{"id":101833,"date":"2026-02-04T08:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101833"},"modified":"2026-02-04T08:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:17:20","slug":"harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/","title":{"rendered":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Catherine Morrison Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s official portrait was unveiled in Ottawa Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the election of his first Conservative government. Speaking to a crowd of ministers, premiers, current and former MPs and other dignitaries, Harper stressed that parties must work together to preserve Canada’s national unity and independence. “I sincerely hope that mine is just one of many portraits of prime ministers from both parties that will continue to be hung here for decades and centuries to come,” said Harper. “But that will require that in these perilous times, both parties, whatever their other differences, come together against external forces that threaten our independence and against domestic policies that threaten our unity.” Harper added that “we must preserve Canada.” “We must make… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Catherine Morrison Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s official portrait was unveiled in Ottawa Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the election of his first Conservative government. Speaking to a crowd of ministers, premiers, current and former MPs and other dignitaries, Harper stressed that parties must work together to preserve Canada’s national unity and independence. “I sincerely hope that mine is just one of many portraits of prime ministers from both parties that will continue to be hung here for decades and centuries to come,” said Harper. “But that will require that in these perilous times, both parties, whatever their other differences, come together against external forces that threaten our independence and against domestic policies that threaten our unity.” Harper added that “we must preserve Canada.” “We must make... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nHarper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Catherine Morrison Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s official portrait was unveiled in Ottawa Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the election of his first Conservative government. Speaking to a crowd of ministers, premiers, current and former MPs and other dignitaries, Harper stressed that parties must work together to preserve Canada’s national unity and independence. “I sincerely hope that mine is just one of many portraits of prime ministers from both parties that will continue to be hung here for decades and centuries to come,” said Harper. “But that will require that in these perilous times, both parties, whatever their other differences, come together against external forces that threaten our independence and against domestic policies that threaten our unity.” Harper added that “we must preserve Canada.” “We must make\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":776,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/\",\"name\":\"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/04\\\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Catherine Morrison Former prime minister Stephen Harper’s official portrait was unveiled in Ottawa Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the election of his first Conservative government. Speaking to a crowd of ministers, premiers, current and former MPs and other dignitaries, Harper stressed that parties must work together to preserve Canada’s national unity and independence. “I sincerely hope that mine is just one of many portraits of prime ministers from both parties that will continue to be hung here for decades and centuries to come,” said Harper. “But that will require that in these perilous times, both parties, whatever their other differences, come together against external forces that threaten our independence and against domestic policies that threaten our unity.” Harper added that “we must preserve Canada.” “We must make","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling","datePublished":"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/"},"wordCount":776,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/","name":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-02-04T13:17:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/04\/harper-calls-for-national-unity-independence-at-portrait-unveiling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harper calls for national unity, independence at portrait unveiling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101834,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101833\/revisions\/101834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}