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 John Paul Tasker.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he is not reflecting on his leadership style after two MPs announced they were leaving his caucus — including one who cited the leader's "negative" approach to politics as the reason why he's calling it quits on the party. Speaking to reporters in Calgary at his first press conference since the defections last week...
Floor-crossing MP says he wasn't aligned with Conservative leader anymore, felt he was too negative. Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont said Wednesday he left the Conservative caucus because he didn't feel represented in leader Pierre Poilievre's party anymore and bristled at his "negative" approach to politics. D'Entremont said there are other Conservative MPs who "are in the same boat" and...
Liberals would be 2 seats shy of majority with floor-crossing. Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont resigned from the Conservative caucus Tuesday — and he told CBC News he will join the Liberals. The longtime Conservative, who served in provincial politics before being elected to the House of Commons in 2019, told Politico earlier Tuesday he was considering crossing the floor...
Federal budget includes $141B in new spending — offset by cuts and savings as Ottawa slashes the bureaucracy, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented his first federal budget Tuesday and it includes big-ticket items to prop up an economy grappling with major economic disruptions but also cuts to the public service to get the fiscal house in order. Champagne’s document shows...
'This is the kind of budget you will remember,' finance minister says. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will deliver the new Liberal government’s first budget Tuesday that will be full of what he calls “generational investments” to spur growth and help the country weather the tariff-related economic storm. While Champagne is the minister in charge of the file, Prime Minister Mark...
Conservative MPs were told Wednesday to avoid criticizing NDP for now, sources said. The Conservative and NDP caucuses are grappling with what to do about the upcoming federal budget and whether they want to be part of an effort to trigger an election by voting it down, multiple sources told CBC News. Senior Conservative sources say the party's leadership does...
Government says it doesn't yet have the votes to get its budget through. Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said Wednesday that his party thinks the government is trying to force another election by preparing a budget that the Opposition won't support. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is due to table this government's first budget next week and it's expected to include...
Former senator Don Meredith was found not guilty in his criminal trial on sexual assault charges on Wednesday. It brings to a close a years-long Senate scandal that tarnished the chamber’s reputation as a safe place to work and shone a spotlight on how difficult it is to remove a wayward member.
Poilievre called the national police force's leadership 'frankly just despicable' on a podcast last week. The fallout over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's comments about the RCMP and its leadership continued Wednesday as he sought to recast his assertion that some people deserved jail time for the last Liberal government's missteps. In an interview with the YouTube channel Northern Perspective last...
In test calls, CRA agents gave accurate answers only 17% of the time when asked about individual taxes. In a scathing new report released Tuesday, the auditor general found Canada Revenue Agency contact centres are repeatedly failing to answer calls in a timely manner — and when agents do connect to a customer, they are often providing inaccurate responses. While...
Popular support for more immigration has cratered. The number of Canadians who say the federal government is letting in too many immigrants has spiked in recent years — and among Conservative voters the swing is even more dramatic, according to a new poll from Environics Institute. The Canadian consensus that adding more newcomers is generally a positive development is crumbling...
PM told Stellantis he is disappointed in company's decision to move production from Ontario to Illinois. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday his government is not considering hitting American goods with more retaliatory tariffs even as the trade war rages on, because there are signs that the bilateral talks on relief are headed in the right direction.
Carney says Canada-U.S. officials are currently 'negotiating terms' of a deal on tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday Canadian and American officials are currently "negotiating terms" of a deal on tariffs a day after he met with the U.S. president to try and bring the trade war to a close — and Canada will come out ahead when the...
Trump has 'demeaned our neighbours in the north,' Pennsylvania governor says. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted U.S. President Donald Trump for what he called his "tough-guy" approach to Canada after a meeting Monday with some provincial premiers in Quebec City. Speaking to reporters after this year's Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers weekend summit, Shapiro, a Democrat, said...
Conservative leader says he's willing to meet with the Americans to help move trade talks along. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has penned a scathing letter to the prime minister ahead of his meeting with the U.S. president this week, saying Mark Carney has been a disappointment on the trade file and needs to come back from this trip with some...
LeBlanc says he's 'hoping we can get progress' before 2026 trade deal review. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday the federal government is still holding out hope the two countries can reach a deal on punishing American tariffs before the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes up for a review next year. Speaking to the Senate's foreign affairs and international trade...
'Why don't you just join our country? Become the 51st state,' Trump says at speech to military officials.U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he again told some unnamed Canadian official that the country should consider joining the U.S. as the 51st state — returning to the annexationist rhetoric he used earlier in the year and subsequently dropped after Prime Minister...
Churches have been torched but data suggests Jews, Muslims are most targeted. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday that Christians and their places of worship are being targeted and, if elected, he will crack down on religion-based hate through tougher sanctions for crimes like arson. Speaking to reporters at an announcement on food inflation, Poilievre said he has watched with...
Travel is cratering, exports are down and consumer habits have been upended. In the weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a trade war with his punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada's "old relationship" with the U.S. would be "over" soon — and now there's some hard evidence that is indeed happening. CBC News reviewed datasets on travel...
Canada's large immigrant population has long been regarded as a virtue — but new data suggests popular opinion on adding more newcomers has gone through a seismic shift after years of explosive growth. For much of the last 25 years, immigration was something of a third rail in Canadian politics, with few elected officials publicly questioning its value. On that...
Liberal government is set to introduce its own bail reforms this fall. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pitching tough-on-crime legislation ahead of Parliament's return, saying some communities have become "war zones" and a crackdown is needed now. The Liberal government is also promising legislation of its own this fall to tighten up a bail system that some law enforcement and...
Putin got a meeting, dodged any commitment to a ceasefire and Trump said nothing about tariffs or sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump set the bar low for the high-stakes meeting with his Russian counterpart in Alaska — and it became apparent why late Friday as things wrapped up with little more than a commitment to meet again. Trump had the...
New government weighing changes to appointment process. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau upended 150 years of Canadian parliamentary tradition when he dumped Liberal senators, named Independents to the upper house and generally stripped the place of partisan elements. The experiment produced mixed reviews, with some old-guard senators — those who were there well before Trudeau — arguing the Senate is...
The Conservative leader is making changes but he's keeping his senior adviser Jenni Byrne — at least for now. Pierre Poilievre was feeling dejected and disappointed after the stinging federal election loss in April, sources close to the Conservative leader said, and he dialed back his public appearances for the better part of two months to reassess his strategy and...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a tougher stance on immigration, saying Monday he wants to see "very hard caps" on the number of newcomers allowed into the country. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Ottawa, Poilievre said the country has struggled to integrate newcomers and he wants to see more people leaving than coming in "while...
Conservative leader 'pandering' to Ontario and Quebec and 'we're sick of it': separatist. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's path back to the House of Commons runs through a rural Alberta riding that has become a hotbed for Western discontent and the independence movement — a potentially tricky situation to navigate for a leader with national ambitions. Poilievre, a Calgarian by birth...
'I don't know what will occur,' says government's Senate representative. Prime Minister Mark Carney's point-person in the Senate is pressing for the swift passage of the government's landmark "nation-building" projects bill, but he isn't certain he can get it over the finish line before the upper house is scheduled to break for the summer. In an interview with CBC News...
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to order what he called "truly extraordinary" military strikes on Iran in a series of text messages before the military alliance meets in the Netherlands. Those messages, which Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, reveal Rutte was impressed that Trump decided to hit Iranian nuclear sites...
Bill to fast-track development has 'massive support among Canadians,' minister says. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election campaign to "build big, build bold" and the legislation that would enable federal fast-tracking of major projects appears poised to clear the House of Commons despite some Indigenous opposition. The legislation, Bill C-5, essentially gives cabinet the ability to pick certain...
Prime minister was peppered with questions at closing newser. Officials in Prime Minister Mark Carney's office are retracting comments that the U.S. wanted to water down a statement about Russia's war in Ukraine on the final day of the G7 summit in Alberta. Tuesday afternoon, an official from the Prime Minister's Office told reporters from multiple outlets that a joint...
This summit could be one of the most consequential in years: experts.Prime Minister Mark Carney will welcome leaders of the world's most powerful democratic countries Sunday for the start of a three-day meeting in the Rocky Mountains — a high-stakes summit that longtime G7 observers say could be one of the most consequential in years. Carney's priorities for this gathering...
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's contentious relationship with parts of the American judiciary, Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner said Tuesday "the rule of law and judicial independence is under attack" around the world.
Some observant royal watchers thought King Charles looked emotional at times throughout his trip to Canada last week — and a Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirms to CBC News that the normally stoic monarch found delivering the throne speech to be a particularly poignant moment.
'Strong and free' defence sees more Canadians backing the Crown: pollsters. King Charles is enjoying a popularity boost and there is considerably more support for maintaining Canada's ties to the Crown now than when he assumed the throne, according to public opinion polls released this week around his two-day visit to deliver a historic throne speech. After the long-reigning and...
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday the Canadian government invited her to come to Alberta for next month's G7 leaders' summit but she hasn't yet decided whether she will go. She told reporters at a news conference that she's also not sure if she would meet with Trump if she does decide to attend.
Charles says he's heartened to see revival of 'national pride, unity and hope' in Canada. King Charles delivered a historic speech from the throne Tuesday and he used that platform to praise Canada as a force for good that will remain "strong and free" as its relationships with longtime partners are "changing." Charles, who delivered the speech seated next to...
Canada's monarch will read speech from the throne in visit crafted to affirm Canada's sovereignty. King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Ottawa Monday for a two-day visit designed to show U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada is not a prospective American territory but a distinct constitutional monarchy with its own identity, culture and history. The King's visit, which is...
Carney's ministry includes 24 new people — and 13 of them were just elected. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a major overhaul of his cabinet Tuesday as he looks to remake the Liberals in his image and turn the page on the last government. Carney's new ministry, which includes 28 cabinet ministers and nine secretaries of state from every province...
A lot of the chatter was about foreign policy — and Carney pressed Trump on tariffs. After their Oval Office encounter under the glare of the TV lights, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his U.S. counterpart retreated to the Roosevelt Room for a working lunch on Tuesday. Much of the mealtime chatter was about foreign policy issues, according to a...
Canada's new PM meeting face-to-face with a hostile American president. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet his U.S. counterpart Tuesday for a high-stakes White House meeting — a face-to-face that comes as bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades and with a trade war raging. Carney triumphed in last week's election in part because of his promise to...
Tory House leader says party will stand with Carney in U.S. trade war despite partisan differences. After a fractious federal election campaign focused on perceived Liberal failures, the Conservative House leader is now signalling the caucus may be willing to support some of Prime Minister Mark Carney's legislative agenda when the House of Commons returns later this month. In an...
Caucus sources say Poilievre's leadership is on solid ground even after falling short in Monday's vote. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been on the phone with caucus members and party supporters in the hours since the election, trying to shore up his position after he delivered uneven results, Conservative sources told CBC News. Poilievre, who has made it clear he...
Conservative leader goes down to defeat in his Ottawa-area riding and fails to unseat Liberals nationwide. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered mixed results for his party in Monday's election — boosting the Tory vote-share to a generational high with breakthroughs among new voting blocs, while at the same time failing to unseat Mark Carney and the Liberals from government and...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre painted a gloomy picture of Canada in his closing pitch to voters on Thursday, saying life will get worse if voters return a Liberal government in this election. After sounding a more optimistic and hopeful tone earlier this week around the release of his party's platform, Poilievre reverted to form at a news conference in Halifax...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday his party will release its costed platform on Tuesday, giving voters a sense of what a government led by him would do and where it would cut to pay for it all. The platform release comes the day after advance polls close and less than a week before election day. Poilievre is the last...
Conservative leader noncommittal about what he would do with Liberal firearms policy. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dodged questions Sunday about whether he would repeal the federal government's handgun ban, a measure brought in to tamp down on the diversion of legal firearms into the hands of bad actors. Poilievre hasn't said much during this campaign about what he would do...
Conservative leader blasts Carney for big spending promises but hasn't released a plan of his own yet. With about a week left before election day and well over two million ballots cast so far, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre still hasn't released a costed platform outlining his vision for the country and how he'd pay for his multibillion-dollar commitments. Conservative campaign...
'I'm a very different person from Justin Trudeau,' Liberal Leader Mark Carney says. With polls showing Liberal Leader Mark Carney is the front-runner in this federal election, the other three main party leaders on stage for Thursday's English-language debate spent much of the contest trying to tear him down. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Carney early on in...
Liberal says he's 'not Justin Trudeau' and criticisms of past government aren't on him. Liberal Leader Mark Carney faced jabs from his opponents at Wednesday's French-language leaders' debate, with accusations he's out of touch with working people and won't offer enough change from his unpopular predecessor. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney was former prime minister Justin Trudeau's "economic adviser"...
The number of cross-border travellers going from Canada to the U.S. dropped by nearly 900,000 in March compared to the same month last year, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data — easily one of the worst year-over-year drops recorded outside of the COVID-19 health crisis. The border figures show 4,105,516 travellers crossed the U.S. northern...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has renounced his British and Irish citizenships, a spokesperson for the campaign told CBC News on Monday. Carney, who was born in Canada, acquired Irish citizenship decades ago through his family ancestry and got his U.K. passport in 2018 while working overseas as the governor of the Bank of England. Carney's wife is also British-born. "His...
Conservative leader says Carney is using U.S. president and his economic threats as a campaign 'distraction.' Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at his Liberal opponent Thursday over his handling of the Canada-U.S. relationship, saying Mark Carney has so far "failed" to secure any tariff relief for Canada, even as other countries get something of a break. Carney, meanwhile, said...
Liberal leader says U.S. recession is likely after Trump tariffs prompt a 'financial crisis.' Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Monday he has a plan to prop up the Canadian economy as the U.S. careens toward a recession resulting from President Donald Trump's aggressive tariff actions, creating what Carney called a "financial crisis" that has the potential to undo the international...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney said Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump's move to levy tariffs on virtually every country will "rupture the global economy," torpedo economic growth and prompt devastating consequences for workers and businesses in this country and around the world. Carney said Trump's tariffs against Canadian goods are "unjustified, unwarranted and misguided," and the country must hit back.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday his long-awaited plan to impose what he's calling "retaliatory" tariffs on imports coming from dozens of countries — but the White House said there will be no more levies applied to Canada than what has previously been announced. Trump said however that he is going ahead with a 25 per cent tariff on "all...
Conservative leader says his election campaign won't be about the U.S. threat alone. On the day U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to hit Canada with a slate of new tariffs that could torpedo cross-border trade, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre laid out his plan to take on the Americans and help this country get through what's expected to be a...
Conservative leader says couples running out of time to start families due to unaffordable housing. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is facing criticism for saying too many young people can't buy affordable homes before their "biological clocks" have run out — a comment he's made in the past, but one that's igniting online pushback now as he faces more scrutiny in...
Conservatives eye NDP seats, but Trump threatens to upend everything. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent much of the first week of this election campaign targeting NDP-held ridings that could be up for grabs now that polls suggest New Democrat support is in free fall — but the recent Liberal surge has upended those plans. The big political story of the...
Conservative leader is acting too 'Trump-y' and needs to make a change, says strategist. One of the country's top Conservative strategists who just helped Ontario Premier Doug Ford win a sizable majority government says Pierre Poilievre urgently needs to make a pivot and start talking more about the issue voters care about most — the U.S. threat — or he...
The Conservative leader's proposed TFSA top-up means Canadians could contribute $12K a year. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Thursday that a government led by him would allow Canadians to contribute $5,000 more a year to their tax-free savings account (TFSA) — as long as that extra cash is being invested in Canadian companies.