There, he worked for the campus radio station CFRC and won the university's Tricolour Award in his graduating year.
Simpson's career with the Globe and Mail began at City Hall in Toronto and with coverage of Quebec politics.
Simpson is a frequent and enthusiastic participant in regular political debate on radio or television, in French and in English.
In 1993–1994, Simpson was on leave from his column as a John S. Knight fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Simpson is a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
[4] Simpson is an avid Ottawa Senators fan and in 2011 attempted to convince the team to replace its general manager, Bryan Murray by referencing his position as the national affairs columnist on the letterhead of the Globe and Mail to demand the change.