🎨 The Portrait, The Politics, and the Group Nobody’s Heard Of
The other day I saw Stephen Harper’s official portrait.
You know the kind.
Soft lighting.
Calm expression.
Slimmed down.
Statesman vibes.
The kind of painting that says: 👉 “Trust me. History already approves of me.”
And I couldn’t help thinking…
Who is this guy supposed to be?
Because it sure doesn’t look like the Harper I remember.
It looks like the rebrand version.
Which got me thinking about something even stranger.
Not the painting.
But what Harper is doing now.
Wait… what’s the IDU?
Quick question.
If I stopped you on the street and asked:
“Have you heard of the IDU?”
What would you say?
- IUD?
- DUI?
- some tech startup?
- a new bank fee?
Most people have never heard of it.
But here’s the part that surprised me:
Stephen Harper is the Chairman of the International Democracy Union (IDU) — a global alliance of conservative and centre-right political parties.
Not local.
Not Canadian.
Global.
They share strategy.
Messaging.
Campaign tactics.
Political relationships.
Basically a worldwide political network.
And hardly anyone talks about it.
Why does this matter?
I’m not saying it’s a secret society or anything dramatic.
It’s public.
It has a website.
But it’s one of those things that exists quietly in the background while regular people are busy trying to:
- pay rent
- buy groceries
- find housing
- survive
Meanwhile former prime ministers are networking internationally with political power players.
It feels like two different worlds.
Us… and them.
Portraits vs Reality
Here’s what gets me.
Governments commission flattering portraits.
Leaders look thinner. Kinder. Wiser.
History gets airbrushed.
But real life wasn’t so soft-focus.
Under Harper we saw:
- scientists muzzled
- media tightly controlled
- Parliament prorogued
- power centralized in the PMO
That wasn’t exactly watercolour serenity.
So when I see a polished portrait hanging on a wall, I can’t help thinking:
Art can either tell the truth… or polish the myth.
Sometimes satire tells the truth better.
Maybe that’s why protest art exists.
The bigger question
Why don’t we know about groups like the IDU?
Why do regular citizens know every celebrity breakup…
but not the international political networks shaping policy?
If democracy is supposed to be “for the people,”
shouldn’t we at least know who’s organizing the players?
A little street test
I’m tempted to do this:
Walk around Vancouver and ask:
“Do you know what the IDU is?”
I’m betting:
90% say no
5% guess wrong
5% actually know
That’s not exactly informed democracy.
Maybe art is the fight back
Maybe the answer isn’t just more news.
Maybe it’s:
- satire
- murals
- cartoons
- writing
- storytelling
Because sometimes a painting or a joke wakes people up faster than a policy paper.
Power loves polished portraits.
Citizens need messy conversations.
What do you think?
Have you heard of the IDU before today?
Should former leaders be quietly building global political networks?
And if we painted an honest portrait of modern politics…
what would it really look like?
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