The Empire Club of Canada
In-Person Event
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
With a new President in Washington being sworn in on January 20th making new promises to upend the trading relationship between Canada and the United States, Canadians are bracing for a new world order. Canadians are also headed for the polls in 2025 federally, and rumours are swirling around a potential provincial election in Ontario as well. What impact will this have on the public view, and the stories that we read, process, and think about in 2025?
The Empire Club has invited journalists Robert Benzie, Queens Park Bureau Chief, Toronto Star, Adrienne Batra, Editor and Chief, Toronto Sun and Marieke Walsh, Senior Political Reporter, Ottawa, Globe and Mail, to share their predictions for the key political stories that will shape Canada.
In this “turn-the-tables” moment, the panel of journalists will be interviewed by prominent political commentator Scott Reid — challenging the tradition of journalist and interviewee. An idea that will promise to yield fresh perspectives on the political landscape ahead that you cannot miss.
On January 22, 2025, join The Empire Club of Canada as we present our Empire Nights event, The Journalists’ Forecast: Big Stories of 2025 that will Shape Canada.
As President Donald Trump assumes office for his second term, we bring you an engaging evening of analysis and conversation from the very people who write the stories that matter and can process the issues, trends, and events that will define the upcoming year in politics — reflecting on the Global landscape that Canada finds itself in.
The event will include refreshments and an opportunity for networking, fostering an atmosphere of dialogue and insight among attendees who are passionate about the future of Canadian politics. Don’t miss this chance to hear from some of the best in the field as they forecast what lies ahead for our nation.
Adrienne Batra was born and raised in Saskatchewan. She has an undergraduate degree in political science and a Masters in Public Administration. Ms. Batra worked at the Saskatchewan Legislature as a researcher with the opposition caucus office. She then moved on to be the Manitoba Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canada’s largest taxpayer advocacy group. In 2010, Ms. Batra was the Director of Communications for the Rob Ford for Mayor campaign, and moved on to serve in the Office of the Mayor as Ford’s Press Secretary. Upon leaving City Hall, she became the Comment Editor and columnist for the Toronto Sun and political commentator on Newstalk 1010.Â
In June of 2015, Ms. Batra was appointed as the Editor in Chief of the Toronto Sun and 24Hours Toronto. She has appeared on Fox Business News, CNN and BBC and is a frequent contributor on Global News and CTV News Channel, CP24 and AM640.
Ms. Batra also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, obtaining the rank of Lieutenant, and was nominated for a YWCA Woman of Distinction award. In 2013 she was awarded with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and serves on the Board of Governors for the National Newspaper Awards, Canadian Journalism Foundation and is a board member of George Brown College and the Randolph School of the Arts.
Robert Benzie is Queen’s Park Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star. He is responsible for coordinating the provincial political coverage for Canada’s largest circulation newspaper. Before joining the Star in 2003, he covered Queen’s Park and Toronto City Hall for the National Post, a paper he helped launch as its Deputy Toronto Editor in 1998. Prior to that, he worked for the Toronto Sun and the Ottawa Sun. Benzie has covered countless elections and leadership contests at federal, provincial and municipal levels. In 2024, he was part of the Star/Narwhat team that won the Michener Award for Public Service Journalism for coverage of the Greenbelt scandal as well as the National Newspaper Award for sustained news coverage.
Scott Reid is one of Canada’s most soughtafter corporate communications and issues management professionals and a founder of the firm Feschuk.Reid. A former senior advisor to Prime Minister Paul Martin, he has counselled countless CEOs, senior executives and political leaders. Scott currently serves as an on-air analyst for CTV News, Newstalk 1010AM and the Bellmedia network and was previously a columnist for the Ottawa Citizen.
In 2022, Scott was named one of Canada’s 50 most influential Canadians by Maclean’s Magazine for his work on the popular Curse of Politics podcast. He is a Fellow at the Clayton Riddell School of Political Management at Carleton University and is an Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University’s School of Policy Studies where he teaches a course on government & public communications as part of the Masters of Public Administration program. Scott holds a B.A. (Honours) from Queens University and is the father of four sons.
Marieke Walsh is a senior political reporter in The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa Bureau. Since joining The Globe in 2019, she has covered two federal elections, a global pandemic and the resulting race to land PPE and vaccines, and spent several months in Europe reporting on everything from the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine to the Queen’s funeral.
Most recently her reporting has focused on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s struggle to recapture the electorate. She has broken several stories on the Liberal Party’s multiple attempts to reset, including their efforts to recruit former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney into government.
She regularly provides political analysis on radio and television for both CBC and CTV.
Before joining The Globe, Marieke covered the Ontario legislature for iPolitics, and the Nova Scotia legislature for Global News. She started her journalism career on Parliament Hill producing political TV shows.
