Darren Major

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 Darren Major.

Darren Major

How the internal push to force Trudeau to resign played out — and what might happen next

Internal calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign as Liberal leader were aired out behind closed doors Wednesday as Liberal MPs met on Parliament Hill.All party caucuses meet weekly when the House of Commons is sitting. Liberal MPs who want Trudeau to step down used Wednesday's meeting to deliver their grievances to the prime minister in person.Here's what happened behind the scenes, what MPs said after the meeting and what could happen in the coming weeks.

Darren Major

Will a massive ballot cause another vote count delay? Elections Canada is looking to avoid it

Nearly 100 candidates on byelection ballot in Montreal riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun.Elections Canada says it's taking steps ahead of an upcoming Montreal byelection to avoid a repeat of the hours-long delays that hampered ballot counting in a Toronto vote earlier this summer.A total of 91 candidates will be on the ballot for the Sept. 16 byelection in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, making it the longest ballot in the histor

Darren Major

Trudeau says he considered stepping down during marriage difficulties

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a recent podcast that he considered walking away from the job last year as his marriage began to fracture.Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, announced last August that they had agreed to separate.During an episode of the ReThinking podcast that was released Tuesday, psychologist and host Adam Grant asked Trudeau how often he thinks about quitting.

Darren Major

CRA reversed $246M in pandemic benefit debts after thousands contested eligibility status

The government has had to cancel at least $246 million in debts for thousands of Canadians it initially claimed had received pandemic benefits for which they weren't eligible.Since 2022, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been collecting money from Canadians the government says received benefits — such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) — in error.

Darren Major

Singh says NDP still hasn't decided whether to support Liberals' new budget

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday his party still hasn't decided whether it will vote in favour of the federal budget introduced last week.The New Democrats have an agreement in place to back the governing Liberal Party on confidence and budgetary votes in exchange for movement on key policy priorities.The agreement is set to last until June of next year, but Singh has been coy on whether he supports the Liberals' most recent budget.

Darren Major

RCMP conduct search of GC Strategies' office as partner prepares to appear before House

The RCMP says it has searched the office of a contractor who worked on the ArriveCan app.While the police force didn't name the business, an RCMP spokesperson told CBC News that it had executed a search warrant at a location previously listed as GC Strategies' mailing address in Woodlawn, Ont., just west of Ottawa.The RCMP spokesperson said the search warrant was not related to an ongoing investigation into ArriveCan.

Darren Major, Catharine Tunney

PM tells foreign interference probe government's hands are tied on intelligence leaks to media

Trudeau said government can't 'correct the record' without giving adversaries access to Canadian intelligence.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Foreign Interference Commission on Wednesday that intelligence leaks to the media can't be refuted without declassifying secret information.The prime minister told the commission looking into foreign meddling in Canadian elections that revealing secret information to refute leaks would put some security officials at risk."Why these leaks were of such deep concern was that we couldn't actually correct the record without … sharing with adversaries some of the information or the methods that we use to keep Canadians safe," he said."Why these leaks were of such deep concern was that we couldn't actually correct the record without … sharing with adversaries some of the information or the methods that we use to keep Canadians safe," he said.

Darren Major

MP Anthony Housefather to stay on with Liberals after period of 'serious reflection'

MP Anthony Housefather will remain in the Liberal caucus despite his concerns over the party's support for a motion on Palestinian statehood."The adoption of the motion and all the events that preceded it have angered me as much as they angered most of the Jewish Canadians that I have communicated with," the Montreal MP said in a press release late Friday.

Darren Major

ArriveCan contractor rejects auditor general report, blames government's poor record-keeping

One of the partners at GC Strategies is rebutting an auditor general's report that suggests his firm earned $19 million for the ArriveCan application, arguing that the government's poor record-keeping inflated that estimate.Kristian Firth is appearing today before the House government operations committee. It's the first time he's made public comments since Auditor General Karen Hogan released her report on ArriveCan last month.

Darren Major

GC Strategies was awarded 3 other border agency contracts while working on ArriveCan

GC Strategies was hired to work on three other Canada Border Services Agency projects as it was working on the controversial ArriveCan app.The company has been facing heightened scrutiny ever since the federal auditor general cited excessive reliance on contractors as a major factor contributing to ArriveCan's ballooning costs.The CBSA has told CBC News that it contracted GC Strategies to work on three other applications between 2020 and 2022. The news was first reported by La Presse.

Darren Major

Company linked to ArriveCan controversy got $107 million in federal contracts, official says

The company at the centre of the ArriveCan controversy has received more than $100 million in federal government contracts since 2011, says Canada's comptroller general.Roch Huppé told the House public accounts committee Wednesday morning that GC Strategies and its predecessor Coredal have been awarded 118 contracts totalling $107 million.

Darren Major

Brian Mulroney remembered as a 'giant' and trailblazer in driving free trade

Kim Campbell, who served as Canada's prime minister in 1993, remembers her predecessor for his pragmatism."He's had a remarkable and consequential life ... What's interesting about Brian Mulroney was his willingness to rethink things, and learn new things and change his mind," she told David Cochrane, host of CBC News Network's Power & Politics."He spent much of his early life thinking their free trade between Canada and the United States would be a non-starter, " said Campbell, who also served in Mulroney's Conservative cabinet.

Darren Major

Public servant's company received more than $200M in government contracts since 2015

An IT firm run by a defence department employee has been awarded millions of dollars in government contracts since 2015.Dalian Enterprise has come in for scrutiny recently over its involvement in the development of the ArriveCan app. The company had received $7.9 million for its work on the project as of last March, according to a recent report from Canada's auditor general.

Evan Dyer, Darren Major

Canada to start airdropping aid into Gaza within days: source

The Canadian government will begin airdropping aid into Gaza within the next week, a government source tells CBC News.Months of violence have followed the events of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed approximately 1,200 people and took roughly 250 others hostage, according to Israeli accounts. Since then, Israeli strikes have killed approximately 29,000 people, according to Gaza's Hamas-led health authority.

Darren Major, Louis Blouin

Canada bringing back visa requirements for Mexican nationals to curb asylum seekers

The federal government is reimposing some visa requirements on Mexican nationals visiting Canada, a senior government source tells Radio-Canada.The new rules will take effect on 11:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.Quebec Premier François Legault has been calling on the federal government to do more to slow the influx of asylum seekers into his province. Last week, he said Ottawa should bring back the visa requirement for Mexican travellers.

Darren Major

Quebec mother bringing government to court over decision not to repatriate her from Syria

A Quebec mother of six who is being held in Syria is bringing the government to court over its decision not to repatriate her to Canada.

Darren Major

Businesses fear they'll have to borrow more to repay government-backed pandemic loans

Some small businesses say they might have to refinance their government-backed pandemic loans at higher interest rates if Ottawa doesn't extend the deadline for accessing the forgivable portion of the loans.

Darren Major

Indian diplomat has left Canada in wake of allegations surrounding Sikh activist's death

A diplomat who was ordered out of Canada in the wake of allegations about the killing of a Canadian Sikh activist has left the country, says a senior government official.