The Ben Mulroney Show - Does Catherine McKenna "Run like a Girl"? You're damn right!

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

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So in our previous segment, we were talking about our, our minister of public safety, who accidentally found himself being recorded. And in that moment was very candid, very honest. And it was, and I said, It says something that we don't often hear from politicians. In fact, normally you've got to wait for politicians to resign before they relax it all, before they let their guard down because what they say, the stakes are not as high. And so one person who did not have that problem when she was in politics and is our next guest.

She was our Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2015 to 2019. She was the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities from 2019 to 2021, member of Parliament for Ottawa Center for that entire time. Please welcome to the show, Catherine McKenna. Hello, Catherine. How are you? I'm great to be on your show. It's great to be on.

I'm great. Very happy to have you. And it is true. You know, when we spoke when you were in politics or out of politics, you're always the same person, always the same person. You didn't put on airs and you certainly didn't have the patina of politics that people could not pierce. Well, I'm from Hamilton.

From the hammer, you better not be fancy. So you've been out, you've been out for, since 2021. Tell me, before we get to the book, the reason you're here, which is out today, tell me what you've been doing since 2021. Well, I decided to leave politics, as you say, not because I had to. I decided, you know, I'd done what I'd come to do, and it was time to move on. So I just started my own business. I'm actually kind of more of an entrepreneur.

So I think government, people read my book. It's got a lot of pictures, scrapbook format. learn a lot about me in competitive swimming in Hamilton and a bunch of things. But when I cut out of politics, I decided, okay, I'm going to still work on climate. So I'm still working on climate and getting infrastructure, an infrastructure built. That's doing some work for the United Nations Secretary General, working, you know, with countries like the U.S., California, folks are working on climate. And then I also advise boards and I kind of do my own thing. That's a good news. Once you leave, you can do whatever you want. So that is good. I like it.

feel fulfilled? I mean, look, it's really hard working on climate change now, and I talk to people across party lines. Like, we have these wildfires, and these moms are so worried about their kids. You know, I was talking to a mom from Winnipeg, and she was saying, like, this summer was the worst ever. It was so smoky every single day. So they're, like, canceling their soccer games.

They're at the cottage, and you can't see the sun. Like, you know, things are bad. Plus, we have all these amazing solutions. So I try to be, you know, positive that, like, we have great solutions. Let's just move forward, but it's pretty hard out there and, you know, watching politics. I heard you talking about the U.S. Like, your dad was an amazing example of a statesman from a different party, but he worked really closely with George Bush Sr. to tackle really big problems like acid rain or just clean water in the Great Lakes. And so it makes me sad. So globally, it's really hard. And like, you know, people going after our sovereignty, I'm very Canada first.

So I'm like, you know, elbows up. Elbows up, Canada. We're just going to keep on going. Well, let's move on to, I guess, did you do this in your spare time? Because you're now a published author. Your book Run Like a Girl. A memoir of ambition, resilience, and fighting for change is out today. Congratulations.

So you have an idea for a book and then you finish the book. Was the idea that you started with, the book that you finished, with? Probably not. Like, it was during COVID, and I was kind of going bonkers. And I'm a pack rat. So, like, many people. So people laugh probably at the book. Like, there's a picture of me, you know, as a swimmer. So, like, on the blocks. Or there's a picture of my grandfather who fought for Irish independence. Or there's, you know, you know, stuff about the hammer. Hilton. And your dad, your dad figures prominently. He was extremely supportive. There's Arnold Schwarzenegger. People might like this picture we called. He phacetime me and he had a cigar in his mouth. And I figured out

how to take a picture because I was like, I must document this. So look, it was just a story you know, kind of, you know, my time. But it's like, you know, I'm just a regular person who got into politics. I was in a climate person. I just was trying to do things and just talked about that. But then I realize right now, I think it's really hard there. And I think we need to inspire each other. And I want young people and women to feel like they can make change and they don't have to be special. They have their own journey, wherever they're from.

I was from an Irish Catholic family in Hamilton. Like, that's where I came from. I didn't have any idea how to make change. I didn't dream about being a politician. I want to go to the Olympics. The story in there is I tried really hard. I didn't make it. But so what?

I made me tougher and made me realize what a team is. And I talk about challenges with Justin Trudeau's team. And so it's really a story about my experience, but now I think more than ever, I'm really hoping to inspire young people. I think it's been super hard. We've got an affordability crisis. We've got an affordability crisis. Like, it's hard. Are you trying to inspire young women to go into politics?

Are you trying to inspire young women to go into some sort of activism, or is it you're just trying to want to inspire them writ large? Well, I mean, look, I did a bunch of different things. on human rights. I went into politics. I, you know, worked out, worked on climate and still work on climate. So, I mean, it's about inspiring, like, change and what you want to do and the way you want to do it. But of course, I want more women and girls to go into politics. And people said, well, then why do you talk about these bad things? The reason I talk about these bad things, and I don't like talking about threats to me or my family or to my staff, I hate it. But it's not because I want sympathy. I'm not a politics. I don't care. I want

changed. So I felt like I said when I left politics, I would stand up for women and girls who wanted to go into politics. So that's part of doing that. It's like standing up and saying, it's not okay. And you will see in the book also a lovely letter from a conservative voter in New Brunswick. And he handed me the letter at the airport. You know, you and I go through airports a lot. And I was kind of scared. Like when people come to me, I still have this like weird thing like, I know what's going to happen here. He handed it to me. And then I read it. He walked off, and it was the loveliest letter. You can see the letter there. It's from Luigi and New Brunswick, and he said, like, look, I'm a conservative. We probably agree on

nothing policy-wise, but I didn't like what you went through. And I- Remind our listeners. Catherine, remind our listeners about a little bit of the blood sport, a little bit of that episode that was so difficult. Well, so it's kind of weird. It started off with me being slammed this climate Barbie, and people might think that's funny. Even my kids like, who cares, Barbie went to the moon. But you'll see in my book, like, I have a jar of seaweed because I didn't play with Barbies. I don't care if people played with Barbies, but we used to, like, put seaweed in the sun, and then we would throw it at the boys who would break our forts.

So, like, I wasn't a Barbie, and it was trying to diminish me and, you know, make me like a bimbo and also, you know, that climate wasn't a thing. So that was the start, but then it really accelerated. Like, when we brought in carbon pricing, I was getting threats. They were off social media. There was a massive campaign. You can read about, like, people have studied my social media, and then it went offline, and the offline stuff was really disturbing. I don't even talk about all of it.

Like, you know, people wrote, someone wrote the C word on my office. I had threats. I had death threats. And, like, some of it just came out now from the RCMP, who didn't actually do a lot, to be honest. Like, I'm sorry. I just got all these threats because I was in politics. So we do need people to support people. So it was really hard.

Like, and I mean, look, I'm very tough. I'm from Hamilton, a competitive swimmer. My grandfather fought for Irish independence, but I was like, okay, this is enough. Like, just stop it. And the funny thing is, people might think, like, a lot of people felt like, oh, I'm really sorry what you went to you. I understand why you left politics. I almost stayed in politics because I thought people would think I left politics because

people chase me out, and that's the opposite of my mentality. Yeah. But I was like, okay, I got to do other things. Like, I didn't get into politics to be there forever. No, and listen, when you said you left because you had done everything, you wanted to do. That is, I think, the right approach everyone should have. It shouldn't be a job forever. It's a job for a moment because you see a problem and you want to attack it in a particular way. You want to bring solutions to bear on that issue. And once you've done, once you're done

attacking the issues, win, lose, or draw, it's time to leave and it's time to give somebody else a chance, a kick at the can to solve their problems. And look, you and I are not a cut from the same political cloth, but we spend a lot of time together. surprise yeah but you know i i have i've always been taken by your passion and by your energy and by your willingness uh to uh you know you you you see that which is not there and you want you manifest it and you want you want to make it real and that is absolutely admirable uh and and i and i want to thank you so much for coming on the show so the book is called run like a girl it's in stores now and i you know you're you're going to inspire a lot of girls i hope you

inspire a lot of boys, too, because we need Well, you're like, okay, I will say the title, it's called Run Like a Girl. I am a girl. I identify as women, but it's just about how to make change and I hope people go read it. I also hope they get a good laugh. Like, my dad is very funny. He was kind of bonkers and

Irish, and there's lots of good stories in there. But most of all, we got to inspire people, and we've got to be all reasonable. Like, politics is hard. We've got to do big things for our country. But thank you very much, Ben. It's great being on, and your dad was a great mentor, so thank you to him. Matthew McKenna, a pleasure. I hope you come back soon.

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