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 Spencer Van Dyk.
With the deadline for Canada, the United States and Mexico to either renew or review their trilateral trade deal just two weeks away, Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Mark Wiseman is urging people not to stress. “Everybody take a deep breath, relax, it’s all going to be OK,” he said Monday during a fireside chat with BMO Financial Group CEO...
Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller insists the federal government will not capitulate to the U.S. administration and back down on the legislation he says is aimed at protecting children from the potential harms of the internet. “Kids just aren’t on the bargaining table. Hard stop,” Miller told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday...
A WestJet spokesperson says the company “strongly opposes” the federal government’s offer to dole out loans to airlines, amid the still-ongoing conflict in the Middle East and resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing a spike in fuel prices. “The government faces a choice: continue with costly and market distorting subsidies or build a sustainable future for Canadian aviation,”...
Former prime minister Jean Chretien says while he’s “not too worried” about the independence movement in Alberta and fall referendum with a question on separation, he would caution officials against being too complacent with the issue. Chretien spoke with CTV News senior political correspondent Mike Le Couteur ahead of the installation of Canada’s 31st Governor General Louise Arbour — who...
Liberal Caucus Chair James Maloney is vehemently denying the prime minister has a caucus management problem, pushing back on reporting from this week citing unnamed Liberal MPs accusing Mark Carney of being dismissive of the concerns they were raising, and yelling. Several MPs told the Toronto Star this week that Carney has a penchant for lashing out at caucus members...
In a letter to his counterparts in the United States and Mexico, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he wants to renew the countries’ trilateral trade deal for another 16 years and opt out of an annual review process. “This agreement is highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy,” LeBlanc wrote in a...
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson joked there may be a place for Canada in the European Union to join “like-minded” nations as “the most Nordic country in the world outside the Nordics.” “European Union is obviously a matter of geography, you can hear that from the name,” Kristersson told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos when asked for his opinion...
Former Canadian ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman doesn’t think CUSMA is going anywhere, despite the fast-approaching deadline to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement and the rhetoric employed by Trump administration trade officials. “I personally do not believe that the agreement will go away, and (the U.S. trade representative) has said that,” Hillman told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos...
The federal government is putting new border measures in place to prevent Ebola cases from spreading to Canada, as the number of cases continues to rise in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. Starting this week, people travelling from the affected regions will have to self-isolate for 21 days. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is...
The federal Liberal climate caucus will meet Monday night, amid reporting several of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s MPs are concerned he’s backsliding on environmental commitments, sources tell CTV News. Sources also say Canadian Climate Institute president Rick Smith will attend the meeting to speak with MPs. The meeting comes amid reporting from Radio-Canada that more than a dozen MPs sent...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promises that if the remain side of October’s referendum wins, she will “listen to the will of the people,” and not hold another later referendum on independence. < is this a quote? Smith announced this week that a question on independence will be added to the already-set Oct. 19 referendum in Alberta. It will not, however...
Conservative MP and parliamentary foreign affairs committee vice-chair, Michael Chong says China is attempting to “move the goal posts” by trying to prevent Canadian officials from visiting Taiwan. Chong, who is also the Conservative foreign affairs critic, is in Taiwan this week to meet with Taiwanese officials, including Lai Ching-te, president of the Republic of China Taiwan. Several delegations of...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s open to a southern route — or one that runs along the Trans Mountain Expansion Project — for a potential pipeline that would transport oil from her province to the West Coast. Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Friday they’ve reached a deal on an industrial carbon price, a critical piece of their...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce the federal government’s long-delayed clean electricity strategy on Thursday, according to senior federal sources. The strategy -- dubbed the National Electricity Agenda -- will lay out a plan to double Canada’s electricity grid capacity by 2050, sources say, amounting to the biggest buildout of the national grid in Canada’s history. The plan...
Despite losing a nomination contest to run for the Ontario Liberals over the weekend, federal Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith says he plans to follow through on his plan to resign his seat in the House of Commons before MPs rise for the summer. “I am going to resign my seat by the end of the parliamentary session to ensure that...
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says he believes he should pursue legal options to hit back at the members of a separatist group who shared his personal information online. “Personally, I’m tired of being a punching bag for that crowd, and I think there needs to be consequences,” Kenney told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he isn’t in any rush to make a decision on access to medical assistance in dying for people whose sole condition is mental illness, after reports the federal government is prepared to table legislation to pause the expansion based on committee recommendation. Eligible Canadians have had access to MAID since 2016, with amendments made to...
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says the potential pipeline expansion project U.S. President Donald Trump approved last week is a positive sign of “cross-border communication” and co-operation, after more than a year of tension stemming from the trade war. Last week, Trump signed an order authorizing the Bridger Pipeline Expansion, a proposed project that would revive portions of the cancelled Keystone...
Canada is sending more military aid to Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday, saying Canada will contribute about $270 million toward critical military capabilities, drawn from NATO’s prioritized list of needs for Ukraine. The funding adds to more than...
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says Canada likely won’t gain much by waiting on the November midterms to ramp up trade negotiations with the U.S. administration, because it’s unlikely Congress will be able to put enough pressure on the president to make a difference. As the July 1 deadline to review the trilateral trade deal between Canada, the United States and...
On the eve of his first spring economic update, Prime Minister Mark Carney insists his government is focused on “doing more than one thing at one time” to increase affordability for Canadians. Carney made the comments in Ottawa Monday, speaking to reporters following his announcement that his government is creating Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund. A sovereign wealth fund...
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is cautioning the prime minister that despite the need to diversify trade, China is not a substitute for the United States. O’Toole has been tapped to join Prime Minister Mark Carney’s 24-member Canada-U.S. Advisory Committee, unveiled this week as a formal review of the countries’ trilateral trade deal with Mexico fast approaches. More than a...
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says there is a gap between the Canada and U.S. administrations’ trade philosophies. Greer made the comments at a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade agenda on Wednesday. “They’ve done this, but overall they’ve indicated that they want to be trading more, they want to have more trade...
An energy and climate policy-focused think tank is urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to deliver results on a slate of “critical” issues related to the federal government’s memorandum of understanding with Alberta, namely the industrial carbon pricing system. “This is the most important element of the (memorandum of understanding, or MOU),” wrote Chris Severson-Baker, the executive director of the Alberta-based...
Despite accusing the United States of weaponizing the deep integration of its economy with Canada’s, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he “absolutely” wants the trilateral trade deal including Mexico to remain intact. “We’ve become overly dependent on one trading partner who has turned around, as the prime minister has also said, and weaponized that very dependency or integration against...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is again urging the prime minister to sign a tariff-free trade deal with the United States, following a video by Mark Carney Sunday calling Canada’s former strength, built on its bond with America, a “weakness” that must be corrected. In his own video released on Monday — paralleled with Carney’s address, seeing both leaders sitting in...
Defence Minister David McGuinty is still without a timeline for the now-yearlong review into the purchase of dozens of F-35 fighter jets, telling reporters in Ottawa Monday that it’s ongoing. “What it says, I hope, for Canadians, is that we’re being very responsible,” McGuinty said, when asked whether the review is being delayed because the Canadian government is worried about...
A former Bank of Canada governor is predicting Canada has about a 30 per cent chance of falling into a recession, amid growing global economic pressures. The ongoing war in the Middle East — with blockades in the Strait of Hormuz and damage to production facilities — is taking a striking toll on the global economy, sending fuel prices soaring...
Finnish President Alexander Stubb says he’s “the most pro-American president in Europe,” despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s persistent criticisms of Western allies and global trade system disruption. Stubb made the comments in an interview on CTV Question Period while he was in Ottawa for the first visit to Canada by a Finnish president in 12 years. In the interview, which...
The federal government is set to table its spring economic update on April 28, the one-year anniversary of the Liberals’ general election win, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the House of Commons Tuesday. It will be Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first since his cabinet flipped the release schedule for its budgets and fiscal updates. The document will give the latest...
Today is the first day Prime Minister Mark Carney will be heading to Parliament Hill with his newly minted majority government. Winning all three seats that were up for grabs in Monday’s byelections, the federal Liberals are entering a new era. What will this mean for federal political dynamics, the timing of the next federal election, and passing policy? Here’s...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals secured a majority government after clinching all three federal byelections held on Monday night. Nearly a year after last April’s minority government win and on the heels of courting five opposition MPs to cross the floor, Carney’s grip on power just got tighter. In the Liberals’ first win of the night in University-Rosedale, Ont., candidate...
Following the surprise floor-crossing of longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu to the Liberal benches, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon won’t say whether there’s a red line on which defecting MPs the Liberals will or won’t bring into their caucus. On Wednesday Gladu became the fifth MP — and fourth Conservative — to cross the floor and join the Liberals in...
Liberal MP Chris d’Entremont, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives in November, says current Conservative MPs have “absolutely” asked him what it’s like being a Liberal. “They want to know what the caucus structure is, what we talk about, what kind of input that we have in decision making,” d’Entremont told host Mike Le Couteur in an interview on...
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says while it’s unlikely the U.S. administration will hash out all of its trade issues with Canada and Mexico by July 1, he’s optimistic they’ll be resolved as soon as possible. “I think that we aren’t probably going to be able to resolve all issues by July 1, but I think we are on track...
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon is pushing back on the Conservatives’ calls to cancel the proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City. Construction on the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project, overseen by the Crown corporation Alto, is set to begin in 2029 or 2030. But, speaking to reporters this week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called the project a “boondoggle” and...
Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin will not reveal whether the Alberta-Ottawa memorandum of understanding sets a target date of 2030 by which the province will hike its industrial carbon price to $130 a tonne. In November, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a major new energy co-operation agreement, outlining the conditions that need to...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Liberal MP Michael Ma has apologized for comments he made last week seemingly questioning the issue of forced labour in China, and would not say whether he will face consequences. “Mr. Ma has apologized for his comments, as he should have,” Carney told reporters during a housing announcement with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto...
The CEO of the Swedish manufacturing company Saab says there are still “intensive” talks underway with the Canadian government around the potential purchase of Gripen fighter jets, but that he has no timeline for when Canada will finish its review of the American-made F-35s. The federal government launched a review a year ago of its plan to purchase dozens of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is criticizing Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau for his English-only message of condolences to the families of the pilots who died in a plane crash on Sunday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. “We live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages regardless of...
As Canadian drivers continue to see a spike in the price at the pump, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne won’t commit either way on dropping the gas tax to provide some relief. The war in the Middle East has now exceeded three weeks, with Iran continuing to block the vital Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring globally. According to CAA...
Conservative campaign manager Steve Outhouse says leader Pierre Poilievre arranged his appearance on the hugely popular Joe Rogan podcast himself. During his first U.S. tour since becoming Conservative leader, Poilievre made stops in Michigan, Texas and New York City this week, and sat down to record a more-than-two-hour podcast episode with Joe Rogan. The episode, which dropped Thursday, is set...
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says based on the information before him, there are no longer clandestine activities or transnational repression taking place in Canada that is linked to the government of India. “In the files that we have that involve transnational repression, we’re not seeing any connection right now with any foreign entity, based on the criminal information, the investigations...
At the one-year anniversary of Mark Carney’s tenure as prime minister, the federal Liberals are seeing record-high support, according to the latest data from Nanos Research. In the polling firm’s most recent ballot tracking, the Liberals are at 47.6 per cent, the Conservatives at 31.1 per cent, and the NDP at 11.2 per cent. The Conservatives under leader Pierre Poilievre...
Defence Minister David McGuinty says Canada is “leaving the door open” to providing assistance in the Middle East — as the conflict in Iran exceeds two weeks and spreads further throughout the region — but he also insists Canada “will not be engaging offensively.” “We’re leaving the door open to be, I think, of assistance to any neighbouring states that...
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree insists the federal government’s approach to people associated with the Iranian regime in Canada is “aggressive,” despite having only deported one person in the last three years. Late last month, the United States and Israel began strikes on Iran, targeting the country’s leadership, with retaliatory strikes since widening the conflict in the region. Against the...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says Canada needs to separate its trade talks from its national security concerns when dealing with certain countries if it is serious about diversifying trading partners beyond the United States. Moe joined Prime Minister Mark Carney this week on the first leg of his Indo-Pacific trade tour to India, Australia and Japan. In India, Carney signed...
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champange says the federal government is once again “exploring” a formal free-trade deal with India, and that the South Asian country also sees “a lot of benefit” to deepening ties with Canada. In an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday, host Vassy Kapelos asked Champagne directly whether he, as finance minister, wants a formal free-trade deal...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada needs to create more leverage in its negotiations with the United States, and argues that despite the ongoing trade war between the two countries, Canada should not substitute the U.S. with China. In a speech focused on becoming “stronger at home” to increase leverage abroad, Poilievre laid out his vision for Canada-U.S. relations in...
The newest member of the federal Liberal caucus is standing by his decision and says he wouldn’t speak ill of his former Conservative colleagues, despite their vocal criticism of his floor crossing. “I have no bad words to say about people on the other side of the aisle,” MP Matt Jeneroux said on his way out of his first-ever national...
A U.S. Representative for Michigan is pledging more pushback in Congress to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “chaotic” tariffs, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck them down. In an interview on CTV Question Period Sunday, Debbie Dingell told host Vassy Kapelos that Trump’s tariffs are destroying long held U.S. relationships, including with Canada. “I want to be clear that...
In a move Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling a betrayal, Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux is joining the Liberal caucus. “Matt, welcome to the government team,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, sitting down with Jeneroux for a press conference in Edmonton. The two did not take questions from journalists.
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon is standing by the Liberals’ decision to deliver the Budget Implementation Act as a 634-page omnibus piece of legislation. Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, allows the government to enact the legislative policies laid out in the budget thatrequire new laws or amendments to existing laws. Among other things, the legislation includes changes to transport...
Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer says he believes the Liberals are having conversations “in good faith” with his party to get legislation passed in the House of Commons, though he wouldn’t say whether the spirit of co-operation is spurred by efforts to avoid an election. “I believe the conversations are being held in good faith,” Scheer said in an interview...
Amid a year-long trade war, Canada’s outgoing ambassador to the United States says she doesn’t know whether U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to keep the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) in place, because his messaging around the deal has been inconsistent.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson wouldn’t rule out allowing Chinese state-owned companies from buying majority stakes in Canada’s oil patch, when asked directly whether that would be a red line for the federal government. “We will look at every investment from every country against the Investment Canada Act, and we will accept investments that are a net benefit...
Canadians are virtually evenly split on how they believe MPs hoping to cross the floor should handle it, new data from Nanos Research finds. According to the numbers, a third of Canadians — 33 per cent — believe MPs planning to cross the floor should resign their seat and trigger a byelection, running on the mandate of the party they...
Former prime ministers Stephen Harper and Jean Chretien sat down for a fireside chat in Ottawa Monday to discuss the topic of “Canada and the World,” moderated by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS). Ahead of the conversation, Harper received an RCGS Gold Medal at a ceremony in Ottawa, in recognition of his “distinguished career in public service,” according to...
The boost to the federal GST credit Prime Minister Mark Carney promised Canadians last week is one step closer to being enacted. In one of their first moves on Monday, members of Parliament unanimously approved a Conservative motion proposing to speed up the House of Commons’ deliberations over Bill C-19, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit Act. That bill seeks...
