Articles by Robert Fife and Steven Chase

May 26 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Trudeau minister responsible for digital government is distancing herself from a fundraising pitch on one of her internet communication channels that was soliciting money to sue a Canadian journalist. A spokeswoman for Vancouver-Quadra MP Joyce Murray said this particular posting in a group her staff runs on Chinese language social media platform WeChat is […]

May 25 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is urging the Canadian government to build an international coalition and use the threat of sanctions against China’s authoritarian rulers to push back against Beijing’s efforts to tighten control over Hong Kong. Mr. Scheer alleged during the House of Commons Question Period that Prime Minister Trudeau has adopted a “policy of […]

May 25 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is staying mum on whether his government might join other allies in banning or restricting Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from supplying gear for next-generation 5G wireless networks. Canada remains one of two members of the Five Eyes intelligence-pooling alliance – which includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Britain […]

May 22 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada and western allies have strongly condemned China’s authoritarian leaders for planning to impose a harsh national security law that would ban “treason, secession, sedition and subversion” in Hong Kong – a move seen as a major blow to the city’s cherished freedoms. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been reluctant to be overtly critical […]

May 12 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Chinese diplomats and supporters of the Communist Party of China are increasingly resorting to “threats, bullying and harassment” to intimidate and silence activists in Canada, including those raising concerns about democracy and civil rights in Hong Kong and Beijing’s mistreatment of Uyghurs, Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners, a new report says. A coalition of human-rights […]

May 7 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — A federal agency relocated an abandoned and rundown building at the Prime Minister’s Harrington Lake retreat in Quebec’s Gatineau Hills and rebuilt it into a $2.5-million lakeside mansion for friends of prime ministers or visiting dignitaries. The “Caretaker’s House” originally built in 1850, has been renamed the “Farmhouse,” and is currently being used by the […]

Mar 10 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The White House official spearheading the U.S. campaign to bar Huawei Technologies from Western 5G networks shared highly classified information with Canadian officials Monday about cyber-risks from the Chinese telecom’s gear, including “backdoors” that compromise national security and user data, sources involved in the Ottawa talks say. Robert Blair, deputy White House chief of staff […]

Mar 9 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — U.S. President Donald Trump is dispatching his point man on Huawei Technologies to Ottawa Monday to press the Trudeau government on barring the Chinese telecom giant from next-generation 5G wireless networks in Canada. Robert Blair, White House special representative for international telecommunications, will be laying out U.S. national-security objections over Huawei’s 5G wireless gear in […]

Feb 19 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Senate’s ethics watchdog has found Conservative Senator Victor Oh broke the Red Chamber’s conflict of interest and ethics code by accepting an all expenses-paid trip to China for himself and two other senators. The Office of the Senate Ethics Officer, in a report released Tuesday, also criticized Mr. Oh for providing incomplete testimony and […]

Feb 13 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — An influential Republican U.S. senator is warning Canada that Washington could stop sharing valuable intelligence information if Ottawa allows China’s Huawei Technologies Co. to supply gear for next-generation 5G networks. Rick Scott, who sits on the armed services and homeland security committees, told The Globe and Mail Thursday that Congress is serious about denying sensitive […]

Feb 10 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada’s military wants the federal government to ban Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. from supplying equipment for the next generation of wireless infrastructure, according to a senior Canadian official with knowledge of the matter. National security agencies, the military and the Department of Innovation are conducting a cybersecurity review to determine whether Huawei’s […]

Feb 6 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne had to correct ambassador to China Dominic Barton on Thursday after the envoy told MPs a Uyghur-Canadian who has been imprisoned in China for 15 years is not a citizen of this country. Huseyin Celil, a Uyghur activist who became a Canadian citizen in 2005, was arrested in Uzbekistan a […]

Jan 8 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who is contemplating a run for the Conservative Party leadership, has been acting as a consultant to Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in the Meng Wanzhou extradition case and the tech giant’s efforts to participate in Canada’s 5G wireless networks, a source says. Mr. Charest is part of a team at […]

Dec 19 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Liberal government says it played no role in the settlement of criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin 10 months after a political scandal over the prosecution of the Montreal engineering giant ensnared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his inner circle. The Prime Minister defended his conduct Wednesday while acknowledging he could have handled the SNC-Lavalin file […]

Dec 9 2019 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The federal government faces increasing pressure to enact sanctions against officials in Hong Kong and mainland China who are responsible for human rights violations, despite threats of retaliation from China’s envoy to Canada. The pro-democracy group Canadian Friends of Hong Kong plans to send a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday urging the […]