Of all the books that have already been written about the Conservative Party’s 2006 electoral breakthrough, Chantal Hébert’s French Kiss is the most useful to understanding not only Stephen Harper’s victory but the circumstances that helped bring it about.

Earlier books about this election have put forward a number of ideas to explain the Conservative minority government – that it was a combination of Harper’s tactical brilliance and Paul Martin’s political ineptitude; that it was the culmination of the resurgence of a conservative alternative; that it was the result of a divided progressive vote – but none of those seem as logical as Hébert’s strongly argued analysis.

Hébert, a columnist for the Toronto Star and Le Devoir, suggests that Harper’s success in Quebec is not as surprising as some have thought. The provincial governments of Alberta and Quebec, Hébert contends, worked, for different reasons, outside the confines of the federal government during the Jean Chretien years. Quebec established one of the most progressive governments in North America, most notably providing inexpensive child care, among other social programs. At the same time, Alberta, reaping the rewards of the post-9/11 boom in oil prices, became the country’s economic powerhouse and used the windfall to cut taxes. The political agendas of the two provinces may lie at opposite ends of the spectrum, but the underlying desire for increased provincial autonomy is the same.

Hébert presents a great deal of information in a clear and concise manner. Her prose, which is prone to occasional bouts of awkwardness in the Star, is clearer and crisper here than it has ever been. But perhaps the best thing about French Kiss is Hébert’s objectivity – even though one does gets the strong sense that she supports progressive policies, if not always the politicians attempting to implement them. These days, the notion of an objective reporter is becoming quaint, but its value is on display here.