Catherine McKenna's cautionary optimism of running like a girl

She was mocked as a "Climate Barbie', doxxed and threatened. But the Ottawa MP's book, Run Like A Girl, shows hope for women in politics.

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I first met Catherine McKenna at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend during the run-up to the 2015 federal election. I knew I wouldn’t be voting for her, although my reasons weren’t ideological. Her opponent, Ottawa Centre incumbent Paul Dewar, had been a friend of mine since we were teenagers. He was a pickup hockey teammate and a teacher to both my kids at Hopewell school. On top of all that, I admired what he stood for. Article content

Still, by the end of the evening, I thought: “It’s too bad they’re not running in different ridings; she’d make a good MP.” Article content Article content

And she did, defeating Dewar and