Stuart Benson

Stuart Benson began his professional journalism career in February 2020 with The Low Down to Hull and Back News in Wakefield, Que., where he won a Quebec Community Newspaper Award in 2021. He joined The Hill Times in 2022, reporting on political party apparatuses, advertising, and fundraising, policing and public safety, women and youth, marijuana, Canadian culture and heritage. Benson won the Ontario Community Newspaper Association’s 2025 award for Best Investigative News Story. He is also this paper’s regular "Party Central" columnist. Contact him at sbenson@hilltimes.com.

Conservative Order Paper question ‘king’ Colin Thackeray crowned 2026 Top Political Staffer

Conservative MP Todd Doherty’s ‘instrumental’ Michael Bailey, and the PMO’s ‘parliamentary affairs assassin’ Kate Legault-Meek also scored top spots in several categories in The Hill Times’ rejuvenated Top Political Staffers survey.

feature | BY STUART BENSON | September 16, 2026

‘This has always been bigger than the race’: presumptive Green leader Mike Morrice vows regrowth

Outgoing Green Leader Elizabeth May says Morrice is ‘just the right person’ to lead the party out of a ‘very tough, rough patch’ of the past seven years.

news | BY STUART BENSON | September 16, 2026

‘We need to be aware and get more aggressive’: Trump’s desire for Canada’s water runs deep, says AquaAction president

The U.S. president is not only trying to claim the name of Lake Ontario for America, but also ‘most of the lake’s volume,’ which should spur Canada to ‘step up’ on its national water strategy, say experts.

news | BY STUART BENSON | September 9, 2026

‘We’re in this for the long haul’: Canada must brace for ‘new reality’ beyond U.S. electoral calendar, says CLC’s Bruske

An Abacus poll suggests most U.S. voters in key midterm states oppose the trade war with Canada, but KPMG’s chief economist says the cost of that political leverage could permanently shrink our economy.

news | BY STUART BENSON | September 9, 2026

Conservatives’ ‘rational’ demands for trade clarity will satisfy few, say pollsters

Angus Reid’s Shachi Kurl says the division in the Tory base regarding the U.S. leaves Leader Pierre Poilievre with little room to attack as Canadians back the government’s trade stance.

news | BY STUART BENSON | September 2, 2026

‘Pro-Canada fervour’ puts separatists on the defensive in Quebec as trade war shifts provincial focus, say strategists

The Parti Québécois’ ‘aura of inevitability’ is fading as Quebecers ‘rally ’round the flag,’ their current premier, and Prime Minister Mark Carney, says former Conservative director of communications Dimitris Soudas.

news | BY STUART BENSON | September 2, 2026

American election denial ‘seeping in by osmosis’ as right-wing distrust drives falling confidence in Canadian voting

A McGill-led study finds trust in Elections Canada remains high overall, but researchers warn a deeper decline among right-wing and Conservative voters is a ‘signal of alarm’ for Canada’s democratic resilience.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 27, 2026

B.C. byelection ad complaint highlights campaigns’ responsibility to ‘get it right,’ says digital strategist

Strategist Cole Hogan called the ‘overly technical’ complaint a ‘frivolous’ response to pressure from the Conservative campaign outspending the Liberals 8-1 on online ads.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 26, 2026

Politico’s Canada Playbook turns five

Politico celebrates filing more than 1,000 Playbooks at the Commons in Ottawa with cake, cowboy koozies, and a packed midday birthday bash.

Hill Life & People | BY STUART BENSON | August 19, 2026

Trump punts tariffs, plugs Keystone pipeline

Plus, the candidates in the North Vancouver-Capilano byelection will face off in an all-candidates meeting this evening.

feature | BY PETER MAZEREEUW, RIDDHI KACHHELA, STUART BENSON | August 19, 2026

Media will have to register foreign-backed political messaging, says influence commissioner

Requiring media to register is ‘antithetical to how journalism actually works,’ says CAJ president Brent Jolly, while the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the ‘overly broad’ requirements are ‘not aligned’ with the registry’s ‘actual objectives.’

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 19, 2026

Battlefield Chicoutimi: Liberals set to go ‘all in’ on flipping Quebec seat as Tories eye unlikely odds in Vancouver

With nearly $324,000 in combined spending room versus the Bloc’s $99,000, the Conservatives need to triple-down on defending Chicoutimi–Le Fjord, says past party campaign manager Fred DeLorey.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 19, 2026

Former Liberal minister Alghabra calls Conservative criticisms over his inclusion in the anti-hate council ‘absurd political gamesmanship’

Amid mounting criticisms from the Jewish community, opposition MPs, and the U.S., members of the Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion are defending its composition and ‘work plan’ after two months and one meeting.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 12, 2026

Foreign influence registry gives journalists a ‘limited’ tool against ‘clandestine’ threat: national security expert Dan Stanton

The question of whether reporters will need to be counted in the new database also ‘gets at the debate over who is and isn’t a journalist,’ says former Carleton Journalism School director Chris Waddell.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 12, 2026

‘What more do you need?’ says Sen. Audette as researchers find ‘strong intersection’ between MMIWG and online human trafficking

A new report reinforces decades of advocates’ warnings about resource development and community safety, says former inquiry commissioner.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 5, 2026

Conservatives lose fundraising ‘bazooka’ as Liberals close the gap in first half of 2026

The Liberal Party’s fundraising is the most competitive it has been in a decade, but the slowing Conservative figures are more a byproduct of a current lack of electoral urgency, say politicos.

news | BY STUART BENSON | August 3, 2026