Chantal Hébert
Encyclopedia
Chantal Hébert is a Canadian columnist
and political commentator
.
, Ontario
. She is the eldest of 5 children. In 1966 her family moved to Toronto
where the 12-year-old was enrolled in École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-de-Charbonnel. She then attended Ontario's first francophone high school, École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé
. After high school, Hébert obtained a B.A.
degree in 1976 in Political science
from the bilingual
Glendon College
of York University
. She is a Senior Fellow
of Massey College
at the University of Toronto
.
Hébert began her media career in 1975 at the regional television and radio newsroom of the French language
Radio-Canada
facility in Toronto. She eventually became their reporter covering provincial politics at Queen's Park. After Radio-Canada appointed Hébert to cover federal politics on Parliament Hill
, she worked as bureau chief for Montreal
's Le Devoir
and La Presse. Widely respected for her straightforward and factual approach to political issues, she has written columns appearing in the London Free Press
, the Ottawa Citizen
and the National Post
and currently in Le Devoir
and the Toronto Star
.
question's guarantee of an offer of partnership with the rest of Canada before declaring sovereignty following a "Yes" vote was a sham. Hébert wrote that in a June 13 meeting with fifteen foreign diplomats, Quebec
Premier
Jacques Parizeau
had stated that what mattered most was to get a majority vote from Quebec citizens for the proposal to secede from Canada because with that, Quebecers would be trapped "like lobsters thrown in boiling water" (in French: "comme des homards dans l'eau bouillante").
At the time, Parizeau was in France
and in his place Quebec's deputy premier, Bernard Landry
, who was not present at the meeting, declared categorically that the report was false. However, Hébert confirmed her sources, stating that the information had been given to Foreign Affairs Canada in an official briefing by Jan Fietelaars, the Ambassador
from The Netherlands who had been a participant at the meeting. In addition, Hébert had backed up the claim by having it confirmed by three others: Ambassador Christian Fellens of Belgium
, who was also present at the meeting, and two other diplomatic attendees who spoke off the record.
as well as a guest columnist for the Le Devoir. She frequently appears on CBC Television
's The National as a member of the 'At Issue' political panel and is a regular participant in various other French-
and English-language
television and radio current affairs
programs.
Hébert received the 2005 Public Service Citation of the Association of Professional Executives
of the Public Service of Canada (APEX). In February 2006, the Public Policy Forum
voted her the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. She delivered the Michener Lecture at Queen's University
in 2008. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from Bishop's University
in May, 2009.
In June, 2006, Hébert took two months' leave of absence from the Toronto Star to write her first book, French Kiss: Stephen Harper’s Blind Date with Quebec (Knopf Canada, February 2007, ISBN 978-0-676-97907-7). She also took leave to mourn the death of her father, who died in May 2007. Her mother died in the summer of 2002.
neighbourhood of Montreal
. She is bilingual in French
and English
.
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
and political commentator
Pundit (politics)
A pundit is someone who offers to mass media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area on which they are knowledgeable. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities...
.
Life and career
Hébert was born in OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. She is the eldest of 5 children. In 1966 her family moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
where the 12-year-old was enrolled in École secondaire catholique Monseigneur-de-Charbonnel. She then attended Ontario's first francophone high school, École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé
École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé
École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé is a French first language high school located in North York, Ontario, Canada. It serves the French population of the Greater Toronto Area ....
. After high school, Hébert obtained a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in 1976 in Political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from the bilingual
Bilingualism in Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada" according to Canada's constitution...
Glendon College
Glendon College
Glendon College is one of the two campuses of York University, Canada's third-largest university, in Toronto, Ontario. A bilingual liberal arts college with 84 full-time faculty members and a student population of about 2400, Glendon is located in midtown Toronto's Lawrence Park neighbourhood...
of York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. She is a Senior Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of Massey College
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
.
Hébert began her media career in 1975 at the regional television and radio newsroom of the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Radio-Canada
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
facility in Toronto. She eventually became their reporter covering provincial politics at Queen's Park. After Radio-Canada appointed Hébert to cover federal politics on Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...
, she worked as bureau chief for Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
and La Presse. Widely respected for her straightforward and factual approach to political issues, she has written columns appearing in the London Free Press
London Free Press
The London Free Press is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, Canada.The London Free Press began as the Canadian Free Press, founded by William Sutherland in 1847. It first began printing as a weekly newspaper in 1849. In 1852, it was purchased for $500 by Josiah Blackburn, who renamed it...
, the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
and the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
and currently in Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
and the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
.
The "Lobster Pot" story
In 1995, Hébert broke the story in La Presse that the 1995 Quebec referendum1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
question's guarantee of an offer of partnership with the rest of Canada before declaring sovereignty following a "Yes" vote was a sham. Hébert wrote that in a June 13 meeting with fifteen foreign diplomats, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
Premier
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau
Jacques Parizeau, is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Early life and career:...
had stated that what mattered most was to get a majority vote from Quebec citizens for the proposal to secede from Canada because with that, Quebecers would be trapped "like lobsters thrown in boiling water" (in French: "comme des homards dans l'eau bouillante").
At the time, Parizeau was in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and in his place Quebec's deputy premier, Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry, is a Quebec lawyer, teacher, politician, who served as the 28th Premier of Quebec , leader of the Opposition and leader of the Parti Québécois .-Personal:...
, who was not present at the meeting, declared categorically that the report was false. However, Hébert confirmed her sources, stating that the information had been given to Foreign Affairs Canada in an official briefing by Jan Fietelaars, the Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
from The Netherlands who had been a participant at the meeting. In addition, Hébert had backed up the claim by having it confirmed by three others: Ambassador Christian Fellens of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, who was also present at the meeting, and two other diplomatic attendees who spoke off the record.
Pundit and author
Currently, Hébert is a national affairs writer with the Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
as well as a guest columnist for the Le Devoir. She frequently appears on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's The National as a member of the 'At Issue' political panel and is a regular participant in various other French-
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
television and radio current affairs
Current affairs (news format)
Current Affairs is a genre of broadcast journalism where the emphasis is on detailed analysis and discussion of news stories that have recently occurred or are ongoing at the time of broadcast....
programs.
Hébert received the 2005 Public Service Citation of the Association of Professional Executives
of the Public Service of Canada (APEX). In February 2006, the Public Policy Forum
Public Policy Forum
The Public Policy Forum , is an independent, non-profit Canadian think-tank for public-private dialogue . The organization's stated aim is "to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy"...
voted her the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in Public Policy Journalism. She delivered the Michener Lecture at Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
in 2008. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree from Bishop's University
Bishop's University
Bishop's University is a predominantly undergraduate university in Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Bishop's is one of three universities in the province of Quebec that teach primarily in the English language...
in May, 2009.
In June, 2006, Hébert took two months' leave of absence from the Toronto Star to write her first book, French Kiss: Stephen Harper’s Blind Date with Quebec (Knopf Canada, February 2007, ISBN 978-0-676-97907-7). She also took leave to mourn the death of her father, who died in May 2007. Her mother died in the summer of 2002.
Personal life
Hébert has two adult sons and lives in the OutremontOutremont
Outremont may refer to:*Outremont, Quebec - a borough and former town in Montreal*Outremont - a Canadian federal electoral district*Outremont - a Quebec provincial electoral district...
neighbourhood of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. She is bilingual in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.