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These are the 30 most read items on National Newswatch, from the last seven days.

A ‘complete missed opportunity’ — Conservative MPs criticize party’s caucus retreat

A ‘complete missed opportunity’ — Conservative MPs criticize party’s caucus retreat

Conservative MPs are expressing frustration with polling data from party brass and demanding changes to help right the ship to challenge Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals in the next election. iPolitics obtained responses from an anonymous caucus survey about the party’s caucus retreat in Penticton in September and while some appreciated the gathering, several were highly critical of presentations on...

In new memoir, Harper says he offered Carney a job -- but not finance minister

In new memoir, Harper says he offered Carney a job -- but not finance minister

Former prime minister Stephen Harper says he offered Mark Carney, then the governor of the Bank of Canada, a role in his Conservative government in 2012 -- though not as finance minister. Not right away, at least. In his new book "Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister," Harper says he told Carney the finance position was already...

Here's what you need to know as the Liberals prepare to table Budget 2026

Here's what you need to know as the Liberals prepare to table Budget 2026

The federal Liberals are teeing up Thursday's budget as the government's next step toward fixing long-standing problems facing Canada's economy. Budget 2026 will be the second tabled under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Budgets detail a government's expectations for economic growth and the projected pace of spending and borrowing. They're also political documents that can serve as a launching pad for...

Poilievre loses third senior aide in less than a year

Poilievre loses third senior aide in less than a year

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is losing yet another top aide, with his deputy chief of staff Aaron Wudrick announcing Thursday that he is leaving for the private sector. In a letter obtained by CTV News, Wudrick told colleagues and Conservative members of Parliament that his exit would be effective Nov. 27. “It has been an honour and a privilege to...

Budget 2026: Liberals pin tax changes, billions in spending on 'economic sovereignty'

Budget 2026: Liberals pin tax changes, billions in spending on 'economic sovereignty'

The Liberal government is arguing that tax changes, cultural supports and billions of dollars aimed at stoking investment in Budget 2026 will give Canada the freedom to shape its own future. Ottawa is proposing $142.1 billion in new measures, largely offset by stronger-than-expected federal revenues, in the budget tabled Thursday in the House of Commons. Big-ticket items are aimed at...

Trump’s choice of Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff is making the Democrats’ great week, even better.

Trump’s choice of Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff is making the Democrats’ great week, even better.

When he’s the incumbent, he’s a loser. He lost the House in his first mid-term outing in 2018, lost the Presidency in 2020, and the Senate, the House and a half dozen Governors in 2026. The best thing that could happen for the Republican Party is if Trump spent the next couple of years being less of a lightning rod...



Former PM Trudeau takes on role at Oxford University

Former PM Trudeau takes on role at Oxford University

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau has a new role at Oxford University in England. The university announced on Friday that Trudeau has joined its Blavatnik School of Government as a Distinguished Fellow and member of the World Leaders Circle. According to Oxford University, the World Leaders Circle is an “international network” of former heads of government, “whose experience and insight...

What the Republican midterm defeat means for Trump, the U.S. and Canada

What the Republican midterm defeat means for Trump, the U.S. and Canada

U.S. President is weakened, but still holds lots of executive power and can veto Democrat bills. A thumping, a shellacking, maybe even a disaster: there's no shortage of strong words you could choose to describe the midterm defeat that American voters just handed to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party. The Democrats will take control of both the...

Blue wave crashes over U.S. as voters rebuke Trump with midterm blowout

Blue wave crashes over U.S. as voters rebuke Trump with midterm blowout

The fallout from the Democrat tsunami that crashed over the U.S. Congress was swift on Wednesday, after American voters rejected President Donald Trump's turbulent second term with a midterm election blowout. In a stinging rebuke of the second Trump administration, Democrats flipped long-held Republican Senate seats in Texas, Maine and South Carolina. The blue wave also washed over House seats...

Carney Recruits Bridgewater Co-CIO to Run Canada Sovereign Wealth Fund

Carney Recruits Bridgewater Co-CIO to Run Canada Sovereign Wealth Fund

Karen Karniol-Tambour is leaving her role as co-chief investment officer of Bridgewater Associates to run Canada’s new sovereign wealth fund, lending Wall Street credibility and expertise to one of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s signature economic initiatives. Bridgewater, where Karniol-Tambour has worked since 2006, plans to inform employees of her departure this morning, according to a person familiar with the matter...

Poilievre insists he will ‘continue to fight’ even if Conservatives lose key byelection

Poilievre insists he will ‘continue to fight’ even if Conservatives lose key byelection

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will stay on as leader even if the party loses an upcoming byelection in the Ontario riding of Brantford-Brant South. “We’re going to fight for the people. I’m going to continue to fight for the people of Canada to save them money,” Poilievre said Friday at a press conference in Brampton, Ont. when asked...

P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz facing pressure to step down

P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz facing pressure to step down

A formal petition signed by some members of the P.E.I. Progressive Conservative Party is calling for a vote on Premier Rob Lantz's leadership. Lantz secured his position as party leader and premier following a leadership contest win in February over Mark Ledwell with 53.1 per cent of the vote. Martie Murphy, a longtime member of the party, said the petition...

Private mansions, famous families, and hedging donors: tracking private hosts and repeat guests on the federal fundraising circuit

Private mansions, famous families, and hedging donors: tracking private hosts and repeat guests on the federal fundraising circuit

Since late 2022, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has relied heavily on mansion fundraisers to court billionaires, business dynasties, and television personalities, while Prime Minister Mark Carney and his ministers have drawn developers, investors, and former politicians since his Liberal leadership bid in early 2025.

Six high-stakes byelections create opening for Carney to expand slim House majority as Poilievre fights to retain Conservative seats

Six high-stakes byelections create opening for Carney to expand slim House majority as Poilievre fights to retain Conservative seats

Of the six byelections, the Brantford-Brant South race is the one to watch as it’s ‘a coin toss’ between the Conservatives and the Liberals, says pollster Nik Nanos. With the Liberals holding a razor-thin majority in the House, the six high-stakes byelections on Dec. 7 are a chance for the governing party to strengthen their numbers in the House. For...

Conservatives will ‘wait and see’ whether party can hold a safe Ontario seat in byelection

Conservatives will ‘wait and see’ whether party can hold a safe Ontario seat in byelection

After a year-and-a-half marked by defections, resignations and sagging poll numbers, Pierre Poilievre is staring down yet another challenge. Can the Conservatives hold onto a seat that his party has held for the past 18 years?

What Mark Carney’s budget reveals about the ridings Liberals want to keep and win

What Mark Carney’s budget reveals about the ridings Liberals want to keep and win

Federal budgets are much more than a fiscal blueprint. Yes, they can define a prime minister’s economic legacy, telegraph their demographic targets, and record their policy priorities in the annals of history.

Stephen Harper’s new memoir revisits Mark Carney rivalry, Pierre Poilievre and a day of fear on the Hill

Stephen Harper’s new memoir revisits Mark Carney rivalry, Pierre Poilievre and a day of fear on the Hill

In a massive 645-page memoir, Stephen Harper aims to set the record straight. Publishing Tuesday, “Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister” is clearly written for the history books, but for readers and chroniclers of today’s events, the former Conservative party leader’s memoir reveals where he thinks the mainstream media got it wrong, not least when it comes...

Senior Democratic congressman says party 'going to put an end' to Trump's tariffs

Senior Democratic congressman says party 'going to put an end' to Trump's tariffs

Canada-U.S. trade minister says strategy unchanged after Republican midterm losses. A senior Democrat says his party will work to end U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on allies, including Canada, when it takes control of Congress next year. "We want to have free and fair trade with Canada like the rest of the world. So that's going to be very much...



Carney government considers lifting ban on offshore oil and gas exploration in the Western Arctic

Carney government considers lifting ban on offshore oil and gas exploration in the Western Arctic

Prime Minister Mark Carney is considering lifting the decade-old moratorium on Arctic offshore oil and gas drilling, the Star has learned. On Monday, coincidentally the first day of the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 31) in Antalya, Turkey, the Carney government confirmed it is considering “potentially lifting the current moratorium on Arctic offshore oil and gas exploration in...

Israel’s president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government, in setback for Netanyahu

Israel’s president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form a government, in setback for Netanyahu

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday night that he was giving opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition following elections on Oct. 27. Eisenkot, a former military chief who ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now a step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving premier. He has up to six weeks...

'Screwed either way': Republican senator fights backlash over Trump tariffs in Maine

'Screwed either way': Republican senator fights backlash over Trump tariffs in Maine

U.S. tariffs on Canada have played an outsized role in the Senate race in Maine, but experts say there may not be any relief coming for Canadians regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's midterms. Maine, a Northeastern U.S. state bordering both Quebec and New Brunswick by land, relies heavily on Canadian trade. Federal government figures show the state imports $4....

Poilievre faces existential test in December byelections

Poilievre faces existential test in December byelections

Prime Minister Mark Carney has just called six byelections for early December. The results could have a determining effect on Pierre Poilievre’s future as Conservative leader. They could also provide the first clues as to whether the belligerent tone of the minority Parti Québécois government is finding favour with voters.

Stephen Miller replaces Susie Wiles as Trump's White House chief of staff after GOP's midterm defeat

Stephen Miller replaces Susie Wiles as Trump's White House chief of staff after GOP's midterm defeat

President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, long a key member of Trump's inner circle, is a key architect of the administration's hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump's closest and longest-serving advisers, joining his...

Chinese authorities blocked Canada's Tiananmen Square tribute with trees, cherry picker: documents

Chinese authorities blocked Canada's Tiananmen Square tribute with trees, cherry picker: documents

Chinese authorities blocked attempts by the Canadian Embassy to visually commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre for the last two years, CBC News has learned. The second incident came just months after Prime Minister Mark Carney's trade trip to Beijing, where he touted improved relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Poilievre pans Liberal budget's $15M capital gains exemption, calls for 'simpler' plan

Poilievre pans Liberal budget's $15M capital gains exemption, calls for 'simpler' plan

Conservative leader argues the range of qualifying businesses is too narrow. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is criticizing a key feature of the Carney government's latest budget, arguing the proposed $15-million capital gains exemption on the sale of qualifying shares from a Canadian company applies too narrowly, excluding key businesses. "Basically, I can't figure out who actually qualifies," Poilievre said in...

Legal battle over federal firearms ban comes to Supreme Court of Canada

Legal battle over federal firearms ban comes to Supreme Court of Canada

The country's top court began hearing legal arguments Monday about the validity of a federal ban on hundreds of types of firearms the government says are fit only for the battlefield. The hearings, which continue Tuesday at the Supreme Court of Canada, will give opponents of the ban another chance to make their case after losing in the Federal Court...

Conservatives urge ethics commissioner to probe Carney’s Telesat connections

Conservatives urge ethics commissioner to probe Carney’s Telesat connections

The Conservatives have asked Canada’s ethics commissioner to examine the connections between Prime Minister Mark Carney and a CEO whose company received a multi-billion-dollar government contract in August. In a five-page letter obtained by CTV News, Ontario MP Jamil Jivani details the longstanding friendship between Carney and Dan Goldberg, the CEO of Telesat. Jivani argues that an ethics screen should...

Mark Carney’s budget is one for the boys

Mark Carney’s budget is one for the boys

“Where are the girls? Where are the girls?” It was the first thing economist Armine Yalnizyan said to my colleague Susan Delacourt and me outside the budget lockup on Thursday. “You look at the front cover, it’s electricity,” she noted of the photo of transmission lines on the printed budget. “You look inside, where are the humans? All of the...

Liberals’ Q3 fundraising lead a ‘problematic data point’ for Poilievre’s Conservatives, says ex-Grit staffer

Liberals’ Q3 fundraising lead a ‘problematic data point’ for Poilievre’s Conservatives, says ex-Grit staffer

As six byelections approach, Tory strategists say there is room for 'optimism,' but warn the Conservative Party needs to ‘shake some stuff up.’ Prime Minister Mark Carney’s governing Liberals raising nearly $1-million more than the official opposition in the third quarter of 2026—effectively erasing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s once-formidable quarterly fundraising advantage—adds another “problematic data point” for the opposition leader...

Justin Trudeau named distinguished fellow at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government

Justin Trudeau named distinguished fellow at Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau has joined England's Oxford University in a new role. Trudeau, 54, joined the Blavatnik School of Government as a distinguished fellow and member of the World Leaders Circle, the school said in a news release Friday. The release says the former Liberal leader joins an international network of former heads of government, which includes former...