Sep 18 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Changes to lobbying rules could spell an end to 50 years of free trips to Israel for Canadian MPs and senators. The Ottawa-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which funds the trips, says it is the group hardest hit by revisions to a code governing those who try to influence public officials.
Aug 31 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Former employees of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank have come forward to publicly challenge ex-communication chief Bob Pickard’s criticism of the institution as an instrument of Beijing that is dominated by China’s ruling Communist Party. Three ex-staffers told The Globe and Mail that they did not detect undue influence exercised by the Communist Party over […]
Aug 18 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The federal Conservatives are calling on Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault to resign his position on an advisory group to the Chinese government – a body chaired by a former chief of staff to President Xi Jinping – and to end Canadian funding to this organization that instructs Beijing on green development. The China Council for […]
Aug 16 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — A coalition of rights and faith groups in Canada is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to condemn what it describes as “escalating human-rights violations” in India and to make any trade or investment agreements with New Delhi contingent upon the protection of vulnerable communities in the South Asian country. In a letter, it warned […]
Aug 8 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Bob Pickard, a Canadian who recently quit the top communications job at the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, says his time there confirmed for him that the multilateral institution is a tool of the Chinese government, something he had previously thought was an unfair stereotype. “I went into the job with the greatest of aspirations […]
Jul 19 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for deeper ties with Australia on Tuesday, saying that, unlike authoritarian regimes, the country is a “like-minded partner” that is able to uphold democratic values while also supplying minerals that could help reduce global reliance on fossil fuels. Mr. Trudeau refrained from using the term “friend-shoring,” which was popularized by […]
Jul 15 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Canadian government says a ban on arms sales to Turkey was imposed “for important reasons” – and remains intact today – but refuses to divulge whether it’s in talks with Ankara about lifting it. Media reports from Turkey suggest Canada has agreed to lift, or discuss lifting, an arms embargo on Ankara in wake […]
Jul 14 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada is being urged to shelve any intention of unilaterally imposing a digital services tax on tech giants, with one of the country’s biggest business groups warning it could trigger U.S. government retaliation as a presidential election approaches. The call for Ottawa to hold off came from both sides of the border on Friday as […]
Jul 14 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Former Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop says Australia and Canada should consider a trade agreement to deepen economic ties. “Australia and Canada have economies that mirror each other in so many ways,” Ms. Bishop said in an interview, citing both countries’ resource industries, including mining and energy. Ms. Bishop is co-chair of the Australia-Canada […]
Jul 13 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The federal government says it cannot consent to further delaying a digital services tax targeting tech giants in the absence of a clear timeline for a global multinationals taxation deal to come into effect. Ottawa said Tuesday that unless international talks set firm dates for an agreement to collect a greater share of the wealth […]
Jun 29 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada is being advised to quickly replace its aging submarines with ones that can operate more effectively in the ice-bound Arctic, a region where the country’s top soldier has previously warned Ottawa only has a “tenuous hold” on its outer reaches. The standing Senate committee on national security, defence and veterans affairs Wednesday called on […]
Jun 28 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — India’s high commissioner said his country has made a formal complaint to the Department of Global Affairs about “the safety and security” of its diplomatic premises in Canada, citing in particular a protest by Sikhs in March outside its high commission in Ottawa. The World Sikh Organization, an Ottawa-based advocacy group for Sikhs, in turn, […]
Jun 14 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Ottawa is launching a review of Canada’s membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as well as allegations raised by a former bank staffer who accused it of being “dominated by the Communist Party.” Bob Pickard, the Canadian who was global communications director for the bank, resigned Tuesday […]
Jun 5 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Two critics of China’s growing influence in the South Pacific came to Ottawa this month to plead for Canada and the West to invest money in their homeland, the Solomon Islands, as a counterbalance to Beijing. “Where is the West?” asks Daniel Suidani, who was ousted as premier of the Solomon Islands’ most populous province […]
Jun 5 2023 — Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Saudi Arabia, which last month reconciled with Canada after a diplomatic rupture over human-rights activists lasting nearly five years, remains this country’s most important customer for Canadian-made military goods after the United States, according to a new report. Ottawa’s Department of Global Affairs in a May 31 report said Saudi Arabia was again the top […]