Background
The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town south-west of Calgary, to rancher parents who owned an electrical contracting company.
The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town south-west of Calgary, to rancher parents who owned an electrical contracting company.
After graduating from Oilfields High School, she attended the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where she studied journalism and photography.
Her parents, Barbara and Dennis Teskey, divorced in 1991, after 29 years. She was first married to a New Zealander, Neil Fenton, from April 1985 to 1988. Teskey joined the Reform Party of Canada in the late 1980s.
She met Stephen Harper in 1990, while working for GTO Printing, a computer graphics firm operating in Calgary which helped create professional graphs and tables for Harper"s major paper for his Masters Degree in Economics at the University of Calgary.
Name
There was initially confusion in the Canadian media about which surname Laureen Harper uses — at different times, media references to her have called her Teskey, Harper, or Teskey Harper (not hyphenated). Campaigning
Within the Conservative Party of Canada, she is nicknamed the "secret weapon".
Public life
She has had an active public life since her arrival at 24 Sussex Drive. She has supported causes such as the National Arts Centre where she has been Honorary Gala Chair since 2005.
She is also an active supporter and campaigner for animal welfare organizations such as the Ottawa Humane Society.
Mistress Harper hosted the spouses of G8 and G20 leaders in June 2010 in Toronto. She created some controversy when she notified the National Arts Centre on September 24, 2008 that she would not be able to fulfill her role as Honorary Gala chair on October 4.
Harper later responded saying that the circumstances of her being unable to attend had nothing to do with her husband"s comments.
On June 3, 2013, Harper and Ottawa city councillor Allan Hubley announced a new federal anti-bullying strategy, which will see approximately 2,400 teenagers across Canada trained in delivering peer education workshops and presentations against bullying for their fellow students.
