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 Steven Chase.
Opposition MPs, national-security experts and human-rights activists are accusing the federal government of dragging its feet on setting up a foreign agent registry. The last Liberal government, under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, passed enabling legislation in June, 2024, to set up a registry and name a commissioner to oversee it. But the new government of Prime Minister Mark Carney...
Before trade talks abruptly ended in October, Ottawa and Washington were discussing a U.S. proposal that would have lowered tariffs on most Canadian steel exports to the United States while effectively capping the amount of steel heading south across the border. U.S. trade negotiators proposed a tariff-rate quota system that would introduce two tiers of levies based on historical levels...
Canada is expected to buy close to $4-billion in air strike munitions from the United States government in a sale disclosed Thursday on the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s next meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. These are the type of bombs that can be carried by fighter jets such as Canada’s aging CF-18s or the new U.S.-made...
Canada needs to be prepared for the risk the United States may announce its withdrawal from the trilateral USMCA trade deal as a negotiating tactic, according to a legal expert who is testifying on the agreement at public hearings in Washington this week. Barry Appleton, a Toronto lawyer who is co-director of the Center for International Law at New York...
A former air force commander says Ottawa should buy its full order of 88 U.S.-made F-35s to fill an imminent gap in fighter capacity but switch to European warplanes for future purchases to provide more independence from the United States. Retired lieutenant-general Yvan Blondin, who was commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2012 until 2015, said the possibility...
Canada and India are putting the finishing touches on a deal to supply New Delhi with uranium in another signal of warming relations after a two-year diplomatic rupture. The export deal would be worth about US$2.8-billion, two sources familiar with the negotiations say, and its term could run for 10 years, according to one of the same sources.
The Royal Canadian Navy is considering expanding its training-ship operations to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, a move that would enable it to assist in patrolling the maritime border between Canada and the United States. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, said as part of its modernization effort, it is weighing increasing its fleet of...
Tuesday’s federal budget will announce a $50-billion fund for local infrastructure, including housing, transportation and a specific stream for health infrastructure such as hospitals and emergency services, a senior government official told The Globe and Mail. The source said the budget will also lay out a plan to retire aging military fleets as a way to save money on maintenance...
Millions of dollars of Canadian technology has been shipped through a sprawling network of Hong Kong-based shell companies to feed Russia’s war machine, according to an investigation by a human-rights watchdog. The Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK), in collaboration with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, combed through Ukrainian battlefield forensics, Hong Kong public records...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he stands ready to resume trade negotiations with the U.S. and tried to reassure Canadians that he is taking steps to shore up the country’s economy after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs by another 10 per cent. Mr. Trump said this weekend he’s hiking tariffs on Canadian imports after an Ontario government...
Beijing’s biggest fish bazaar is a briny-smelling maze of stalls stocked with massive crabs from Russia, purple lobster from Australia and yellow croaker fish from China’s southeastern coast. What’s increasingly hard to find at Jingshen Seafood Market, however, are products from Canada: the casualties of a punishing trade war between Ottawa and Beijing. This lost business is becoming harder for...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, in Beijing to lay the groundwork for a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Xi Jinping, says the two countries have reopened a communication channel that will enable them to stabilize ruptured relations and, hopefully, resolve a punishing trade dispute. Ms. Anand spent two hours talking to her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will visit China this week, part of an effort to mend fences as a painful trade war with Beijing grinds on. The Anand visit, announced Friday, may end up being a prelude to a leader-level meeting later this fall between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two have not met since...
U.S. President Donald Trump defended his tariff policy and said it has been effective at persuading companies to leave Canada for the United States, a day ahead of a White House meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney where the two leaders are expected to discuss trade. Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, celebrated his protectionist...
Mark Carney heads to Washington Monday, with his government setting expectations low for talks on tariffs and security with Donald Trump, even as damage mounts from the U.S. President’s protectionist levies. Two senior government officials said not to expect any breakthroughs at the Tuesday White House meeting and emphasized that this will just be a working visit. One U.S. industry...
NATO is losing ground in an arms and innovation race with Russia and China and needs “bridging technologies” from countries, including Canada, to quickly close the gap, a senior official with the military alliance said Wednesday. James Appathurai said Canada’s recent commitment to boost defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product − tens of billions of dollars...
A prominent advocate for a Sikh homeland in India was arrested on firearm charges in Ontario earlier this month, more than two years after his predecessor’s killing led to a significant rift in Canadian-Indian relations. The arrest happened a day after Canada’s national security adviser met with her Indian counterpart in New Delhi as part of an effort to reset...
Mark Carney heads to Mexico this Thursday as part of his push to expand trade with countries beyond the United States, a visit that will also serve to patch up strained ties with Canada’s third largest export market. The Prime Minister’s two-day trip is the latest effort, after three visits to Europe, to diversify trade away from the increasingly protectionist...
Canada’s spy agency is warning Canadian tech entrepreneurs about showcasing their wares at international pitch competitions organized by China, events it cautions pose a serious risk to their intellectual property. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has issued a bulletin in tandem with U.S. partners, such as the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, that lays out steps tech players should take...
Tom Pitfield, a top lieutenant to Prime Minister Mark Carney and long-time Liberal Party campaign strategist, is one of the largest shareholders in a marketing and analytics company that has for years been working on behalf of Big Tobacco in Canada and globally, two sources say. The sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Pitfield, who shares principal-secretary duties...
A Trump administration decision to suspend the participation of U.S. defence officials in events staged by think tanks, including the annual Halifax International Security Forum, represents a retreat of American leadership that makes the country look weak, the president of the Canadian summit says. Peter Van Praagh says U.S. officials have confirmed to him that a recent Pentagon ban on...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s top aide has joined Canada-U.S. negotiations in Washington as the two countries try to strike a deal to end a five-month trade war. The Prime Minister’s Office said Marc-André Blanchard, chief of staff to Mr. Carney, has headed to the U.S. Capitol with officials, including Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who has travelled there to talk...
Submarines to prowl Canada’s coasts, surface-to-air missiles to protect its cities and billions of dollars for aging military-base infrastructure that in many cases dates back to the Second World War. For years, the Canadian military has drawn up lists of what it needs to bolster its readiness and capabilities. Now, it may have the cash to change how Canada defends...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says securing a truce in the long-running Canada-United States softwood lumber dispute is a top priority as Canadian producers brace for even heftier U.S. tariffs as early as September. The U.S. Commerce Department said this spring that it plans to more than double the combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties against most Canadian softwood producers to 34.4...
A steep new military spending commitment for Canada – the biggest increase in more than 70 years – has handed Mark Carney’s government a fresh challenge: how to pay for it. At the June, 2025, NATO leaders’ summit, the Prime Minister pledged that Canada will spend as much as $150-billion annually on defence within a decade: equivalent to 5 per...
Election promises and massive defence spending increases promised by Prime Minister Mark Carney at a NATO summit last month will fuel huge annual federal budget deficits averaging more than $77-billion a year, a new report predicts. A fiscal forecast released by the C.D. Howe Institute Thursday said the combined cost of Liberal Party election platform pledges, plus a June 2...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce what his government is billing as the largest increase in defence spending since the Second World War, measures that sources say would enable Canada to meet NATO’s 2-per-cent military expenditure target this fiscal year, well ahead of any previously announced schedule. Two senior government sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will unveil his defence and security priorities Monday and tour a Toronto Armed Forces facility as he prepares for the late June NATO Leaders Summit where countries including Canada are expected to commit to higher military spending. Mr. Carney’s agenda was released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Chinese counterpart agreed Thursday to “regularize channels of communication” in Canada’s estranged relationship with China and hold talks to resolve a trade war affecting billions of dollars of trade between the two countries. Mr. Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang also agreed to further cooperate on fighting illegal production of the opioid fentanyl. It...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is holding direct talks with U.S. President Donald Trump to iron out a framework for a trade and security agreement, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada says. Pete Hoekstra told The Globe and Mail that talks between the leaders and top cabinet ministers are being held under a cone of silence to ensure a positive outcome. The...
The U.S. envoy to Canada held out hope Tuesday for the Canadian auto sector despite Donald Trump’s talk of cutting it out of the American market. Pete Hoekstra told a Toronto audience that Canada may still be able to work together with U.S. automakers under an industrial strategy focused on the threat from Chinese vehicle makers.
A former MP who was barred from running in the federal election for the Liberal Party because of alleged ties to India has formed a lobby group for Hindu Canadians. Chandra Arya, who served as a member of Parliament for the Ottawa riding of Nepean for more than nine years, was removed as the Liberal candidate for the district shortly...
U.S. President Donald Trump says it’s “highly unlikely” he would resort to military force to annex Canada but is adamant that the border separating it from the United States is “an artificial line” that prevents the two territories from forming a “beautiful country.” Speaking to NBC just days before his first in-person meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mr. Trump...
The federal government says a reconsideration of its $19-billion purchase of U.S.-made warplanes is under way, a review that defence analysts warn could antagonize U.S. President Donald Trump as Ottawa and Washington prepare for talks on a new economic and security relationship. Shortly after Mark Carney took office as Prime Minister in March, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced that the...
U.S. President Donald Trump will seek even more restrictions on Canada’s ability to sign trade agreements with China when Washington and Ottawa start renegotiations on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an international trade expert predicts. David Collins, who specializes in international trade and investment law at City St. George’s, University of London, says he expects the United States will seek to...
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are promising $34-billion in new spending and $75-billion in tax cuts over the next four years. They would help fund these expenditures with $56-billion in spending reductions over the same period, the Conservatives say. The party’s 2025 election platform, released Tuesday, also shows the Conservatives are betting that economic growth from their policies will generate significant tax...
Toronto-Dominion Bank closed down the accounts of a pro-Beijing organization on suspicion of money laundering in the spring of 2023, and shuttered the joint account of then-sitting MP Han Dong without explanation, according to confidential documents. Records show TD Bank had concerns about suspicious activities of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations and the information was passed on to...
A Liberal candidate running in a Greater Toronto Area riding, whose candidacy has come under scrutiny for ties to pro-Beijing groups, accepted an invitation from China to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army victory over Japan in the Second World War. Peter Yuen, who has also been linked to Toronto’s Chinese consulate, joined a group of about...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney says he had never heard of a pro-Beijing lobby group in the Toronto area despite photos on the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada’s website showing him with members of its leadership. He was asked Thursday about Peter Yuen, the Liberal Party candidate for the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville. Mr. Yuen was appointed to replace Paul Chiang...
The Liberal candidate selected by Mark Carney to replace one who was dropped over a China-related controversy is a member of a Beijing-friendly lobby organization and has given talks at events honouring a Toronto group that advocates for the annexation of Taiwan by China. Onetime Toronto police deputy chief Peter Yuen, who is now carrying the Liberal banner in the...
The Canadian government’s retaliatory tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States will take effect Wednesday, an escalation of the Canada-U.S. trade war that could increase the sticker price of U.S.-made autos by as much as 25 per cent. The Department of Finance announced the counter-tariffs Canada is imposing on U.S-assembled vehicles will apply as of 12:01 a.m. EDT April...
A federal election-threats watchdog has uncovered an information operation from Beijing trying to shape opinion about Liberal Leader Mark Carney among Chinese Canadians. One example of messaging being circulated concerning Mr. Carney says “the United States is facing a tough prime minister from Canada.” The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force announced Monday this effort is taking...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to create a “national energy corridor” across Canada, within which approvals for pipelines and other critical infrastructure would be fast-tracked, in order to help ship resources across the country or globally while bypassing the United States. He took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump in the announcement, saying this would help Canada reduce its dependence...
Calls are mounting for Liberal Leader Mark Carney to fire Toronto-area candidate Paul Chiang, who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong. NDP candidate Jenny Kwan urged Mr. Carney to drop Mr. Chiang for his comments on Conservative candidate Joe Tay. “He...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney is being urged by the Conservatives to fire a Toronto-area candidate who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.
The Liberal Party revoked MP Chandra Arya’s bid to run for the party leadership and his nomination in his own Ottawa riding over alleged foreign-interference concerns involving India, according to a source with top-secret clearance. Mr. Arya took a trip to India last August and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The source said Mr. Arya had not informed the government...
Agents of India and their proxies allegedly meddled in the 2022 election of Pierre Poilievre as Conservative Party Leader as part of a larger effort to cozy up to politicians of all parties, according to a source with top-secret clearance. The source said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service learned that Indian agents were involved in raising money and organizing within...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says export taxes on shipments remain an option for retaliation in an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war and said he’s only interested in serious negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump, “not theatre.” Mr. Carney, speaking to reporters in Halifax during an election campaign stop as leader of the Liberal Party, was asked whether he and his ministers...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who hasn’t talked to Donald Trump since taking office as Prime Minister, said he thinks the U.S. President is waiting until the outcome of the April 28 election before engaging with new Canadian leadership. Canada and the United States are in the midst of a growing trade war with more punitive U.S. tariffs expected on Canadian...
China’s ambassador says his country is open to negotiating a free-trade agreement with Ottawa and co-operating on a research station in the Arctic – extending an invitation to repair strained ties as Canada’s relations with the United States worsen. However, Wang Di, Beijing’s envoy to Canada, says Ottawa would have to remove restrictions placed on Chinese investment in recent years...
A joint German-Norwegian project to build new diesel-electric submarines is pitching Canada to join the program, with one of the selling points being that Ottawa would get early access to a boat on the initial production line so it could meet targets for acquiring these new vessels. In September, Canada formally began looking for up to 12 new under-ice capable...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging, if his party forms government, to build a military base in Canada’s Arctic, buy two polar icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy and double the size of the Canadian Rangers patrol group responsible for upper reaches of the North. Mr. Poilievre is scheduled to unveil this pledge Monday morning in the Arctic city of...
