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.

You cannot let yourself be defined by the hopes that you will fulfill the darkest wishes of your opponents.

We have extraordinary women running for us right across Canada, and I look forward to showing that women are needed in positions of power. And I certainly hope that, after people see how effective a cabinet with a gender parity in it is, we're going to draw even more women into politics in subsequent elections.

One of the most important things in any leader or in any successful approach is to focus on connecting with people and really listening to them. We shouldn't just be saying, oh yes, the people are protesting. We need to ask them why they are protesting and try and figure out if there is something we can do to bring them in and respond to those concerns. That's not populism - that's being thoughtfully open to the fact that our citizens are allowed to have, and are even justified in having, very real concerns and questions for the people responsible for serving them.

Connecting with Canadians isn't about what you say, it's about what you're listening to. It's about what you understand.

Business as usual doesn't work, that we're in a time where we have to rethink a lot of the basic ground rules and assumptions of our civilizations.

Politicians have available a very nice EAP [employee assistance program]. There are psychological services available. All they have to do is pick up a phone. All the parties encourage them to do that. There are very few politicians who, once they're elected, take the time to rest and recover, whether you look at John Tory's schedule or Kathleen Wynne.