John Ivison is a

Scottish Canadian Scottish Canadians () are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and amongst the first Europeans to settle in the country, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian cultur ...

journalist and author. He is an

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

-based political columnist for the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' and Ottawa Bureau Chief. Raised in

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, he worked as a reporter for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' newspaper in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and as deputy business editor of ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by National World and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in ...

''. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario, where he earned a Masters of Arts in journalism. He moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1998, as part of the team that launched the ''

''. After five years at the ''

Financial Post The ''Financial Post'' is a financial news website, and business section of the ''National Post'', both publications of the Postmedia Network. It started as an English Canadian business newspaper, which published from 1907 to 1998. In 1998, the ...

'', Ivison moved to the news section of the National Post, where he has covered provincial politics in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and federal politics in Ottawa since 2003. Ivison has appeared as a panelist on various Canadian public affairs programs, including the

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It is Canada's first all-news channel, and the world's third-oldest television service of this ...

's ''

Power & Politics ''Power & Politics'' is a Canadian television news program focused on national politics, which airs live daily on CBC News Network from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time weekdays and as a syndicated podcast. The program is produced from the CBC Ott ...

and Cross-Country Check-Up, CTV's Power Play'' with Don Martin and ''

Question Period Question Period (QP; ), known officially as Oral Questions (), occurs each sitting day in the House of Commons of Canada—similarly in provincial legislatures—in which members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (includin ...

'' with

Evan Solomon Evan Solomon (born April 20, 1968) is a Canadian politician and broadcaster who has been the minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation since May 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Solomon was elected as the member of Parliam ...

and CPAC's Prime Time Politics with Peter Van Dusen. Ivison is the author of ''Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister'' (2019), a biography of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

into the last year of his government's first mandate. He is also the author of a fictional novel, ''The Riotous Passions of Robbie Burns''. Ivison has written for diverse publications including the National Enquirer and in 2020 covered Canada for

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

. In April 2022, he was officially sanctioned by the Russian Federation for articles opposing the invasion of Ukraine. Ivison was the co-founder, together with Senator

Doug Finley Michael Douglas Finley (July 25, 1946 – May 11, 2013) was a Canadian Senator and was Campaign Director for the Conservative Party of Canada during the 2006 and 2008 federal elections and the party's director of Political Operations. History ...

, and first executive director of the Scottish Society of Ottawa (2012 - 2017), a Scottish cultural not-for-profit organization, and hosts of Hogman-eh!, Ottawa's Scottish style New Year's Eve celebration.

Bibliography

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References

Living people Scottish emigrants to Canada People from Dumfries National Post people The Scotsman people Canadian political commentators Canadian political journalists Year of birth missing (living people) People from Bradford-on-Avon Alumni of the University of Glasgow McMaster University alumni University of Western Ontario alumni The Economist people Canadian male non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian journalists {{Canada-nonfiction-writer-stub