Jan 28 2023 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — On Monday, Justin Trudeau’s government will enter a make-or-break parliamentary season. Given the average life of past minority governments, this could well be the last full year of the prime minister’s third term. More than a few Liberals fear it could also be the closing chapter of their party’s tenure in power. Back in 2015, […]
Jan 22 2023 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — By all indications, peace — in the shape of a 10-year accord — may be about to break out on the federal-provincial health front. To listen to the first ministers, a deal that would see the federal government increase its contribution to the provinces’ health-care budgets in exchange for more transparency could be struck as […]
Jan 15 2023 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — It’s hard to get a second chance to make a good first impression. Pierre Poilievre will be trying to do just that as he embarks on an early-year visit to Quebec next week. The latest Conservative leader has his work cut out for him. In Canada’s second largest province, Poilievre is not only much less […]
Dec 18 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — As the political year comes to an end, none of the federal party leaders is where he or she would like to be, but one is in a better place than many observers predicted 12 months ago. At this time last year, the expectation in some punditry quarters was that 2022 would be Justin Trudeau’s […]
Dec 10 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — It has been 30 years since Canada’s political class declared an omerta on constitutional reform. The time may have come to reconsider the benefits of the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” mantra of the federal government. Since the last round of negotiations ended in the spectacular and divisive rejection of the […]
Dec 4 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre believes the voters whose support he needs to lead his party to government in the next federal election will not be reached via the mainstream media. His strategy is about to be tested.
Nov 26 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — A decade and a half ago, the publication of the findings of the inquiry into what was known as the federal sponsorship scandal signalled the beginning of the end of a dozen-year Liberal tenure. Justice John Gomery’s final report — and the blame it apportioned to Jean Chrétien’s government — led to the defeat of […]
Nov 13 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — For now, Canada’s premiers are Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s problem. And as the breakdown in negotiations on the financing of the health-care system demonstrated this week, federal-provincial co-operation is in very short supply these days. But when the next federal election campaign comes around, it is Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who will have to account […]
Nov 4 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Under the guise of a controversial piece of back-to-work legislation, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has thrown a constitutional grenade at Canada’s collective bargaining process this week. The collateral damage that will result from Ontario’s decision to suspend the constitutional rights of the province’s education workers, the better to dictate the terms of their contract, is […]
Oct 22 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Fiscal restraint is not a feature one usually associates with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. The prime minister’s 2015 campaign promise to run deficits is a commitment he has more than fulfilled over his past seven years in office.
Oct 16 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Federalism as usual or constitutional crisis in the making? What is one to make of the fighting words coming out of various provincial capitals these days? To separate the wheat from the chaff — and there is quite a bit of the latter — the place to start may be the state of play in […]
Oct 8 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The reelection with a stronger hand of Quebec premier François Legault will inevitably shake things up on the federal-provincial scene. So will Danielle Smith’s selection as the successor to Alberta premier Jason Kenney. The incoming Alberta premier and her re-elected Quebec counterpart bring to their relationship with Justin Trudeau’s government a long list of grievances […]
Oct 4 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Propelled at least in part by a winner-takes-all voting system, Quebec Premier François Legault cruised past four opposition parties to a massive reelection victory on Monday. In the process, a plurality of voters — mostly in francophone ridings — confirmed they have little or no interest in resuming the unity battle that defined the province’s […]
Sep 11 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — As of now, all is in place for an electoral duel between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. The only unknown is when what is lining up to be an epic battle will take place. Provided the Liberal/NDP pact holds, Canada will not be going to the polls this fall and perhaps […]
Aug 20 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — There’s no lack of significant policy differences between the two leading contenders for the leadership of the federal Conservative party. But on the need for a radical shift in Canada’s climate change policy, they are on the same page. The party — whether it is led by Pierre Poilievre or Jean Charest after Sept. 10 […]