SUMA Convention 2015: Chantal Hebert

A lot of us were looking forward to hearing the insights of Chantal Hebert. Ms Hebert has written a number of books about the Canadian political scene and a regular contributor to a variety of news sources.

Unfortunately the weather prevented her from travelling and then, according to Murphy's Law, we had significant problems with technology.

Here are snippets of her talk:

·         Things change quickly: the economy was strong, terror might be an issue

·         People make choices on what is being offered, as consumers, rather than loyalty to a party

·         Energy and terrorism will affect urban centres

·        The Federal government has little extra money for infrastructure

·         Infrastructure spending is a priority for municipalities, but there is no extra money due to drop in energy revenue

·         Federal spending on health will be slowing

·         Reform of pension fund is coming

·         Security and Terrorism

·         A new type of thinking is needed

·         Balance of power has shifted to urban, specifically suburban: BC, AB, ON

·         Who commands the suburbs commands power for the upcoming federal election

·         Mulcair is at a disadvantage due to reliance on urbans and not enough support in suburbs and rural

Chantal Hebert via Skype and then phone with video. Feb 3/15