She’s one of Canada’s most respected journalists, and since stepping in to host CBC’s flagship political program, Rosemary Barton’s star just keeps getting brighter.

After Power & Politics host Evan Solomon was fired in June over controversial commissions for art sales, Barton took over in an interim role — which she would like to make permanent.

Barton’s transition was seamless because she had the credentials and experience. She had been part of the team that created P & P, which first aired in 2009. In 2011, Barton became the show’s Friday host, and she filled in when Solomon wasn’t there. Her fan base grew.

“In terms of this job, obviously it’s not how I expected it to unfold,” she says of her temporary hosting role, adding when the posting for a full-time replacement went up, “I applied for the job.”

A woman hosting a political show “is a good thing,” she adds. So far, no announcement has been made.

Online, media watchers and admirers had long been singing her praises, urging CBC decision-makers to hire the take-no-guff journalist as permanent host. Her popularity soared after Barton called out Chris Alexander, at the time the immigration minister, for skirting her questions and telling a lie during a live segment on the Syrian refugee crisis Sept. 2.

“It took on a life of its own because of inaccurate information from Chris Alexander, which I decided to correct,” Barton says from her desk in the newsroom at CBC in Ottawa. She pushed back after he said the number of migrant deaths had been growing for years and that Canada was leading the “humanitarian response.”

When Barton asked why the government wasn’t acting faster, Alexander tried to deflect.

He charged that Power & Politics had not featured the refugee issue on previous programs. Barton volleyed back, saying his comment was “completely false.”

“If you want to avoid the question, let’s just be clear that that’s what’s happening,” Barton said. Program producers soon confirmed the number of times the Syrian crisis was raised during previous shows — 32 times.

Alexander returned the next day “saying different things in a different tone and doing damage control,” Barton told the Star. By that time her legend had grown and #BartonBeating became a beacon for her followers.

“Now that’s a journalist! Someone give her a raise and a promotion,” one person commented on YouTube.

“I always liked Rosemary Barton, and after that ass-kicking she delivered, I like her even more!” wrote another.

“…by holding the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to account, by calling out his refusal to answer questions and his contradictory responses, Rosemary Barton had struck a blow for democracy,” the feminist Elle Beaver website reported.

“Journalism works in the public interest, so when a politician dismisses a journalist’s question, he or she dismisses the electorate. Barton’s remarks (were) Canadian journalism with purpose, journalism at its finest — and for Canadians, it was a moment where we were assured that our media doesn’t have to be establishment-friendly and can play a role in redressing inequities.”

While she loves being in front of the camera, Barton says “I’m not comfortable being part of a story.” Still, when people are feeding her a line, she challenges them. “If I’m not doing that, I’m not doing my job.”

For Barton, it’s all about “hard work, opportunities and luck,” she says adding the team at P & P “make me look smarter and better.” She also credits CBC’s managing editor of the parliamentary bureau, Rob Russo, who “is a big motivator. He wants more breaking, original stories and pushes me to a good spot.”

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From her early years as a researcher for CBC’s French-language news network, RDI, she went on to cover the Dawson College shooting in 2006, to reporting on politics from Parliament Hill, to covering the first official foreign visit of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But Barton admits journalism isn’t something she dreamed about growing up. “I got there in a meandering way,” she says adding that politics “is not something I spent decades reading about or studying.”

Television drew her “because I found the immediacy of it attractive. I like the accessibility.”

The job offers unrivalled opportunities to meet people from all walks of life, and developing good sources and getting people to open up is the key to success. Still, she’s picky about her friends.

“And I only go for coffee or lunch with the people I like.”