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Conrad Black says Stephen Harper has “run out of steam.”

Among moguls, that’s code for a guy who doesn’t know what to do anymore — but likes the job a lot. And yes, this is the same Conrad Black who founded the National Post to advance the fortunes of the Conservative party.

John Ralston Saul thinks Mussolini would have admired the way Stephen Harper does business. Ralston Saul is one of the country’s great public intellectuals, a man at the very centre of the cultural establishment.

Preston Manning recently urged the prime minister to extend rather than limit democracy in Canada, both in Parliament and in elections legislation.

Even the National Post speculated this week that the Energizer Bunny of Conservative politics, the indefatigable Jason Kenney, might be prime minister of Canada before the polar vortex gives way to spring flowers.

The Post’s Stephen Maher, who makes about as many predictions as he does mistakes (next to none), thinks Harper could resign early in the New Year and that the top job is there for the taking if the “formidable” Kenney wants it.

And, of course, it was someone from within in the Conservative caucus — Harper’s own political family — who leaked the fact that the prime minister went to ground during the recent shooting incident inside Parliament following the tragic murder of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial.

Telling Vladimir Putin to get out of Ukraine at the G20 seems something less than macho now when placed against the image of the PM hiding in a closet — while his colleagues fashioned impromptu weapons to defend themselves against whatever came through the caucus door. Although the PM apologized to his stunned caucus for going missing in action during those 15 minutes that mattered, it probably did little to restore his image as the warrior prime minister.

There was a time when it could count on the PM to denounce the repression of human rights and religious freedoms in that country (China) and not sacrifice Canadian values for the almighty yuan. Those were the bankrupt ways of the Liberals and their ‘moral relativism.’

It is one thing when the political opposition goes after you. But when the winds of change begin to blow through your own camp, it’s time for a reality check.

The fact is, almost everybody seems to be getting tired of Stephen Harper — of his fear-mongering, his deceitful nature, his megalomaniac urge to control everything. For the first time, that might include his base. There is much to justify their sense of grievance.

Harper came to power promising to do things differently than the Liberals of the Ad Sponsorship era. The base expected a new integrity reflecting the best conservative values — integrity, frugality and respect for Canadians. Instead, Canadians have been fed a steady dose of behaviour out of the prime minister’s own office that redefines unethical — and, in some cases, verges on the criminal.

Harper’s former parliamentary secretary, Dean Del Mastro, has been convicted of election fraud — exceeding spending limits, failing to report a personal contribution of $21,000 and knowingly submitting a falsified document. This came on the heels of an earlier election-related sleight of hand — the in/out scandal — that saw the party plead guilty to election fraud.

Then there’s Arthur Porter, the man Harper appointed to oversee Canada’s spy agency, who is in jail in Panama fighting extradition to this country, where he faces a bevy of criminal charges. One of Harper’s closest former aides, Bruce Carson, is facing influence peddling charges. Carson was hired by Harper despite the PM knowing of his previous criminal record for fraud.

And lest we forget, there’s the whole Wright/Duffy mess and the murky robocalls business and the self-serving legal rejigging of Elections Canada’s abilities to promote voter engagement and prosecute wrongdoing.

Hardly what conservatives respect — and not what Conservatives said they would bring to Ottawa.

For social conservatives, Harper hasn’t even delivered the promised national conversation on issues important to them. There was a time when the PM could reasonably argue that issues like abortion could not be raised when the Conservatives had only a minority government. But even in a majority situation, Harper has done nothing to win back the support of Conservative MPs who thought their day had come after the May 2011 win. Many of them, like Maurice Vellacott, are not running this time around. He was the co-chair of the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus and has been the MP from Saskatoon-Wanuskewin since 1997.

The base has to be confused by the PM’s bizarre policy on China. There was a time when it could count on the PM to denounce the repression of human rights and religious freedoms in that country, to not sacrifice Canadian values for the almighty yuan. Those were the bankrupt ways of the Liberals, with their “moral relativism”.

But now Harper touts his trade deals with China as major accomplishments, including the sale of a Canadian resource company to a state-owned entity in China. We can’t have a Petro Canada, but we can sell to the Chinese equivalent.

And while he’s doing that, he wants Conservatives to donate to his crusade against the victims of communism. So what is he when it comes to Beijing: ally, trading partner or moral opponent of a country that has hacked Canadian government computers and is called by some the largest criminal enterprise on earth?

Conservatives expected a clear, consistent approach to the military that would make up for the Liberals’ era of neglect. Yet there are no new fighter aircraft because of bureaucratic bungling, no new ships despite dozens of giant novelty cheques and ribbon cuttings, and some of the navy’s existing frigates have been tied up in harbour because the country doesn’t have the trained personnel to crew them.

And who in the Conservative base could have foreseen the abusive cuts made to the budget of Veterans Affairs, stinting injured and traumatized soldiers returned from a decade of war in Afghanistan?

One of the legends of the old Reform Party was the way Stephen Harper passed the Kentucky Fried Chicken barrel in basements in Calgary to raise money for the party. Conservatives admired the grassroots effort and frugality and expected it to continue once in Ottawa.

It has not. This prime minister blew close to a billion dollars on the G8 and G20 meetings in Toronto and Muskoka. He blamed the debacle on “thugs.” He wasted $28 million on commemorating the War of 1812 when he was closing veterans centres to save a paltry $3.8 million. And he has doubled the cost of the PM’s personal security to a whopping $20 million and climbing.

The once ostensibly cost-conscious politician now thinks nothing of spending a cool million to fly his own limousine to India for a state visit, or burning $45,000 of taxpayers’ money to attend a Yankees game. You would need a lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken barrels to hold the cash he has wasted on an increasingly imperial style.

Ultimately, one-man rule is only good for one man. By George, Conrad Black may be on to something.

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