Dec 20 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The federal Conservatives and the Green party changed leaders in 2020. The latter made history by becoming the first federal party to be led by a Black woman. In British Columbia, Canada’s sole New Democratic government scored its biggest election victory in a generation. Meanwhile, over on the conservative side, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and […]
Dec 13 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — For the first time in 16 years, Canada’s first ministers gathered — albeit virtually — to discuss a new health-care deal on Thursday. As in 2004, the meeting featured a minority Liberal government facing a potentially imminent return to the polls and a provincial front united in its demand for a larger federal health transfer. […]
Dec 6 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Brampton Guardian — The 100th day in Erin O’Toole’s leadership found him leading a no-holds-barred charge against Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy. For more than a week, the Conservatives in the House of Commons have been accusing the ruling Liberals of fiddling while the rest of the world has pre-emptively been procuring vaccines. Time will tell whether O’Toole […]
Nov 29 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — Monday’s long-awaited federal fiscal update will be Chrystia Freeland’s first major solo performance as finance minister. She will need to make it count as it may also be her next-to-last in this Parliament. By all indications, the update won’t bring the curtain down on Justin Trudeau’s minority government, but it will be a dress rehearsal […]
Nov 14 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto.com — With COVID-19 cases on the rise across much of the country, pressure is once again on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use the Emergencies Act to take full control of the management of the pandemic. But is the option really the silver bullet some of its proponents believe it is? Here are three reasons why […]
Oct 18 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — From a much-needed review of Canada’s foreign policy toward an increasingly aggressive China to a court-ordered rewrite of the medically assisted death framework and including the planting of at least one of the billions of trees promised to mitigate climate change, it is not hard these days to come up with a substantial list of […]
Oct 11 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — As things stand now, voters will likely have to wait until the next federal campaign to really see incoming Green party leader Annamie Paul in action. The early evidence suggests they could be impressed. The latest addition to the federal leadership roster comes across as a deft communicator. She is more comfortable in French than […]
Oct 3 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — The contrast could not have been more striking. Mere hours after an American presidential debate that will go down in history for the infamous performance of the incumbent, the five parties in the House of Commons came together to unanimously endorse the latest federal pandemic-related relief package. That united vote should not be confused with […]
Sep 20 2020 — Chantal Hébert — St. Catharines Standard — The presentation next week of the second speech from the throne in less than a year will formally reset the clock on Justin Trudeau’s second term government. But for how long? Minority government typically survive the confidence vote associated with a throne speech and there are many reasons to believe it will again be the […]
Sep 12 2020 — Chantal Hébert — St. Catharines Standard — Voters will get a glimpse at how incoming federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole fares on a tightrope when he holds his introductory meeting with Quebec premier François Legault on Monday. Over the first weeks of his leadership, O’Toole has sounded determined to break with some of the ways of his predecessors. Stephen Harper never wanted […]
Sep 5 2020 — Chantal Hébert — St. Catharines Standard — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believes enough Canadians are craving for an activist post-pandemic agenda to earn the Liberals another mandate. But what if he is misreading the public mood? Come Sept. 23, the Liberals will gamble the life of their minority government on a throne speech that, if the advance billing is to be believed, […]
Aug 30 2020 — Chantal Hébert — St. Catharines Standard — On his way to winning the Conservative leadership, Erin O’Toole decisively beat his rivals in Quebec. But their battle was fought in a field of ruins. In the big picture, the campaign in Quebec to succeed Andrew Scheer took place in closed circuit, at a potentially unbridgeable distance from the province’s political mainstream. Year in […]
Aug 22 2020 — Chantal Hébert — St. Catharines Standard — Here is a bit of free advice for Canada’s incoming Conservative leader: treat the abrupt prorogation of Parliament as a welcoming gift. By putting Parliament on pause until Sept. 23 and the presentation of a new Throne Speech, the prime minister has effectively shut down the opposition-dominated committees that were looking into the WE Charity […]
Jun 28 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Niagara Falls Review — With the best of intentions, the prominent Canadians who would have Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enter into a quid pro quo with China to secure the freedom of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have done their cause more harm than good. In a letter to Trudeau dated June 23, 19 high-profile signatories, including former parliamentarians […]
Jun 20 2020 — Chantal Hébert — Toronto Star — On the heels of back-to-back leadership debates, the campaign to succeed Andrew Scheer as federal Conservative leader is more than ever Peter MacKay’s to lose. Going into the debates, the former minister was already the widely perceived front-runner in the race.