Our favourite Q&As from the past year
Every month in the magazine, we sit down with a newsmaker and grill them one-on-one. This year’s interviewees included powerful politicians like Bill Morneau, who at the time had just been appointed Justin Trudeau’s finance minister, and Kellie Leitch, the Conservative leadership candidate who’s running on a “Canadian values” platform that has earned her comparisons to Donald Trump. We also interviewed an artisanal whiskey distiller and a Canadian soldier who volunteered to join the fight against ISIS in Iraq. As we look forward to another year of Q&As, here are ten of our favourites from 2016. Click the titles to read them.
John Tory, one-year veteran of the mayor’s chair
Key quote: “I don’t think you want to discourage candidates from making bold proposals.”
Kellie Leitch, the potential future prime minister who wants to bring President-elect Trump’s message to Canada
Key quote: “I would say that I shouldn’t be so verbose.”
Doug Ford, whose new book aims to set the record straight on his brother’s disastrous mayoralty
Key quote: “I hate losing. I don’t care if it’s checkers, Monopoly, whatever. I hate it. I’d like to take another run at Tory.”
Mitzie Hunter, the new cabinet minister in charge of Ontario’s unruly school system
Key quote: “The premier called and I answered.”
Tracey Cook, the licensing and standards chief who took on the cab industry
Key quote: “My staff advised me not to go out there, but I did anyway. I felt it was my duty. Then suddenly 100 cabbies closed in on me, and I was surrounded.”
Jesse Razaqpur, the artisanal whiskey distiller who sued the LCBO
Key quote: “The LCBO charge a 140 per cent markup, which is fine for the bottles in their stores. But for the ones we sell ourselves, we pay for our trucks, employees, bricks and mortar. We believe that constitutes taxation without representation, because Queen’s Park never legislated it.”
Mary Ann Turcke, president of Bell Media
Key quote: “The Internet might be borderless, but content rights aren’t.”
Bill Morneau, new finance minister and the face of Canada’s deficit deep-dive
Key quote: “The way to help the middle class is by raising taxes on the wealthiest. Its impact on me is beside the point.”
David MacNaughton, Justin Trudeau’s man in Washington D.C.
Key quote: “My words of wisdom for Mr. Obama: when it comes to daughters and dating, fear is an asset.”
Dillon Hillier, the rogue Canadian soldier who fought ISIS
Key quote: “I didn’t want to sit back and watch the world burn on CNN.”
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