Sheila Copps - Post-political Career

Post-political Career

On May 14, 2004, Copps stood in the Canadian House of Commons and announced she would not run for re-election as an independent. She later suggested in comments to reporters that she may return to politics once Paul Martin was no longer Prime Minister. In her first public engagement after departing politics, she accepted a role in a Kingston, Ontario dinner theatre production of Steel Magnolias. She also guest starred on the evening soap opera Train 48.

Her second autobiography, Worth Fighting For, was published by McClelland and Stewart in October 2004, and resulted in further public controversy with Paul Martin and other members of the Liberal Party. Copps alleged that Martin had put a pledge in his 1995 budget to rescind the "outdated" Canada Health Act, and further claimed that her intervention had the offending line removed from the document. Her allegations were denied by Martin and David Dodge (whom Copps claims faxed her the draft of the budget), Diane Marleau (who was Health Minister at the time) and others.

After leaving politics, Copps wrote regular commentary for the National Post. In September 2005, concurrent with a redesign, she was introduced as a regular columnist for the Toronto Sun which was also published in various Sun papers across Canada. Copps quit her column in December 2007.

She also hosts a weekly syndicated radio talk show, Weekends with Sheila Copps, focusing on lifestyle issues such as health and financial planning. She succeeded Dini Petty as host of the series. She is also employed by Quebecor, a prominent Canadian media distribution company. In this capacity she has been working on a new series for the History Television.

In March 2006, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal, a prominent sovereigntist group, demanded $100,000 from Copps, claiming that she had defamed them in a television interview on January 6, 2006. Sovereigntists claim that Options Canada illegally spent $3.5 million to promote federalism in Quebec, while Copps claimed that the St-Jean Baptiste Society spent $4.8 million from the Quebec Government to promote sovereignty, which the group denies. Copps claims that she had been unaware of the group's demands until she was approached for comment by reporters on March 5, 2006, and that she has yet to receive any legal notice from the group.

In 2006, subsequent to Paul Martin's resignation as Prime Minister, Copps decided not to seek the Liberal leadership.

Following the 2006 election, Liberal MP Paul Zed (Liberal, New Brunswick) and former MP Dennis Mills (Liberal, Ontario) organized a gala event to pay tribute to Copps and heal wounds caused by party infighting. Held on March 23, 2006, the event was attended by a host of prominent Liberals, including former Prime Minister John Turner, and Aline Chrétien. The event also served as a fundraiser for Liberal women in Canadian politics.

As the daughter of late Hamilton Mayor Victor Copps, she has long been the object of speculation as to whether or not she would follow in the footsteps of her father, recently stating that, if she were to return to politics, she would do so "it would be in my hometown and nowhere else."

Copps ran to be president of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2012 but lost to Mike Crawley by 26 votes. Following the defeat, Copps announced her retirement from politics stating that while she would continue to volunteer in political campaigns she won't be running for office again.