Margaret Trudeau hasn't lost her touch for making headlines.

Her remarks sparked a national discussion over the miserable state of 24 Sussex Drive, which needs an estimated $10 million in structural repairs. In the meantime, Maureen McTeer, the wife of another former prime minister, Joe Clark, has weighed in, saying the building should be torn down all together.

In an interview with The National's Wendy Mesley, Trudeau speaks out about about a wide variety of topics, from worrying about her son's new job ("He's my boy and he's taking on the biggest, biggest job") to the negative ads that permeated the campaign ("Slick, cheesy politics") to her own difficulties living at 24 Sussex as the wife of a prime minister back in 1971 ("For me, it became something to escape").

For her daughter-in-law Sophie Gregoire, Trudeau says it will be important to stay active and involved.

"Don't be a little Downton Abbey lady caught in the drawing room," Trudeau said. "Be part of your life. Every day."

Trudeau said it "obviously" hurt to read critiques of her son during the campaign, in which journalists said he was more of his mother's son than his father's, a dig that suggested Justin Trudeau was all Margaret's flash without Pierre's intellect.

Margaret Trudeau disagrees with that assessment. "Justin is a mixture of us both," she said. "I think he's a very complete person all on his own."

But the irrepressible Margaret Trudeau can't resist adding one more thought — a bit of credence, perhaps, to those theories about her son.

"He may have my hair," she laughs, giving her mane a pat. "He certainly doesn't have his dad's."