The Canadian government has spent irresponsibly in its attempt to fend off the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to former prime minister Stephen Harper.

"It's not a good reaction, it's been overkill," Harper said on an episode of the podcast American Optimist, which was released on Tuesday.

"This is bad macroeconomic policy on an enormous scale."

In addition to questioning the Trudeau government's spending policies, Harper also suggested the country's vaccine rollout was slowed due to lacklustre execution and the government's poor relationships with drug companies.

"When we were in government, we never had any trouble or problem making sure we had vaccinations and vaccines well in advance of getting them distributed," Harper said. "So it's just a matter of competent execution."

Harper also took aim at what he called the "woke university crowd" for its attempts to tear down American and Western values.

"I'm just fascinated by this notion that is just everywhere now, the so-called woke notion that America is a fundamentally racist country," he said. "And yet what I see is all of these supposedly repressed races trying desperately to become Americans and to join the United States.

"It's not that there aren't problems, historical and present, that are real, but the core of our countries are great, they have great futures and there is no alternative."

Harper said the modern political left has become "entirely nihilist" and appears more interested in tearing down existing systems than in upholding and improving upon traditional democratic values.

On the topic of China, Harper said the international community has been too hesitant to push back against the country, especially after its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and its imposition of new national security laws.

China's actions in Hong Kong have "flagrantly violated" its promise to allow the region to operate under a separate political system until 2047, he said.

"I would have urged our allies to respond more forcefully to that," Harper said. He suggested that Canada and its allies could have moved to formally recognize the government of Taiwan in response to China's actions in Hong Kong.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/stephen-harper-says-canadas-pandemic-010011684.html?.tsrc=fp_deeplink