Apr 20 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — At a time when federal-provincial tensions are on the rise, two court rulings this week offer a timely reminder that the Constitution does not cast the provinces as junior partners of a unitary federation. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court found that New Brunswick is within its rights to forbid its citizens to bring […]
Apr 18 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — It is rare that a single issue costs a federal ruling party its re-election. Based on the latest poll to measure the impact of the ongoing pipeline crisis on the political fortunes of its various protagonists, the fate of the Trans Mountain expansion is unlikely to alone determine that of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals in next […]
Apr 16 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Notwithstanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to double down on the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the plan faces the same hurdles today as it did before he hauled the feuding premiers of Alberta and British Columbia to Parliament Hill for a Sunday meeting. The federal bid to take a financial stake in the […]
Apr 13 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — With pressure mounting on Jagmeet Singh to enter the House of Commons at the earliest opportunity, the rookie NDP leader is apparently seriously considering a run for Thomas Mulcair’s soon-to-be-vacant Outremont seat. Winning the Montreal riding would be a big deal. A Singh byelection victory would assuage fears that on his watch the NDP is […]
Apr 11 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — In the increasingly fiery debate over the planned expansion of the Alberta/B.C. Trans Mountain pipeline, there is no mystery about the conflicting end games of the three governments embroiled in the dispute. But what about Kinder Morgan itself ? Alberta and Ottawa want to see the project designed to bring more of that province’s oil […]
Mar 28 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The main feature this week’s back-to-back Quebec and Ontario budgets have in common is that they are both pre-election Hail Mary passes. Premiers Philippe Couillard and Kathleen Wynne’s backs are against the election wall. This was their last best chance to reverse a trend that will otherwise see them in opposition and — potentially— out […]
Mar 26 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had it in his power to save just one of the two Central Canada allies whose re-election is less than certain this year, which of Quebec’s Philippe Couillard or Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne would he pick? Up until this election year the answer would have been a no-brainer and not just […]
Mar 24 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The self-serving practice of preying on the concerns of targeted groups of voters by feeding them dubious information was baked in the DNA of Canada’s political parties long before social media offered them sophisticated avenues to do so. In the early ’80s, I covered a provincial byelection campaign in eastern Ontario that saw the then-ruling […]
Mar 21 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — By requiring applicants for federal summer jobs grants to attest that their core mandate respects abortion rights, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals may have hoped to lead by example. Instead they have opened a new front in a culture war they may yet come to regret.
Mar 16 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — One of the first tasks of an opposition leader is to avoid providing a diversion from a government in trouble. Over the past week, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has failed rather spectacularly at that basic task. At a time when the prime minister is licking self-inflicted wounds from a poorly executed visit to India, Singh’s […]
Mar 12 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The prospect that Doug Ford could be in charge of Canada’s largest province by July 1 is bad news for the three main federal leaders. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it could mean that the federal-provincial window of opportunity to execute some of his government’s signature policy missions is inexorably closing. Without a high degree […]
Mar 5 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The sound coming out of the NDP’s backrooms on Monday morning was that of a collective sigh of relief. On the weekend, Jagmeet Singh rolled the dice and made his maiden appearance on Quebec’s much watched but somewhat high-risk talk show Tout le monde en parle. Outside of election debates, opportunities for an out-of-province federal […]
Mar 2 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — In his final interview in 2015, the late Jacques Parizeau famously described the Parti Québécois he once almost led to a historical referendum victory as a field of ruins. Make no mistake: the implosion this week of the Bloc Québécois caucus is adding another layer of debris to an already littered field. As party leader, […]
Feb 28 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Connect the dots between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s India adventure and Tuesday’s budget and what you find is what was meant to be a pre-emptive one-two punch against the NDP. Trudeau is hardly the first prime minister to use trips abroad — including to India — to shore up support in selected communities at home. […]
Feb 27 2018 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — All governments live by a clock. It typically starts ticking loudly in the third year of a majority mandate, when there is still time to put in place the structural elements of a re-election platform. The next-to-last Liberal budget of the current Parliament begins to lift the veil on the ruling party’s pre-election mindset. As […]