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 Michelle Rempel Garner.
In the parking lot outside the pizza joint where my most recent local election victory party was being held, I made a promise to my husband and my long-suffering chief of staff. I would proceed with my new mandate under a set of three ground rules. My primary objective would be an outstandingly effective advocate for my constituents. I would...
Today Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum which rightly named the hard realities of a fractured geopolitical system, and the urgent need for middle powers like Canada to step up with resolve and realism.
Bad news for the millions of Canadians yearning for an immediate federal election: the scandal-ridden Liberals will likely cling to power with the NDP’s continued support when Parliament resumes at the end of March.
This week saw the Liberal leadership race get out of the starting blocks (sort of), and the federal Liberals stumble on the issue of American tariffs and into some hot water over….ketchup? The Liberal's capital gains tax was once again in the news (for reasons that surprised many), and the Canadian Border Services Agency started using a surprising new term...
Last night, Canadian Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney made a bold play on American TV, by launching his campaign while attempting to brand himself as a political “outsider”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just announced that he has instructed the Liberal Party to start a leadership contest to replace him as party leader and PM. He has also asked Governor General Mary Simon to prorogue (suspend) Parliament until March 24, 2025. As of writing, it’s unclear who is actually in charge of Canada (more on that below). In...
In the endless tsunami of problems that Canada is currently facing, and with a tired federal government that doesn't have the chops to deal with problems that have obvious solutions, what keeps me up at night are potential problems that could be festering below the surface of active public scrutiny.
The electronic payments industry in Canada has come under scruinty in recent years, and for good reason. The biggest banks and tech giants tend to dominate the space. Given that most advanced economies now deeply rely on this industry for transacting business, the fees they charge, the data they take from consumers, the stranglehold they often have on technological adoption...
Don’t let any Toronto Star columnists fool you - prorogation would be all about letting Trudeau catch his breath while running from a tsunami of scandal.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would be appointing uber-elitist and longtime carbon tax supporter Mark Carney as his key economic policy czar. Mr. Trudeau structured Mr. Carney's appointment—with his myriad of board appointments, private interests, and investments—so that it would not be subject to any conflict of interest rules for public office holders.
When Parliament resumes next week, Conservatives will do what the Liberals have not done after nearly a decade in government: table a comprehensive piece of legislation to protect Canadians online while preserving their civil liberties. The need for this approach is clear, and present.
Since calling two by-elections to be held in September, there has been a lot of speculation about what losses in these seats would mean for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's viability as Liberal Party leader. However, what more folks should be looking at is what these two by-elections could mean for Mr. Trudeau's Parliamentary dance partner, New Democratic Party Leader...
As anyone with credit cards, a mortgage, student loans, or a car payment knows, you can only borrow so much before risking a downgrade to your credit score. And as anyone who has a low credit score knows, borrowing money in that situation becomes difficult and costly - particularly in today’s world of high interest rates.
This morning, Canadian federal Justice Minister Arif Virani posted an egregiously bad "explainer" video regarding the federal Liberal government's highly contentious capital gains tax increase. The video was riddled with misinformation that could cost some Canadians big bucks if his advice is taken to heart.
Canadians woke up to reports from top reporter Robert Fife that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was actively considering turfing his most loyal foot soldier, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, from her role and replacing him with carbon-tax proponent Mark Carney. There is much to unpack here, but starting with the following point is critical: this is a purposeful leak made by...
This morning, Parliament's fiscal watchdog released an astonishing analysis of how much the Liberal government's much-maligned "Online Harms Act," Bill C-63, will cost Canadian taxpayers. In a report posted to their website, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) found it will cost a staggering $200M to establish a whopping 330-person, brand-new bureaucracy to create and enforce yet-to-be-defined regulations regarding the use...
In a shocking upset, last night Conservative candidate Don Stewart won a byelection in a Toronto seat that the Liberals have held for decades. The byelection, caused by the resignation of longtime Liberal Member of Parliament Carolyn Bennett, was in one of the so-called "safest" seats for the Liberals. The Liberals held the seat during the Conservative majority sweep of...
On Sunday, Mexico's President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman to lead a political party to a general federal election victory in her country. She did so as the successor to outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's leftist MORENA party. Surrounded by speculation that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might not reoffer in the next election, his Liberal Party's intelligentsia...
As a wave of sticky summer heat descended upon Ottawa this week, rumours about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepping down as Prime Minister reached a fever pitch. Much of this is due to Mark Carney, whose not-so-silent desire for Mr. Trudeau's job became markedly more vocal this week.
This week, a scandal erupted when serious allegations made by prominent actress Scarlett Johansson against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman emerged on social media. In a detailed statement, Ms. Johansson alleged that Mr. Altman had contacted her to use her voice for OpenAI's "Sky" chatbot, partly because of her role as the voice of an Artificial Intelligence character in the 201...
As with stars about to go supernova and die an explosive death, sure signs portend the demise of a relationship. Take, for example, the loss of tolerance for minor irritations. Behaviors that once seemed endearing become insufferable.
There’s no shortage of data that illustrates how members of minority communities face barriers to accessing justice within Canada’s criminal justice system, either as an accused or as a victim. This issue has worsened over the last decade. One particular indicator in this regard is that hardly a week goes by wherein another alleged perpetrator of serious crimes walks free...
Moments ago, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre was ejected from the House of Commons by Speaker Greg Fergus (of partisan Liberal controversy fame) for referring to Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dogmatic adherence to the decriminalization of hard drugs like crack and heroin as “wacko.”
Last week, Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre gave his first address as party leader to a Canadian board of trade. In his speech, he spoke words that sent a thunderbolt through Canada’s typically docile government relations community.
Just shy of twelve years ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau participated in a highly publicized boxing match against a fellow Parliamentarian to much triumphant press hype and fanfare. A lot has changed since then. Canada is facing multiple serious crises, including an acute housing shortage. Mr. Trudeau is facing historically low personal approval ratings, his governing Liberal Party is...
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced his Liberal government would be tabling legislation purportedly to protect Canadians against so-called "online harms" as soon as next week. But what those harms might be and by what means Mr. Trudeau's legislation will aim to stop them will be the real story once the bill is presented to Parliament.
One of the under-discussed tragedies of Canada's multiple current (and preventable) crises - soaring rents, crime waves, and unaffordable food - is that they have paralyzed Canada's federal government when considering other emerging social questions. One such example showed parts of itself in an unlikely venue - a recent electronic dance festival.
This week’s brutal, broad-daylight murder of a Calgary woman by her estranged spouse at her workplace should never have happened. This egregious crime has gutted the entire Calgary community. On behalf of all of my constituents I send my love and shared grief with the victim’s family, for whom this incredible tragedy has impacted the most.
Last night, as temperatures plummeted to below -40C, an emergency alert was delivered to every phone in Alberta. The message? Use as little electricity as possible. As the energy demand to keep dwellings warm spiked on the coldest night of the year, the Alberta Energy System Operator - the entity in charge of managing the province's power grid - channelled...
In some ways, becoming a Member of Parliament is like signing up for a wild-ass bull ride. Few finish unbruised, so anyone thinking about climbing into the chute better have a clear head, skill, and a solid reason for wanting to do so to begin with. But for many, the reason why Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau still has his...
Every day, countless Canadians wake up angry at their government about the state of their lives or community. Many feel helpless and unempowered and believe that they can't do anything to change the system. If you are one of those people, it’s easy to understand why you might feel that way. But thankfully, you are wrong. In the Canadian political...
Late yesterday, the New York Times dropped the gauntlet on artificial intelligence company OpenAI and its investment partner Microsoft in a comprehensive lawsuit alleging extensive copyright infringement. The core argument in this lawsuit could also have vast consequences and financial implications for Canadian journalism and print media, even though Canadian industry and its federal government is asleep at the wheel...
This morning, as the scandal surrounding embattled Harvard University president Claudine Gay persists, Canadian columnist Warren Kinsella noted that potential Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney sits on Harvard University's board of overseers. For those unfamiliar with Harvard’s current scandal, Carney's tenure on Harvard's board might not immediately raise eyebrows. But once armed with a few facts about the controversy, it's...
This week Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek created national headlines - and not in a good way - when she issued a bizarre missive announcing that she would be withdrawing from Calgary’s annual menorah lighting event. Her announcement came in spite of attending the event in previous years, with virtually the exact same program format. Her rationale for her decision, that...
With a sustained 15-point polling lead developing favouring Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's governing Liberals, much virtual ink was spilled this week over Mr. Trudeau hiring Max Valiquette as his new director of communications in an attempt to reverse his fortunes.
There's a dangerously naïve sentiment among some that Canada’s pluralism is immune from erosion. But in reality, Canadians from virtually every nation on the earth, of every political persuasion and religion, living side by side in peace is not something that magically happens. It takes constant work, strong leadership and information to understand the context of plural (e.g. cultural, regional...
Ahead of a Wednesday morning caucus meeting, and as winter temperatures begin to set in across the country, federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre announced that his party would force a vote in the House of Commons on Monday to extend a three-year carbon tax exemption that was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week for Atlantic Canadian heating...
Last June, an uproar arose when the notorious serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo was transferred to a medium-security prison from a maximum-security facility. At the time, the families of Bernardo's victims were not given reasons for the transfer. A lawyer for the families, Timothy Danson, described the federal government's opaque process as having a severe revictimizing effect.
The sudden outbreak of war between Hamas fighters and Israel has spurred reaction from nations near and far, as the intense fighting raged on multiple fronts Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed his country is at war, following a barrage of rocket attacks and surprise infiltration by Hamas militants in multiple locations. The attacks began in the early...
A big news story the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation broke today inadvertently exposed a potentially explosive question for the House of Commons: can a Speaker rule on a potential breach of the rules that he signed off on in a previous government role? The CBC story in question exposed that a trip that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Montana cost...
Uncertainty about what happens after October 30th with hundreds of thousands of legally obtained firearms in Canada is yet another a looming problem for the Liberals Albeit for different reasons, all sides of the firearms ownership debate in Canada have their eyes set on October 30, 2023. In less than a month, the federal Liberal government’s amnesty for firearms owners...
Albeit for different reasons, all sides of the firearms ownership debate in Canada have their eyes set on October 30, 2023. In less than a month, the federal Liberal government’s amnesty for firearms owners to surrender over 1,500 different types of legally obtained firearms, made illegal to own by the Liberals in a 2020 Order in Council, will expire. However...
Albeit for different reasons, all sides of the firearms ownership debate in Canada have their eyes set on October 30, 2023. In less than a month, the federal Liberal government’s amnesty for firearms owners to surrender over 1,500 different types of legally obtained firearms, made illegal to own by the Liberals in a 2020 Order […]
While many politicians and activists have been happy to be photographed with Yezidi survivors, efforts to bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice has been glacial