Aboard Stephen Harper's chartered campaign jet over northern Ontario last week, the allotted 15 minutes for the Conservative leader's one-on-one interview with Maclean's had expired. Communications director Kory Teneycke was gamely attempting to give the reporter the hook. But Harper was in an expansive mood. He offered to take one more question. That question was about "legacy" — a word that made the Prime Minister roll his eyes and chuckle uncomfortably — and about what he has accomplished as a conservative trying to advance conservative ideas in Canada.

Like a ball player afraid of jinxing his game, Harper refused to speculate about whatever legacy he might leave behind. "Too early." But he did bite on the question about conservatism. His long answer provides a handy guide to what he is trying to accomplish at this crucial moment in what is already one of Canada's most surprising political careers.

"The thing I'm proudest of, obviously, is bringing all conservatives together under one tent," Harper said, speaking deliberately, pausing often to consider his next phrase.

"You know, conservatives have been pulled together in the past on several different occasions. But it's usually been a kind of a 'throw out the bums.' And you had a whole bunch of elements elected that ultimately blew apart — because they didn't make much of a coalition.

"I actually think this time, we pulled together a bunch of elements from different regions of the country that actually fit together pretty well. We've got some people who are a little more on the left — but they're certainly not left-wing. We've got people who are a little more on the right — but I certainly don't think they're some of the extremes you saw in the past. In Quebec we've started to build a Conservative party that actually has a federal Conservative organization, as opposed to being just borrowed parties from the provincial level, which is what we've seen in the past."

His "long-term goal," Harper said, "is to make Conservatives the natural governing party of the country. And I'm a realist. You do that two ways. Two things you have to do. One thing you do is you have to pull conservatives, to pull the party, to the centre of the political spectrum. But what you also have to do, if you're really serious about making transformation, is you have to pull the centre of the political spectrum toward conservatism.

"And whether it's an agenda that has a high emphasis on tax reduction as opposed to spending increases; an agenda that focuses on delivering benefits to people and to families instead of creating bureaucracies; whether it's restoring pride in the country — not just in things like, you know, health care or various government programs, but pride in things like our institutions, our military, our history — I think we're also doing that. We're also building the country towards a definition of itself that is more in line with conservatism. Maybe not in line with what some conservative parties thought in the past or what every conservative thinks, but it's a give and take."

All the elements of Harper's long-term plan for Canada are in that answer. From day to day the Prime Minister can be so full of surprises, so confounding to his opponents and even to some of his supporters, that it almost always helps to take the long view when trying to figure him out. Ever since he returned to electoral politics in 2002 after running the National Citizens Coalition, Harper's career has been built on a few driving ideas. Consistently and with formidable discipline, he has sought to gather the diverse strains of Canadian conservatism into a single cohesive party. Western populists, Ontario and Atlantic Canadian Tories, and Quebec bleu nationalists all have to feel at home around Harper. He wants to make his party competitive with the Liberals, not just once or for as long as Harper is leader, but for election after election. For decades. There is a constant tension in his politics between a short-term impulse to hug the centre and a long-term determination to move it — to transform Canadian society. Harper captures that tension when he calls himself a realist. It's the label a man gives himself when he is willing to take many detours on his way to his destination. When he is so intent on his long-term goal that he will not let mere principle get in the way of reaching that goal.

Just about all those elements were on display within 24 hours of Harper's campaign plane landing in Toronto. Morning and the lunch hour were devoted to demonstrations of flexibility.

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