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Thank you to Calgarians and Canadians Greetings, fellow Calgarians and fellow Canadians. Today I wish to inform you that I am stepping down as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Heritage. For a total of nearly eighteen years, I have had the tremendous honour of representing Calgary in the Parliament of Canada. On seven occasions, I have been deeply humbled by your trust and support, time and again. And I leave elected office proud of what our team accomplished together. We united all Conservatives behind our agenda. We cut taxes, made critical investments and balanced the national budget. We got tough on crime and put families first. We managed our G7 economy through the worst global recession since the Great Depression, and came out in the strongest position of them all. We took principled decisions in a complex and dangerous world. And, whether at home or abroad, we were always proud to stand up for Canada. Friends, we did a lot together, but I know the best is yet to come. Our country must continue to serve as a model of prosperity and freedom. Pursue the principles we have stood for at home and abroad, and our children, and children’s children, will inherit the Canada we know and love so dearly. As I bid farewell to the Parliament of Canada, and prepare for the next chapter of my life, my eternal thanks to the constituents of Calgary Heritage, to the members of the Conservative Party, and to all Canadians for having given me the honour of serving the best country in the world. May God bless all of you and may God bless Canada. Posted by Stephen Harper on Friday, August 26, 2016

If you Google the words “Trudeau” and “selfie”, you get 517,000 results. That’s barely a third the total you get for “selfie” and “Bieber”, though there’s a critical distinction to be made between the two Justins: if you delve a bit deeper, you discover that the singer’s selfies rarely feature anyone but himself, whereas the prime minister is always joined by grinning admirers.

There’s a lesson in that, and not just for pop stars who seem to spend an inordinate amount of time searching for themselves. Good PR helps. Optics are important. Image in politics is as vital an element to success as in any other area of entertainment. And, like it or not, for many people politics is only worth their attention for as long as it keeps them entertained.

The Liberals under Justin Trudeau understand this and use it to their advantage. “Sunny ways” isn’t just a glib phrase Trudeau uttered at his victory celebration, but a valued brand his party works hard to spread into every corner of its activities. You couldn’t get two more disparate people than Trudeau and Donald Trump, but they both appreciate, and exploit, that the man is the message.

Stephen Harper resigned his seat in Parliament today, completing his retreat from Ottawa and, presumably, the public stage. As prime minister he despised attention he couldn’t control; it would be a shock if he let the public into his life to any greater degree now that he’s a private citizen. You have to wonder what he thinks as he watches his successor in action. As a political strategist, he can’t help but admire how skillfully the Liberals have deployed Trudeau and marketed his imagery. Who knows: If Harper had been able to understand and embrace the enormous power of the positive selfie, he might still be running the country.