Anyone who’s even somewhat followed national politics over the past few years knows that Jane Philpott experienced one of the most unusual terms ever as a parliamentarian.
Elected for the first time in the 2015 contest that saw the Liberals catapult from third place to majority government, Philpott quickly became known as one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s most talented and effective problem solvers. An opioid crisis? Get Jane on it. Twenty-five thousand Syrian refugees to resettle? Get Jane on it. Too many First Nations reserves where you still can’t drink the water? Get Jane on it.
And, of course, you know that it all ended very suddenly. Ten months ago, Philpott resigned from cabinet because of a dispute over how the PM was handling the SNC-Lavalin scandal. She ran for re-election last October as an independent, but a loss brought her political career to an end (at least for now) after just one term.
Philpott consistently demonstrated a strength of conviction not often seen in partisan politics. Whether you supported her decision to resign on a point of principle or thought she deserved expulsion from the Liberal caucus for showing inadequate loyalty to her political tribe, you can’t think she lacked backbone.
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And, yet, this week, she told a story about having to build up her nerve before a recent appearance at a prestigious Commonwealth Fund conference in Washington, D.C. — which involved speaking in front of a roomful of some of the smartest academics in the world.
“Just as I was leaving my hotel room to go down to the conference, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I said out loud, ‘You rock. And you belong.’”
Philpott told that story on Monday night at Victoria College at a symposium of the David Peterson Program in Public Sector Leadership, a lecture series supported by Ontario’s 20th premier and former chancellor of the University of Toronto.
The evening featured three of Canada’s most prominent former female MPs: Philpott, Lisa Raitt (Conservative MP, 2008-19), and Megan Leslie (NDP MP, 2008-15). What was astonishing about the evening was how refreshingly and brutally honest all three ex-politicians were about their former public lives.
Moderator Paul Wells, of Maclean’s, brought his characteristically impish sense of humour to the proceedings, introducing the trio by saying, “They all have something in common — they were all defeated at the polls by Liberals.”
Despite being known as three of the strongest and most talented politicians on Parliament Hill, all three women confessed to having struggled with feelings of inadequacy after their elections.
“I walked into caucus after winning the 2008 election,” Leslie recalled. “There’s Jack Layton. There’s Olivia Chow. And all I could do was ask myself, ‘How did I get here?’ Talk about suffering from imposter syndrome.”
For Leslie and so many other women in public life, there just haven’t been enough female political role models over the years to give newbies the confidence that they belong.
Lisa Raitt shared that she hadn’t been able to “get my head around the politics of the job” — the need to be so resolutely tribal. Leslie said she’d also found that a challenge.
“There’s this thing about female friendship,” Leslie began. “I’d get together with Lisa Raitt and [Conservative MP] Michelle Rempel, and people would say to me, ‘How can you hang out with them? They’re the devil!’”
Leslie went on to reveal that “you have to find allies where you can find them.” One time, she was embroiled in a traumatic situation on the Hill and found she just couldn’t confide in any fellow New Democratic caucus mates, because they were either men or much older than she was. (Leslie was only 35 years old when first elected.)
“I needed someone to talk to,” she recalled, “and I didn’t call my leader Tom Mulcair. I called Lisa Raitt in tears. To think, I called a Conservative! But I trusted her. I knew she wouldn’t stab me in the back. And she talked me off the wall.”
“And then you called for my resignation!” Raitt laughed.
“That was the voice of Tom Mulcair speaking!” Leslie came back.
“What you quickly realize,” Raitt continued, “is that when you’re put in a pressure situation, we actually have a lot in common.”
More than a quarter century ago, former prime minister Kim Campbell referred to the “unspeakable loneliness of Ottawa,” something Raitt said she could relate to.
“It’s very lonely,” she confessed. Her children were four and seven when she first won election, and, she said, “They were my refuge. I just wanted to be a normal hockey mom, but, because you’re a politician, it’s hard for anyone to see you as normal.”
As a New Democrat, Leslie never experienced life as a cabinet minister, but as deputy leader of her party, she did come to understand the limits placed on what she could say. “I wasn’t super-comfortable in what that turned into,” she said. Leslie got into politics to fight for social justice, for the poor, and for sex workers. “I stopped paying as much attention to those issues because I was nervous about saying things as deputy leader on behalf of the party. I just wanted to be the biggest team player.”
Leslie feared she was becoming “more and more plastic” and said that, if she hadn’t been defeated in 2015, she’d almost certainly have declined to run again in 2019.
Both Raitt and Philpott were cabinet ministers, and both noted that, even in a world of gender-balanced cabinets, some roles still seem to be reserved for men. For example, there have been 42 finance ministers since Confederation — not one has been a woman. In Ontario, there have been 37 finance ministers since 1867 — only two have been female.
“Not all cabinet jobs are equal,” Raitt said. “Women tend not to get line-item responsibility.”
And, beyond that, many women are nervous about exercising their authority — although, as Paul Wells pointed out, Philpott doesn’t seem to have been one of them.
“Life is short,” Philpott said. “Maybe subconsciously, I knew I wasn’t going to be there forever. I felt the burden of opportunity.”
Before getting into politics, Philpott had been a doctor in Stouffville. “Three days after getting elected, I was surprised to get a call saying I was being vetted for a cabinet job,” she recalled. Soon after, she was appointed minister of health in a country where six to eight people were dying of opioid overdoses every day. “And I had the opportunity to make decisions to help save lives,” she said. So she did.
“Being a cabinet minister is the hardest I’ve worked in my life,” Philpott said. “It’s 18 hours a day.”
“And every minute of your day is owned by someone else,” Raitt echoed.
To be clear, these ex-MPs weren’t complaining about the job. They referenced former prime minister Paul Martin’s line that “you can get more done in a week in government than you can in a year on the outside.” Having said that, Raitt admitted that, by the time she’d lost her seat in the 2019 election, she was “quite burned out,” adding, “The job is all-consuming. And you should be burned out when you’re done. There’s no work-life balance. But that’s not the job.”
“It’s not really a job,” Leslie added. “It’s a vocation. It’s a calling.”
Nowadays, Leslie is CEO of the World Wildlife Fund; Raitt just got a job this month with CIBC as vice-chair of global investment banking; and Philpott is serving as a volunteer special adviser on health for Nishnawbe Aski Nation (she’s a former Indigenous Services minister). She’ll also be doing some speaking, writing, and teaching until she settles down into a more formal and permanent gig.
These three women are proving three things: there is life after politics; they do rock; and they do belong. And, no doubt, they’re serving as role models for other women who are wondering whether there’s a place for them in the public life of this country.
The New Brunswick Liberal Party has won a majority government, and Susan Holt will become the first woman to lead the province.
Here’s the latest from election night. All times are ADT.
10:15 p.m.
The results of the New Brunswick election are in, and with virtually all of the ballots counted, the Liberals won 31 seats out of 49.
The Progressive Conservatives won 16 seats.
The Green Party won two.
Voter turnout was about 66 per cent.
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10 p.m.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has congratulated New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt for her party’s victory in the provincial election.
Trudeau says on the X platform he’s looking forward to working with Holt to build more homes, protect the country’s two official languages, and improve health care.
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9:48 p.m.
During her victory speech tonight in Fredericton, New Brunswick premier-designate Susan Holt thanked all the women who came before her.
Holt will become the first woman to lead the province after her party won a majority government in the New Brunswick election.
The Liberals are elected or leading in 31 of 49 ridings.
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9:30 p.m.
Blaine Higgs says he will begin a transition to replace him as leader of the Progressive Conservatives.
After being in power for six years, the Tories lost the election to the Liberals.
Higgs, who lost his seat of Quispamsis, says, “My leadership days are over.”
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9:17 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick since 2016, has lost in the riding of Quispamsis.
Higgs, 70, has been premier of New Brunswick since 2018, and was first elected to the legislature in 2010.
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8:45 p.m.
When asked about the election results, Progressive Conservative chief of staff Paul D’Astous says that over the last 18 months the party has had to contend with a number of caucus members who disagreed with its policy.
D’Astous says the Tories have also had to own what happened over the last six years, since they came to power in 2018, adding that the voters have spoken.
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8:39 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that David Coon, leader of the New Brunswick Green Party, has won the riding of Fredericton Lincoln.
Coon, 67, has been leader of the party since 2014, the year he was first elected to the legislature.
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8:36 p.m.
The Canadian Press is projecting that the New Brunswick Liberal Party has won a majority government in the provincial election.
Party leader Susan Holt will become the first woman premier in the province’s history.
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8:20 p.m.
Early returns show a number of close races across the province, with the Liberals off to an early lead.
Liberal campaign manager Katie Davey says the results will show whether party leader Susan Holt, a relative newcomer, was able to capture the attention and trust of the people of New Brunswick.
Davey says she believes voters have welcomed Holt and her message, which focused on pocketbook issues, especially health care.
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8 p.m.
Polls have closed.
Eyes will be on a number of key ridings including Fredericton South-Silverwood, where Liberal Leader Susan Holt is vying for a seat; Saint John Harbour, which has been competitive between the Tories and Liberals in recent elections; and Moncton East, a redrawn Tory-held riding that the Liberals have targeted.
At dissolution, the Conservatives held 25 seats in the 49-seat legislature. The Liberals held 16 seats, the Greens had three, there was one Independent and there were four vacancies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Susan Holt, premier-designate and leader of the New Brunswick Liberal party.
Born: April 22, 1977.
Early years: Raised in Fredericton, she attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and then spent a year in Toronto before moving abroad for three years, spending time in Australia and India.
Education: Earned a bachelor of arts in economics and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Queen’s University.
Family: Lives in Fredericton with her husband, Jon Holt, and three young daughters.
Hobbies: Running, visiting the farmers market in Fredericton with her family every Saturday.
Before politics: CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council, civil servant, business lobbyist, advocate, consultant and executive with an IT service company that trains and employs Indigenous people.
Politics: Worked as an adviser to former Liberal premier Brian Gallant. Won the leadership of the provincial Liberal party in August 2022 and was elected to the legislature in an April 2023 byelection.
Quote: “We don’t take it lightly that you have put your trust in myself and my team, and you have hope for a brighter future. But that hope I know is short-lived and it will be on us to deliver authentically, on the ground, and openly and transparently.” — Susan Holt, in her speech to supporters in Fredericton after the Liberals won a majority government on Oct. 21, 2024.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick voters have elected a Liberal majority government, tossing out the incumbent Progressive Conservatives after six years in power and handing the reins to the first woman ever to lead the province.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt is a relative newcomer to the province’s political scene, having won a byelection last year, eight months after she became the first woman to win the leadership of the party.
The Liberals appeared poised to take 31 of 49 seats to the Conservatives’ 16 and the Greens two.
Holt, 47, led the Liberals to victory after a 33-day campaign, thwarting Blaine Higgs’s bid to secure a third term as Tory premier.
The Liberal win marks a strong repudiation of Higgs’s pronounced shift to more socially conservative policies.
Higgs, meanwhile, lost in his riding of Quispamsis. In a speech to supporters in the riding, he confirmed that he would begin a leadership transition process.
As the Liberals secured their majority, Green Party Leader David Coon thanked his supporters and pledged to continue building the party, but he then turned his sights on the premier. “One thing is for sure,” he told a crowd gathered at Dolan’s Pub in Fredericton, “we know that Blaine Higgs is no longer the premier of this province.”
The election race was largely focused on health care and affordability but was notable for the remarkably dissimilar campaign styles of Holt and Higgs. Holt repeatedly promised to bring a balanced approach to governing, pledging a sharp contrast to Higgs’s “one-man show taking New Brunswick to the far right.”
“We need a government that acts as a partner and not as a dictator from one office in Fredericton,” she said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
Higgs focused on the high cost of living, promising to lower the provincial harmonized sales tax by two percentage points to 13 per cent — a pledge that will cost the province about $450 million annually.
Holt spent much of the campaign rolling out proposed fixes for a health-care system racked by a doctor shortage, overcrowded emergency rooms and long wait-times. A former business advocate and public servant, she promised to open 30 community health clinics across the province by 2028; remove the provincial sales tax from electricity bills; overhaul mental health services; and impose a three per cent cap on rent increases by 2025.
The 70-year-old Tory leader, a mechanical engineer and former Irving Oil executive, led a low-key campaign, during which he didn’t have any scheduled public events on at least 10 days — and was absent from the second leaders debate on Oct. 9.
Holt missed only two days of campaigning and submitted a 30-page platform with 100 promises, a far heftier document than the Tories’ two-page platform that includes 11 pledges.
When the election was called on Sept. 19, the Conservatives held 25 seats in the 49-seat legislature. The Liberals held 16 seats, the Green Party had three, there was one Independent and four vacancies. At least 25 seats are needed for a majority.
Higgs was hoping to become the first New Brunswick premier to win three consecutive elections since Liberal Frank McKenna won his third straight majority in 1995. But it was clear from the start that Higgs would have to overcome some big obstacles.
On the first day of the campaign, a national survey showed he had the lowest approval rating of any premier in the country. That same morning, Higgs openly mused about how he was perceived by the public, suggesting people had the wrong idea about who he really is.
“I really wish that people could know me outside of politics,” he said, adding that a sunnier disposition might increase his popularity. “I don’t know whether I’ve got to do comedy hour or I’ve got to smile more.”
Still, Higgs had plenty to boast about, including six consecutive balanced budgets, a significant reduction in the province’s debt, income tax cuts and a booming population.
Higgs’s party was elected to govern in 2018, when the Tories formed the province’s first minority government in almost 100 years. In 2020, he called a snap election — marking the first province to go to the polls during the COVID-19 pandemic — and won a slim majority.
Since then, 14 Tory caucus members have stepped down after clashing with the premier, some of them citing what they described as an authoritarian leadership style and a focus on conservative policies that represented a hard shift to the right.
A caucus revolt erupted last year after Higgs announced changes to the gender identity policy in schools. When several Tory lawmakers voted for an external review of the change, Higgs dropped dissenters from cabinet. A bid by some party members to trigger a leadership review went nowhere.
Higgs has also said a Tory government would reject all new applications for supervised drug-consumption sites, renew a legal challenge against the federal carbon pricing scheme and force people into drug treatment if authorities deem they “pose a threat to themselves or others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
