This Matters is pleased to publish the year-end episode of the Toronto Star's political podcast It's Political, featuring: National Columnist Susan Delacourt, Ottawa deputy bureau chief Stephanie Levitz and reporter Mark Ramzy, who join host Althia Raj.

It's been quite a tumultuous year in federal politics, from allegations of foreign interference involving China and India, to the expansion of industrial and dental subsidies, and a rejigging of public support for Canada's two main parties. We asked Toronto Star readers and "It's Political" podcast listeners for their questions — and received many probing queries about themes from the last year, especially about the influence of Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre on Canadian politics and the future of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We gathered a few of our parliamentary journalists to answer them.

Some of the clips this week were sourced from CPAC, CBC, CTV, Global, the NDP's Instagram account, Rex Murphy's Full Comment podcast and Pierre Poilievre's Facebook page.

This episode of "It's Political" was produced by Althia Raj and Michal Stein. Kevin Sexton mixed the program. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel.