Candice Hoeppner (born September 28, 1964) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to represent the electoral district of Portage—Lisgar in the 2008 and 2011 federal elections. She is a member of the Conservative Party.

Hoeppner was born in Morden, Manitoba. She previously worked in the financial planning industry. In 2004, she was the Manitoba campaign manager for Stephen Harper's leadership bid for the Conservative Party of Canada. She has acted as an advisor to several Members of Parliament, and served as chief organizer for the Conservative Party in Manitoba.

On November 19, 2008, Hoeppner introduced the motion in the House of Commons to accept the Speech from the throne (the traditional speech in which the Governor General outlines the government's agenda at the start of a new Parliament). In fall 2011, Hoeppner was given the opportunity to chair a panel of MP’s (one from each recognized party) for the selection of Supreme Court judges. Hoeppner was also a member of the legislative committee studying Bill C-18 which would give marketing freedom to western grain farmers. Previously, Hoeppner served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. She was the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee for the Status of Women and sat on the House of Commons Standing Committee for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. Additionally, she has been a member of the Liaison Committee as well as the Panel of Legislative Committee Chairs.

Stephen Joseph Harper, PC MP (born April 30, 1959) is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election. He is the first prime minister from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, following a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties.

Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition. In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party) and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004.