Stephen Harper, seen here in this file photo, left his Toronto home at a young age and headed West where he was troubled with the thought that he had disppointed his father, according to a dear friend who recently passed away. Photograph by: Don Healy / Postmedia News, NP

EDMONTON — Young Stephen Harper lived in a walk-up on Whyte Avenue, worshipped Pierre Elliot Trudeau, preferred John Lennon to Paul McCartney, came across as 20-going-on-40 and was troubled by the notion that he had failed his father.

That's how Frank Glenfield remembered Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whom Glenfield came to know well after Harper dropped out of his first year of schooling at the University of Toronto in 1978 and moved to Edmonton.

Harper went to work as a clerk at Imperial Oil.

Glenfield was his boss. The two formed a lasting bond.

Glenfield died on Dec. 3 at age 87. This past weekend, Harper fulfilled a promise and delivered a eulogy at Glenfield's funeral, telling many stories of Glenfield, who was known for his decades of volunteer work building up Edmonton's theatre scene.

Harper's appearance at the funeral reminded me of an interview I had done in 2008 with Frank and his actress wife, Mary, about their lengthy careers in local theatre. At that time, they related the story of their relationship with Harper and his formative time in Edmonton.

Frank had worked as services supervisor for Imperial Oil from 1965 to 1982. Entry level employees reported to him. "My office boy was Stephen Harper," he said. "He did very well in a very entry-level job. He sort of checked the cash, delivered mail and that sort of thing. He wasn't above doing anything."

Harper got on with Imperial Oil with the help of his father, Joseph, who was a top financial officer in Toronto, Frank said. "Stephen had broken with his family because they had wanted him to be a chartered accountant at the University of Toronto, where his brothers were. He decided he was going to be a pioneer, he was going out West. He was going to find his own way.

"I was virtually told to hire him, but I did. And he was a very troubled boy when he came. I think what upset him the most was rebelling against what the family wanted him to do.

"But he wanted to do his own thing. He didn't want to just toe the party line."

Frank Glenfield was a noted amateur director in local theatre, known as a kind man with a talent for helping others gain confidence and realize their potential on stage. He took on a similar nurturing role with Harper, talking to the young man endlessly, often coming home late for supper because Stephen had sought him out for a discussion.

"I think I played an important part in his life when he needed someone to talk to and someone to know," Frank said. "He was a stranger in Edmonton."

Glenfield can't remember giving much advice to Harper, just hearing him out. "He wanted to talk out his problems and his concerns."

What was he like?

"He was very bright. He didn't get along terribly well with the other staff because he had sort of an eastern attitude. He gradually used to come home for a meal to the house and argue with Mary about everything, such as Lennon and McCartney and the Beatles."

"Because he liked Lennon best and I liked McCartney," Mary said.

Mary also could see Harper was dealing with family issues. "He was very self-absorbed," she said. "I would say he's absorbed by two things. One is himself and the other is: Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing the thing that I should be doing?"

Harper's doubts were about his path, but not about his ability to get things done. He always had self-belief. "Because he sincerely believes he has something to contribute to people, to the country," Frank said. "He wanted to do the right thing, and I think he still wants to do the right thing."

Harper was conservative in his habits, "dead dull in some ways" as Mary puts it, but he wasn't Conservative at first in his politics. As Frank said: "When Stephen first came to Edmonton, he was a Trudeau Liberal. He thought Trudeau was God."

Harper was good at his job and soon got promoted to computer services. When that department moved to Calgary in 1981, Stephen went with them, eventually enrolling at the University of Calgary. "He entered the University of Calgary, which is right . . . of the Ayatollah Khomeini, as you probably know, and he became very much under that influence," Glenfield said.

"Stephen got very much more and more right wing," Mary said.

On weekends, Harper would often come up to Edmonton, bringing his girlfriend. The two had sleeping bags and slept on the Glenfield's floor.

The Glenfields were Liberals, but political differences didn't get in the way of Stephen's friendship with Frank. The two kept in touch over the years, even as Harper became a powerful man in Ottawa. He brought his wife-to-be Laureen to the Glenfield house to introduce her.

Glenfield never believed that Harper was as against the arts as some critics have made him out to be. "He used to come out with me to auditions when I was directing plays or I was reading for a play. He was very interested.

"I don't think the arts are a priority of his, but at one point he did say to me, 'You know, I could be interested in acting.' He has developed as a speech maker, I guess. I think quite honestly, he's not averse to the theatre and he's not averse to the arts."

After he was elected prime minister, Harper dropped in one day at the Glenfield's, complete with his RCMP security guards. They waited outside as Stephen visited for an hour. "He seemed glad to be relaxed, honestly," Mary said.

"He was very warm. And very tired," Frank said.

In the end, Frank had quite an affection for the young man who grew into a successful political leader. "Stephen is a nice boy. I keep calling him a boy because he was a boy when he worked for me."

The affection went both ways. At Frank's funeral, one of his friends, Edmonton writer Tony Cashman, says that Harper related a story about a discussion he and Laureen had had about Frank.

"When I'm old, I hope I'm as kind as considerate as Frank," Harper told Laureen.

"Why don't you try being like Frank now?" she shot back.

"That brought a good laugh in," Cashman says.

Edmonton Journal

dstaples@edmontonjournal.com

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