A practical man

摘要

His brusque and bossy manner means that Stephen Harper may never win the affection of Canadians. But after three months as prime minister, the Conservative leader is winning respect as a politician who gets things done. The past few days brought two examples of that. On April 27th, Mr Harper announced a surprise settlement of a protracted trade war with the United States over softwood lumber. Five days later, his finance minister, Jim Flaherty, presented a budget which won applause for lowering taxes without sacrificing fiscal discipline.