My father taught me many things. Two of them come to mind right now: Stay true to your values. You can compromise on policies, but not your fundamental values or else you will get lost in the world of politics. The second thing is to listen to whoever you are talking to. People in your street, other politicians, company heads and workers. Learn from them.

The Conservatives are demonstrating that they don't understand the importance of cultural industries, of artists, of creators, not just to Canadian identity, but to growing the economy. The fact is, investing in the stories that bind us together as a nation in both official languages, ensuring that Canadians understand each other's lives and experiences is at the heart of the mandate of the CBC.

Ultimately, being open and respectful towards each other is much more powerful as a way to diffuse hatred and anger than, you know, layering on, you know, big walls and oppressive policies.

The big frustration for me is that people are growing so cynical about politics that you see them basically shrug and say, "Oh, yeah. Who cares that Harper is shutting down debate? Who cares that he's building prisons, and everything? All the politicians are the same so why should we be outraged about one rather than the other?" And my point is Canadians need to wake up. This is not the Canada they'd recognize if they looked closely.

Trade is good for the economy. Trade creates growth. The problem is that it creates growth but it does not think about distribution of the benefits of that growth.

Every time, every time a tourist or an immigrant or a refugee shows up in another country there's a security risk.

Excluding citizens' voices from politics leads down a very bad path.