Amy Marlene Robichaud (second from right) sits with the competition for the televised portion of ‘Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister ( Photo: Molly Dugnan )
Sorry political science Ravens – it seems our ‘Next Great Prime Minister’ is studying at the University of Ottawa.
On March 18, Amy Marlene Robichaud, a fourth-year political science student from Calgary, took home the title and a $50,000 prize after dominating the final round of the CBC reality TV show Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister.
Robichaud became the third winner of the annual show hosted by Alex Trebek, which started 14 years ago as a simple essay contest organized by Magna International.
On stage with the three other finalists for the last challenge, Robichaud was forced to respond to a political nightmare scenario posed by a panel of former prime ministers: Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin.
“All four of them are so intimidating, but also so inspiring,” Robichaud said.
She responded in the affirmative to her nightmare question of whether she would return a Canadian who was molesting children in Asia to Canada to stand trial.
Her sure-footed response to the crisis situation secured Robichaud 50 per cent of the studio audience’s vote – a vote all the more significant when considering the studio audience was carefully selected to match the demographics of Canada.
Robichaud shared the credit for her victory with her parents, who she said started her on the road to her hypothetical majority government at a young age.
“They’re big media buffs,” Robichaud said. “Opinions are always flying around the table, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner.”
Robichaud began competitive debate at age 12, her passion for politics already a large part of who she was.
Even with such an experienced background, Robichaud found the grueling selection process of the reality TV show to be a difficult challenge.
First, a teleconference-style interview was used to cull the hundreds of video submissions to a mere 10 competitors.
“It was a 25 minute absolute grilling session. There were about eight people on the other end of the conference call and there was question after question after question,” Robichaud said.
The 10 successful candidates were then sent to a three-day political boot camp filled with time-sensitive crises and diplomatic headaches.
“It was so intense. It was like a three-day non-stop job interview,” Robichaud said. “The 10 of us bonded so much just over having a passion for politics.”
From there, four hours of careful deliberation led to the selection of the final four contestants for the actual filmed portion of the competition.
Ultimately though, despite Robichaud’s success and desire to play a part in Canadian politics, she said she believes a lot needs to change with the Canadian political scene before she jumps into the ring.
“I think it’s ridiculous that once an MP gets to Ottawa they’re a back bencher, their only role is really to tow the party line” Robichaud said. “I don’t think constituents get truly represented.”
The real rewards of the competition, according to Robichaud, go beyond the prize money and six-month paid internship with Magna International.
“I had an opportunity to have some time out with Kim Campbell and really talk about women in politics and her experiences,” Robichaud said. “That was so humbling and such an amazing experience and I think that conversation really will carry with me for my life.”
At this point, Robichaud said while she does want to get into politics eventually, the office of the prime minister is not on her horizon just yet.
“I think I still have a ton to learn and I’m just looking forward to, quite frankly, getting out of school and getting a job at this point – regardless of what that job is.”