Laureen Harper
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{{Infobox Person
| name = Laureen Harper
| other_names =
| image = Laureenharper.jpg
| caption = Official Portrait of Laureen Harper
| birth_date = 1963
| birth_place = [[Turner Valley, Alberta]], [[Canada]]
| title =
| spouse = [[Stephen Harper]]
| children = Ben Harper (born 1996), Rachel Harper (born 1999)
| relations =
}}
[[Image:Spouses of G8 leaders, July 2006.jpg|thumb|Spouses of G8 leaders pose for a photograph at Konstantinvosky Palace in Strelna, Russia, Sunday, July 16, 2006. From left, they are: [[Laura Bush]]; [[Bernadette Chirac]]; [[Sousa Uva Barroso]]; [[Flavia Franzoni]], [[Lyudmila Putina]], Laureen Harper, and [[Cherie Booth]].]]
'''Laureen Teskey Harper''' (born 1963) is the wife of [[Stephen Harper]], who is leader of the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] and [[Prime Minister of Canada]] since [[February 6]], [[2006]]. Teskey was born in [[Turner Valley, Alberta|Turner Valley]], a rural town southwest of [[Calgary, Alberta|Calgary]], [[Alberta]]. Her parents were ranchers and owned an electrical contracting company.
After graduating from [[List of high schools in Alberta|Oilfields High School]], she attended the [[Southern Alberta Institute of Technology]] where she studied [[journalism]] and [[photography]]. <ref>Gignac, Tamara, [http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald//story.html?id=2292c455-d6e7-4ee8-aa84-a47424dc3ac5&k=43476 "From Turner Valley to 24 Sussex Dr."], ''Calgary Herald'', p. A1, January 28, 2006.</ref>
She was first married to [[New Zealand]]er [[Neil Fenton]] from 1985 to 1988. <ref name="kingston">Kingston, Anne, [http://www.macleans.ca/canada/features/article.jsp?content=20070813_108157_108157&page=2 "Wife of the party"], ''[[Maclean's]]'', [[August 13]], [[2007]]</ref>
Teskey joined the [[Reform Party of Canada]] in the late 1980s, and met Stephen Harper at the Reform assembly in Saskatoon in 1990. They married in 1993. Some of Harper's earliest political contemporaries, including [[Jim Hawkes]], [[Preston Manning]] and [[Deborah Grey]], have said that the 'intensely cerebral' Stephen Harper appreciably 'mellowed' after their marriage. <ref>Ryan, Carolyn, [http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/leadersparties/leaders/bio_harper.html "Stephen Harper and the road to power"], ''CBC.ca''</ref>
Media reports have generally credited her as far more personable and friendly in front of the cameras than her husband. She is also much less religious than her husband.<ref name="kingston" />
Teskey offers her home to the [[Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals|SPCA]] as a foster home for kittens, and in her spare time enjoys riding her [[motorcycle]].
Teskey and her husband have two children, Ben (born 1996) and Rachel (born 1999).
==Name==
There was considerable confusion in the Canadian media about which surname she uses — at different times, media references to her have called her Teskey, Harper or Teskey Harper (not hyphenated). On [[January 26]], [[2006]], she advised [[Canadian Press]] that she wishes to be known as Laureen Harper in her public role as a [[Spouses of the Prime Ministers of Canada|spouse of the Prime Minister]]. <ref>[http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1138276087481&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News "It's 'Mrs. Harper', thank you"], ''[[Toronto Star]]'', January 26, 2006</ref>
[[Maureen McTeer]], the wife of former Prime Minister [[Joe Clark]], also found some controversy in 1979 when she became the first wife of a Prime Minister to use her own surname rather than her husband's.
==External links==
* [http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?pageId=28 Official biography and photo from the website of the Prime Minister of Canada]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{start box}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box|
before=[[Sheila Martin|Sheila Cowan Martin]]|
title=[[Spouses of the Prime Ministers of Canada|Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada]]|
years=2006-present|
after=Incumbent
}}
{{end box}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Harper, Laureen Teskey
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Teskey Harper, Laureen (alternate form); Teskey, Laureen (birth name)
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Canadian politician
|DATE OF BIRTH=1963
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Turner Valley, Alberta]], [[Canada]]
|DATE OF DEATH=living
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Laureen}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian graphic designers]]
[[Category:Spouses of the Prime Ministers of Canada]]
[[Category:Stephen Harper]]
[[Category:People from Foothills, Alberta]]
[[Category:Canadians of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Women in business]]