The Empire Club of Canada
In Person Only
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
This is an Empire Nights event, proudly presented by the Empire Club of Canada.
Canadians are on the brink of a history-making choice on April 28, 2025. All major political parties have undergone a massive change in fortune – prompted by Mark Carney’s Liberal Leadership victory and a Trade war waged by U.S. President Donald Trump (as covered in our March’s Empire Nights event).
There is more to public opinion research than meets the eye. Pollsters concluded after the 2015 election that Stephen Harper would have been re-elected had the same exact voters from the 2011 election voted again in 2015 – but demographics are constantly shifting. New shifts in 2025 include the increased likelihood that young men under 40 will support the Conservative Party of Canada. Are they motivated to vote? What impact will this have on this election result and beyond?
With Pierre Poilievre pulling-in massive crowds for his rallies across Canada, some are questioning whether the Canada-wide polling in favour of Mark Carney is a mirage.
By April 28, all Canadians will know the election result, but Empire Nights will feature a panel of expert pollsters to tell you what is really behind the result – and what it means for our politics going forward.
On the evening of May 6th, the Empire Club of Canada is proud to present: The Pollsters: The Story of Canada’s Election and the New Government’s First 100 Days.
Join us for an insightful evening event featuring three of Canada’s leading pollsters:
David Coletto, Founder, Chair, and CEO of Abacus Data
Kyla Ronellenfitsch, Founder of Relay Strategies
Sébastien Dallaire, Executive Vice President, Eastern Canada, Léger
Each will share their unique perspective on the recent election and its implications. Following their presentations, they will sit down with Robert Benzie, journalist and Queen’s Park Bureau Chief at the Toronto Star, to explore what lies ahead for Canada’s new government — and what the first 100 days may reveal about the priorities of the next Prime Minister.
Join us in partnership with the Niagara Roundtable for an unforgettable evening of passed canapés, drinks, and a vibrant atmosphere designed to inspire and connect.
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.
Named one of Canada’s top 100 most influential people in Canadian politics by The Hill Times, David Coletto is one of Canada’s most recognizable pollsters and commentators on politics, consumer behaviour, and the workplace.
He is Chair, CEO and founder of Abacus Data, a full-service market research and strategy firm based in Ottawa and Toronto. With almost two decades of experience in the industry, David and his partners founded Abacus 14 years ago and since then it has grown into one of Canada’s most respected market research firms.
He earned a PhD in Political Science from the University of Calgary in 2010 is an adjunct professor at Carleton University. He is the host and producer of inFocus with David Coletto a podcast that explores the intersection of public opinion, politics, public policy, and consumer behaviour. He is also the official pollster for the Toronto Star and The Logic.
Sébastien Dallaire serves as the Executive Vice President at Léger, Canada’s largest independent market research and analytics firm. With over 25 years of experience in public opinion research, he is one of Canada’s leading experts in understanding citizens’ and voters’ attitudes and behaviors and regular political commentator on national and regional media outlets. He is based in Montreal, Quebec.
Kyla Ronellenfitsch is a pollster, data scientist, and commentator with over a decade of experience conducting research in Canada and the United States.
In 2021, Kyla founded Relay Strategies, where she pioneered the use of texting to conduct qualitative research. Relay now operates as a full-service public opinion research firm. She is the author of the influential newsletter, Relay with Kyla Ronellenfitsch, where she discusses Canadian political data and strategy.
Kyla began her career at the Gandalf Group, where she led the research for the Ontario Liberal Party during the 2018 provincial election. She later joined the Democratic polling firm, Change Research, leading their thought leadership during the 2024 Presidential cycle. And she’s fresh off the campaign trail, having polled for the federal Liberal campaign.
She holds a Master of Science in Analytics from the University of Chicago and degrees from Carleton University. She is the first alumnus to teach in the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management.
