Aug 11 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Ever heard of dry January? It’s an attempt by those who practice new year’s resolutions to swear off alcohol for the first month of the year. Not that I want to fulfil stereotypes, but as a journalist, I’ve never been successful in doing a full dry month. Just for fun, I often joke around with […]
Aug 4 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Liberal strategy: Speak positively, but carry a big stick. Out of the blue this week, I was summoned to an Ottawa coffee shop for a meeting with a senior government official. As a journalist, my ears and eyes are always open, so I was happy to have the opportunity. In a conversation that lasted about […]
Jun 11 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Canadian municipalities are “sitting ducks” for “cyber terrorists,” says the mayor of Stratford, Ont. — the latest Canadian community to find itself targeted by an online ransom attack. Dan Mathieson said that if his fellow mayors across the country don’t start working together on the problem, more communities may be hit by online extortionists holding […]
Jun 6 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — As far as television audiences in Canada go, you can’t do much better than live sports events. It’s a bonus when a Canadian team is in the hunt for a playoff win. On Sunday, more than 10 million Canadians watched all or part of Game 2 of the NBA finals, when the Golden State Warriors […]
Jun 4 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — An offhand comment by Canada’s ambassador to the United States about Cuba touched off a minor diplomatic flap between the federal government and the U.S. State Department, CBC News has learned. About two months ago, officials in the Trump administration reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office to float the idea of U.S. Vice President […]
May 26 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Ontario Liberal MPs want to pitch voters on a “sugar sweetened beverages levy” — more commonly known as a soda tax — in the coming federal election campaign, according to a list of caucus platform priorities obtained by CBC News. While the proposal is ranked 18th out of 19 items on the list, several MPs […]
May 14 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Ontario Liberal MPs would rather spend time talking about Canadians’ economic anxieties instead of environmental issues during the fall federal election campaign, according to a caucus document obtained by CBC News. A ranked list of Ontario Liberal caucus priorities for the 2019 platform places personal financial security issues first, with environmental concerns relegated to seventh […]
Apr 30 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — The Trudeau government is expanding a federal loan guarantee program for farmers in response to Western Canada’s canola crisis — more than doubling the maximum amount of money available to individual producers. CBC News has learned the federal government is set to announce at a news conference Wednesday morning a boost to the maximum amount […]
Mar 29 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Canada is considering new ways to retaliate against the United States in hope of getting steel and aluminum tariffs lifted. A senior source with direct knowledge of the situation says Canada is considering launching consultations on whether it should increase its retaliatory tariffs. The source says Canada is “going to have to refresh our retaliation […]
Mar 11 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — A backbench Liberal MP says she was not instructed by anyone to post a message of support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as questions are being asked about his interactions with women in caucus. Liberal MPs Anita Vandenbeld and Linda Lapointe published nearly identical statements on social media over the weekend, but Vandenbeld denies there […]
Jan 10 2019 — Katie Simpson — CBC — The prime minister’s inner circle is ramping up another lobbying push in Washington to terminate American tariffs on steel and aluminum. Two senior government sources say that ministers with connections to American national security portfolios will be tasked with reaching out to specific U.S. officials to push Canada’s anti-tariff message. The campaign is based on […]
Dec 11 2018 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Donald Trump’s top representative in Canada is denying Chinese claims of a political motive behind the arrest in Canada of a key executive with the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft said the claim circulating in Chinese state media that Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in Canada was politically engineered to punish Chinese […]
Dec 4 2018 — Katie Simpson — CBC — It’s a political long-shot, but opposition parties are teaming up to find out more about what Ottawa is doing to get the Trump administration to lift its tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Conservative and New Democrat MPs are calling for an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee on International Trade to consider a motion […]
Dec 2 2018 — Katie Simpson — Any relief Canadian officials felt over Friday’s signing of NAFTA may fade away, as U.S. President Donald Trump announced he’s taking a risky all-or-nothing approach to getting the new trade pact ratified by Congress. As he left the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Trump told reporters on board Air Force One that he plans to […]
Nov 29 2018 — Katie Simpson — CBC — Officials don’t know yet who will sign the pact. And they haven’t said exactly when, or where, it’s going to happen. But when the G20 summit in Buenos Aires is over, the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico are supposed to be coming home with a newly signed trade agreement.