Poll: Stephen Harper would change this election Paul Wells: If Harper returned to once again lead the Conservatives, it would cut the Liberal advantage by two-thirds, and a rout starts to look more like a race Harper arrives at his office in Ottawa on Oct. 21, 2015 (Adrian Wyld/CP) We don’t spend enough time indulging hypotheticals. “That would never happen,” as a reason not to think about something, is given way too much room to run these days. Things that would never happen are fun and may be useful to contemplate. It’s in that spirit that Maclean’s asked pollster Greg Lyle what would happen if Stephen Harper led the Conservative Party of Canada into the imminent federal election. The answer, it seems, is: a lot. A lot would happen.