Articles by Andy Blatchford

Aug 19 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Questions about the SNC-Lavalin affair Monday trailed Justin Trudeau to Quebec — the seat-rich province at the centre of the controversy, and a place where the prime minister could conceivably limit the damage. A stinging report last week by federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion concluded that Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by improperly pressuring former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop a criminal prosecution […]

Aug 14 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Canada's export credit agency says it regrets its 2015 decision to lend US$41 million to a South African company owned by members of a family facing corruption allegations related to their ties to former president Jacob Zuma. In the months and years that followed, the agency became increasingly concerned about the loan it provided to Westdawn Investments to backstop the sale of a […]

Aug 13 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — China's move to stop buying several Canadian agricultural products has punished some farmers, and now industry leaders are worrying about the prospect of a broader threat — an eventual U.S.-China trade deal. Canadian exports of beef, pork, canola and soybeans have largely been locked out of the massive Chinese market following the December arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. Meng was detained on an extradition […]

Aug 9 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Wage growth accelerated last month to its fastest clip in more than decade, according to numbers released Friday from Statistics Canada. The 4.5 per cent burst came in a month that also produced less-positive data: the unemployment rate moved up to 5.7 per cent as Canada shed 24,200 jobs.  The increase in wages — as measured by year-over-year average hourly wage growth for all employees […]

Aug 8 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — David MacNaughton, the U.S. ambassador who became the fulcrum of the federal Liberal government's strategy for managing relations with an impetuous and unpredictable White House, says he plans to step down from the post at the end of the summer. MacNaughton, who is vacating the job just weeks before Canadians go to the polls Oct. 21, said […]

Aug 7 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing pressure from civil society groups to update Canadians before the October election on his government's review of a multibillion-dollar arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The Liberals launched a review of the $15-billion contract to ship light armoured vehicles to the Middle East kingdom last fall after the killing of journalist Jamal […]

Aug 2 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — A Conservative government, if elected this fall, would work to fix Canada's relationship with Saudi Arabia by trying to build back rapport with the kingdom in areas that it considers of mutual interest. Erin O'Toole, the Conservative critic for foreign affairs, said in an interview they would try to "win some trust" with Saudi Arabia by focusing on improving commercial ties and by offering […]

Jul 31 2019 — Andy Blatchford — The Bank of Canada is expected to stay on hold for now even after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its interest rate Wednesday for the first time since the global financial crisis. The Fed's decision, which kept the door open for more easing, came at a time when the U.S. economy is still in solid shape. The reduction was widely expected. Fed chairman Jerome Powell […]

Jul 28 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Via Rail's business case for a multibillion-dollar high-frequency-rail project between Toronto and Quebec City would receive a boost if it ditched the stretch from Montreal to Quebec City, internal federal documents say. The document, labelled "secret," was obtained by The Canadian Press under access-to-information law. The memo's release comes as Via looks for financial support to build dedicated rail lines that […]

Jul 26 2019 — Andy Blatchford — Ottawa academic Hassan Diab is rejecting the results of an external review into his extradition case as a "whitewash exercise," arguing the document's only purpose was to absolve Canada's Department of Justice and to shield senior government officials from further scrutiny. The report, written by former Ontario deputy attorney general Murray Segal, concluded that federal lawyers who worked on Diab's case did their […]

Jul 25 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Export Development Canada says an independent review has cleared its personnel of any wrongdoing after a claim that its staff turned a blind eye to bribery and corruption in a 2011 transaction involving SNC-Lavalin. The Crown corporation launched a three-month probe after CBC News reported allegations by an unnamed SNC-Lavalin insider stating it was well known within the engineering firm that "technical fees" in its […]

Jul 24 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — The federal government is spending $85 million to help develop advanced satellite technology with hopes it will one day expand access to affordable, high-speed internet to some of Canada's hardest-to-reach regions. The funding will support a space project by Ottawa-based company Telesat to build and launch a group of co-ordinated satellites — also known as a constellation — in low Earth orbit. The Trudeau […]

Jul 23 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — The federal government is making a big funding announcement Wednesday alongside a Canadian company that's developing satellite technology to expand high-speed Internet access in rural and remote regions. The head of Ottawa-based Telesat will join Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains for an event that appears to be part of the government's commitment to invest $100 million over five years into a technology known as low-Earth-orbit satellites. In its […]

Jul 23 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Canada has formally asked four companies to submit bids to supply a new fleet of state-of-the-art fighter jets, the latest step in the country's almost decade-long quest to upgrade its air force. The federal department responsible for procurement said Tuesday that Saab, Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have until next spring to present initial proposals to provide 88 advanced fighters for the Royal Canadian Air […]

Jul 19 2019 — Andy Blatchford — OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged European partners this week to finalize Canada's trade deal with the EU, a push that came with his government facing a tough sales job at home: getting domestic firms to use it. A recent government survey suggests the vast majority of small and medium-sized exporters, which are positioned to benefit from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, could very well be asking: CETA […]