egmont (P.E.I.)
First elected: 2008
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Cabinet position: Minister of state for multiculturalism
Riding: Edmonton—Sherwood Park
First elected: 2008
Uppal also previously served as minister of state for democratic reform.
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Cabinet position: Minister of state for science and technology
Riding: London West
First elected: 2008
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Cabinet position: Chief government whip
Riding: Vancouver Island North
First elected: 2008 (though he also served as an MP from 1993 to 2006).
Duncan previously served as minister of aboriginal affairs.
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UP NEXT: Defeated NDP incumbents
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In the 2015 federal election, Thomas Mulcair’s New Democrats fell from 95 seats to 44. And several high-profile incumbents from across the country were defeated, usually to Liberal candidates.
Here are a few key names that will not be returning to Ottawa…
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First elected: 2006
Riding: Ottawa Centre
Shadow cabinet role: Foreign affairs
Dewar also ran for the leadership of the party in 2012.
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First elected: 2008
Riding: Halifax
Shadow cabinet role: Deputy leader, environment
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First elected: 1997
Riding: Sackville—Eastern Shore (N.S.)
Shadow cabinet role: Veterans affairs
Stoffer was named Maclean’s magazines Parliamentarian of the year in 2013 and frequently won the most congenial MP award.
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First elected: 2008
Riding: St. John’s East
Shadow cabinet role: National defence
Harris was also the longtime leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party.
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First elected: 2012
Riding: Toronto Danforth
Shadow cabinet role: Democratic and parliamentary reform
Scott represented the Toronto riding held by former leader Jack Layton.
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First elected: 2008
Riding: Welland
Shadow cabinet role: Agriculture and Agri-Food
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First elected: 2011 (though she served from 2004-2006 as a Liberal MP)
Riding: Gatineau
Shadow cabinet role: Justice
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First elected: 2011
Riding: Halifax Atlantic
Shadow cabinet role: Fisheries, deputy employment insurance
Chisholm served as leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party and ran for the federal leadership in 2012.
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First elected: 2011
Riding: St. John’s South—Mount Pearl
Shadow cabinet role: Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
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First elected: 2011
Riding: Newton—North Delta
Shadow cabinet role: Employment and Social Development
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First elected: 1997
Riding: Winnipeg Centre
Shadow cabinet role: Public Works and Government Services
Martin is perhaps the most quotable politician in Canada.