May 20 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Had a general election been held in Alberta this spring, chances are premier Jason Kenney would have led his party back to the opposition benches after just one term in office. For months, polls in the province had found Kenney’s government to be out of step with a critical mass of voters. His approval rating […]
May 14 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — This was the week when Conservative front-runner Pierre Poilievre could have sealed his leadership deal. With a widely acknowledged lead on his rivals, he had two opportunities in the shape of successive leadership debates to step into a more prime ministerial picture frame and start unifying the party and eventually the country behind him.
May 8 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Since the Supreme Court struck down the sections of the criminal code pertaining to abortion in 1988, the political history of the anti-abortion lobby in Canada is that of an unbroken losing streak. Will the movement’s expected victory in the United States Supreme Court reverse that trend? Notwithstanding the celebrations of Canada’s abortion fighters, the […]
May 1 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Against the background of the Ukraine invasion and a domestic cost-of-living crisis in the making, is climate change at risk of falling off the Canadian political radar? If one were to ask the current federal government, the short answer would be a categorical no. On paper, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is committed to achieving measurable […]
Apr 24 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — It is easier to shoot fish in a barrel than in a lake. That’s no less true in politics than it is in the wild. And that’s why there is more to the standing room only crowds that Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre has been drawing than a strategy to project momentum. In a campaign […]
Apr 10 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — If he is to succeed in his bid to become federal Conservative leader, Jean Charest needs to win big in Quebec. Without overwhelming support from his home province, the former premier does not have a hope of finishing first or perhaps even second in the Sept. 10 leadership election.
Apr 3 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — With the ink barely dry on the pact struck last month between Jagmeet Singh’s NDP and Justin Trudeau’s minority government, its resilience is about to be tested not once but twice. The first test will come on Thursday with the presentation of the federal budget. It will be the first opportunity to see if the […]
Mar 19 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — If you are not a Conservative supporter and are nevertheless cheering on Ontario MP Pierre Poilievre in his leadership bid because you believe the party will either implode or at least never make it to government on his watch, you may want to have a chat with Paul Martin’s former palace guard, Over Martin’s abbreviated […]
Feb 13 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Barely two years ago, Jean Charest ruled out a run for the federal Conservative leadership because he could not see a path to victory. Now the former Quebec premier is once again seriously considering a bid, with a decision apparently to come over the next week or so. What changed? In a replay of the […]
Jan 22 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Let’s talk first about the old dog that has so far failed to bark. When the reassignment late last year of a Quebec elementary school teacher for wearing a hijab prompted various non-Quebec mayors to support the fight against the province’s Bill 21 with taxpayers’ dollars, many believed the initiative would backfire. In the face […]
Jan 15 2022 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — In his three years as Quebec’s premier, François Legault has never shied away from controversial initiatives. To wit: Bill 21, the law that imposes a secular dress code on some of the province’s public servants; a bid to unilaterally enshrine the concept of the Quebec nation in the Constitution; and a liberal use of the […]
Dec 19 2021 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Justin Trudeau snatched a second victory from the jaws of defeat earlier this fall. And while his party remains short of a governing majority, the fact that none of his opposition rivals met their own electoral expectations allows the prime minister to finish the year in the winner’s circle. Not every government leader in Canada […]
Dec 10 2021 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — In the wake of the reassignment from the classroom of a western Quebec teacher because she wore a hijab, pressure is mounting on Justin Trudeau and Erin O’Toole to walk the talk of their opposition to Bill 21. On Thursday, a handful of Conservative MPs called on their party to proactively fight the Quebec law […]
Dec 4 2021 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — It is a rare week on Parliament Hill when both the government and the official opposition can be said to have had a good day. That exceptional alignment of the stars occurred Wednesday when the Conservative party led the House of Commons to the unanimous and swift approval of the latest federal bill designed to […]
Oct 24 2021 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — How many dead horses can Canada’s conservative movement flog before it makes itself irrelevant to mainstream voters? On Parliament Hill, Erin O’Toole’s Conservative party might as well be on a mission to kill in the bud any early buyers’ remorse Canadians may feel about handing Justin Trudeau a third term.