The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Toronto is entering another defining political moment. With the next mayoral race already taking shape, voters, city-builders, community leaders, and business voices are asking what kind of leadership Canada’s largest city needs now.
From Queen’s Park to Parliament Hill, questions of affordability, infrastructure, immigration, wildfires, taxation, trade, and public trust are shaping political landscape at all three levels of government.
At the same time, Canada’s political agenda is becoming more complex: the future of the USMCA agreement, renewed debates about Canada’s economic sovereignty, Global political shifts, and questions about the durability of Canada’s National Unity, are all adding new dimensions to how parties, leaders, and voters think about the year ahead.
Against this backdrop, the Empire Club of Canada brings together some of the country’s most seasoned political observers and strategists for a fast-paced evening of insight, candour, and analysis — exploring the campaigns, policy choices, public moods, and strategic calculations that are shaping municipal, provincial, and federal politics.
Join Kory Teneycke, one of Canada’s most influential conservative strategists, Cofounder and CEO Rubicon Strategy Inc.; Peter Donolo, veteran Liberal strategist and communications advisor; Jordan Leichnitz, Canada Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; and Robert Benzie, Queen’s Park Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star, for a lively conversation on the campaigns, personalities, policies, and power shifts that will shape the city, the province, and the country.
Kicking off this event will be renowned pollster Nik Nanos, Chief Data Scientist and Founder, Nanos Research to provide special remarks and a presentation outlining polling data — and more importantly — incites on the mood of the Toronto, Ontario and Canadian electorate.
Mark your calendars for September 29, 2026! Join us for an unforgettable evening of passed canapés, drinks, and a vibrant atmosphere designed to inspire and connect.
This is an Empire Nights event, proudly presented by the Empire Club of Canada.
Nik Nanos is one of Canada’s leading public opinion researchers and political analysts. As Founder and Chief Data Scientist of Nanos Research, he has spent more than three decades tracking the attitudes, priorities, and concerns of Canadians through thousands of research projects conducted across North America and around the world. A regular commentator on Canadian politicsN and public affairs, Nik is the pollster of record for CTV News, Bloomberg Canada, and in The Globe and Mail, where he helps audiences understand the forces shaping elections, public policy, and voter behaviour. His expertise lies in translating complex data and social trends into clear, actionable insights. Nik is the Chancellor of Carleton University, and is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Kory Teneycke has spent the past 30 years working on campaigns at the provincial and federal levels. He has also served in numerous political roles, including as former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Director of Communications and Premier Ford’s Campaign Manager for the 2018, 2022 and 2025 provincial elections. He is a regular political commentator on the Curse of Politics podcast and CTV’s Question Period. Kory is the co-founder and CEO of Rubicon Strategy – a leading public affairs consulting firm serving clients in both federal and provincial markets.
Peter Donolo has served as a senior advisor to leaders in all three orders of government, most notably as the longest serving Director of Communications for a Canadian Prime Minister (The Rt Hon Jean Chretien). He is the former Vice Chair of Hill+ Knowlton Strategies Canada and, prior to that, was a partner at the Strategic Counsel. In both those positions, he provided strategic communications advice to CEOs and senior executives of some of Canada’s largest companies as well as to public agencies and government departments and ministries. He has also served as Canada’s Consul General in Milan, Italy; Senior Vice President of Air Canada; SVP of the 2015 Pan Am Games; Chief of Staff for the Leader of the Official Opposition and Advisor on Intergovernmental Affairs in the Cabinet Office of Government of Ontario.
Peter currently serves on the boards of Journalists for Human Rights, Transparency International Canada, PEN Canada and the Canadian International Council (CIC).
Peter is the co-host of the CIC’s Red Passport podcast, which focusses on Canada’s role in the world. He is a a frequently contributor to Canada’s leading newspapers, including The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star.
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.
Jordan Leichnitz is a political advisor with two decades of experience in progressive strategy, civil society and electoral campaigns at the federal, provincial and municipal level. She spent ten years on Parliament Hill working in senior positions for four Leaders of the New Democratic Party of Canada, including serving as Deputy Chief of Staff, overseeing policy development and handling issues management for the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition. Since 2020, Jordan has led the Canadian operations of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany’s oldest and largest political foundation. She is a frequent media commentator, and a regular on CBC and The Curse of Politics podcast. Jordan holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Ottawa, and lives in Ottawa with her partner and two young children.
