Marieke Walsh
Marieke Walsh digs into how power is used at the federal level, breaking stories on internal political decisions and following them through to their policy, diplomatic and public consequences. She is a senior political reporter in The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau, covering federal politics since 2019 and reporting on two federal election campaigns.
High-stakes federal politics and party dynamics
Walsh’s work centres on moments when federal politics shifts, from caucus ruptures to leadership calculations and election calls.
Her reporting on Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s expected departure from the Liberal caucus is typical of her focus on internal party dynamics and the implications of those decisions for the government’s broader agenda. She has been recognised with a Silver CAJ Award for Scoop, shared with colleague Robert Fife, for a story about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, underscoring her role in breaking nationally significant political news.
Her Globe author bio notes that she has covered two federal elections since joining the paper, and her political coverage traces how campaigns, leadership decisions and parliamentary strategy shape the direction of the federal government.
Her analysis often extends to Canada’s relationships with other countries when domestic decisions spill into foreign policy. As a senior political reporter, she has provided explanatory coverage of tensions between Canada and India, walking through the diplomatic fallout, the expulsion of diplomats and allegations of illicit conduct tied to violent incidents.
Whether the story is centred in the Prime Minister’s Office, a cabinet room or a diplomatic mission, Walsh tends to frame it around who is making decisions, what information they are acting on and how those choices reverberate through federal politics.
Accountability reporting on policy, contracts and public health
Alongside scoop-driven political coverage, Walsh spends substantial time on accountability reporting that makes federal policy choices legible to the public. In a Globe piece on Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine contracts, she reported on the release of heavily redacted agreements, giving readers a clearer sense of what the federal government had committed to and what remained hidden from view.
Her coverage of Ottawa easing travel restrictions while COVID-19 variants were spreading examined how public-health risks were weighed against pressures to reopen, highlighting the trade-offs embedded in federal pandemic policy.
Her work also follows longer-term federal strategies where the stakes are financial and environmental as much as political. A National Newswatch aggregation of her reporting on federal nuclear strategy shows her covering plans for as many as 10 new large-scale reactors, an example of her attention to the scale and ambition of federal infrastructure and energy projects.
Across these stories, she brings together government documents, expert briefings and political context to test official narratives and spell out what policy decisions mean for people affected by them.
Energy, climate and intergovernmental negotiations
Energy and climate policy are recurring threads in Walsh’s political reporting, especially where federal decisions collide with provincial priorities. Her work has been cited in coverage of Ottawa’s negotiations with Alberta over pipeline and energy plans, pointing to her interest in how federal and provincial governments bargain over resource development and climate commitments. She appears regularly in broadcast discussions about the politics of federal–provincial energy deals, analysing the compromises and conflicts that emerge when national climate objectives meet regional economic concerns.
Stories involving Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and federal energy strategy fit into this broader pattern. Walsh often situates personnel changes and cabinet decisions within the wider climate and energy files, showing how internal political moves can reshape the government’s approach to emissions, pipelines and nuclear development. Her reporting in these areas combines close attention to political actors with detailed coverage of the policy frameworks they are contesting.
Collaborative investigations and cross-platform analysis
Collaboration is a notable feature of Walsh’s work. She frequently shares bylines or reporting credit with senior colleagues such as Robert Fife on stories about state-sponsored campaigns and foreign interference, reflecting a role in complex, multi-source investigations. Her co-authored pieces on COVID-19 travel policy further show her working in tandem with other reporters to cover national stories from multiple angles.
Walsh also carries her reporting into on-air analysis. She has appeared on CPAC to discuss the latest political headlines, offering context and interpretation drawn from her reporting on Parliament and the federal government. She has been a guest on NPR and Canadian radio panels to explain diplomatic disputes and federal energy deals, translating detailed reporting into clear, accessible political analysis.
Across platforms, she maintains the same focus: how federal decisions are made, who benefits, who is sidelined and what evidence supports the official line.
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Andi Yu
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Ben Smee
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