While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Alex Boutilier.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget is being billed by the government as a “generational” investment in Canadian infrastructure and productivity in a time of “rupture” in global trade and the international order. The question now is whether Carney’s decision to simultaneously run a sizeable deficit while slashing public service jobs will find support among opposition parties, or send Canadians...
Mark Carney’s Liberal Party is holding a four-percentage point lead over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives on the eve of Monday’s general election, new data from Ipsos suggests. But the tight national race obscures the Liberals’ advantage in the key provinces of Ontario and Québec that will likely determine if the party receives a fourth consecutive mandate from Canadian voters...
While Canada won a temporary reprieve from Donald Trump’s tariff threats on Monday, the mercurial U.S. president could still be a significant presence in the upcoming federal election. The saying goes that a week is a long time in politics. In 2025, Trump’s first two weeks back in office has seemed like multiple lifetimes — at least in terms of...
The rise of generative artificial intelligence, a decline of traditional professional media and the persistent threat of foreign meddling have combined to make disinformation the greatest threat to Canadian democracy, the federal inquiry into foreign interference suggests.
Former national security officials are expressing skepticism over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s refusal to receive classified briefings on foreign interference. For months Poilievre has refused to obtain top-secret clearance so officials with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) could share intelligence on foreign interference with him.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received multiple briefings on the possibility of prolonged unrest or even violence in the wake of Tuesday’s U.S. election, a senior government source told Global News. It’s the “third scenario” that has been discussed by senior officials, cabinet ministers and the prime minister in the event neither Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris wins a decisive...
A former Canadian politician is suspected of trying to influence Parliament’s work on behalf of a foreign government, according to documents released by the foreign interference commission Friday. No identifying information about the parliamentarian — whether they were a senator or MP, or what party they belonged to — was included in the documents, nor was the country they were...
Elections Canada is set to recommend tighter rules for political parties’ nominations after a federal inquiry referred to the contests as a “gateway” for foreign interference. Documents published by the Foreign Interference Commission Tuesday afternoon suggest Elections Canada expects to publish the recommendations, including greater transparency measures and stronger enforcement of party rules, by the end of September.
The Canadian government awarded billions of dollars in contracts earmarked for Indigenous enterprises without always requiring bidders to prove that they were First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, a Global News investigation has found.
Canada’s spy chief says that political leaders could take steps to make sure parliamentarians accused of cooperating with foreign governments face consequences, even if they don’t face criminal prosecution. David Vigneault, the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), suggested to a parliamentary committee Thursday that party leaders could disallow any of their MPs suspected of collusion from running...
Canada’s national police force says it is “aware” of a “broad” range of intelligence looking into parliamentarians allegedly working with foreign governments. The RCMP’s statement comes two days after a stunning report by the federal national security committee of parliamentarians alleging sitting federal politicians have “wittingly” participated in foreign interference operations.
Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s report into foreign interference last week contained a warning: party nominations can be a “gateway” for foreign interference. That’s because parties are largely left to set the rules or enforce them — or not — free of the kind of independent oversight given to general elections.
A handful of candidates in Canada’s 2019 federal election “appeared willing” to go along with foreign interference schemes, a federal public inquiry has found. Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue’s preliminary report, released Friday, concluded that while hostile states attempted to covertly influence the 2019 and 2021 general elections, those efforts did not change which party took power.
Planned protests against the carbon price outside Liberal and NDP MP offices on May 3 have prompted a security warning from the House of Commons. In an email to all 338 MPs and their staff on Thursday, the House of Commons’ sergeant-at-arms encouraged MPs to take extra security measures “should a demonstration arise at your constituency office or at your residence.”
Three central voices in the ongoing debate around foreign interference say the federal inquiry has not produced any evidence of specific operations, and are urging the inquiry to confirm that recent federal elections were free and fair. In submissions to the Foreign Interference Commission, MP Han Dong, Senator Yuen Pau Woo and Markham Deputy Mayor Michael Chan cast doubt on...
New intelligence documents published by the federal foreign interference inquiry raise questions about the conclusions of former Governor General David Johnston’s probe into the issue. Johnston, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed a “special rapporteur” on foreign interference, ruled out calling a public inquiry last May.
Han Dong’s future with the Liberal Party remains in doubt after his testimony at the federal inquiry into foreign interference earlier this week. Dong spent Tuesday afternoon in Ottawa fielding questions about his dealings with the Chinese consulate in Toronto, about alleged irregularities in his 2019 nomination contest and foreign interference generally.
Cameron Ortis, the former civilian RCMP official charged with leaking intelligence, is expected to argue he had "authority" to disclose information.
Crown says encrypted USB drive included internal RCMP documents, email correspondence between alleged criminals and ex-RCMP intelligence official.
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians was established in 2017 by the Liberals to provide a measure of oversight into intelligence agency activities.