Harper had very little to do with it.  What saved us was strong banking regulation.  We didn't have the submoronic deregulation like they had in the States that precipitated the subprime meltdown and the huge evaporation of wealth from a popped housing bubble.  Canada suffered collateral damage, not a direct hit, and Harper's policies did nothing to avert it and little to fix it.

The crisis was hardly in place for the 8 years out of 10 he ran deficits -- while making cuts to essential services like food inspections and denying veterans benefits.

If this is your idea of fiscal stewardship, please don't recommend investment strategies or financial advisors to anyone.