National Newswatch

Articles by Tonda MacCharles

‘I’m not Justin Trudeau. I’ve lived a different life’: Jagmeet Singh slams the Liberal leader’s record on Indigenous reconciliation

Aug 20 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — It was perhaps the first unscripted moment of humanity in the first week of the 2021 federal election campaign as three federal leaders swung out West in the hunt for votes. At Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan where NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made an impassioned pledge to fight for “justice” for Indigenous people, the soon-to-be […]

Mahmud Jamal ‘humbled’ by top court nomination, says he’ll approach it with ‘no agenda’

Jun 22 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — Justice Mahmud Jamal, set to become the first racialized Supreme Court of Canada judge, says his historic appointment is a “statistical improbability” that doesn’t feel “real” yet. Over the course of a two-hour virtual appearance at a joint parliamentary committee, Jamal introduced himself to Canadians as the child of an Ismaili Muslim immigrant family who […]

The Catholic Church should share records on residential school burials — or Canada might take it to court, Justin Trudeau says

Jun 5 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — After a week of national grieving at the discovery of the unmarked graves of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, the federal government is still leaving the power to find Canada’s lost and missing children in the hands of the Catholic Church. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Friday that […]

Ottawa releases action plan to fight the scourge of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

Jun 3 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — The federal Liberal government released Thursday a long-delayed action plan to address the scourge of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls that pledged to reopen unresolved cases, to create a nationwide emergency number, more housing and shelters, more healing programs for victims and their families, along with training, data collection and justice reforms. Prime […]

Justin Trudeau won’t commit, but a top health adviser says Canada will need an inquiry into its pandemic response

May 16 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — A post-pandemic review of how Canada handled the health disaster should be led by international experts and should look at both federal and provincial gaps, says a leading doctor who is working closely with the federal government on its COVID-19 response. Dr. David Naylor, a behind-the-scenes adviser to the federal Liberal government as co-chair of […]

Documents reveal the Trudeau government warned Donald Trump not to cut off Canada’s supply of critical COVID-19 masks — or else

Mar 10 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — At the height of the global scramble for critical COVID-19 medical supplies like N95 masks and ventilators, Justin Trudeau’s government privately warned the Trump administration not to go down a protectionist road. Or else. New documents show the Liberals warned the U.S. that if it did, important Canadian exports to the U.S. would also be […]

‘We have a responsibility to make sure all Canadians are safe,’ Justin Trudeau warns provinces

Feb 11 2021 — Tonda MacCharles — — A feisty Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’s willing to go it alone and bypass foot-dragging provinces when it comes to national long-term-care standards, the use of rapid COVID-19 tests, and tracking the vaccine rollout as a way to develop better health data-sharing. In an online roundtable with health-care professionals Thursday, the prime minister fielded […]

In public, Justin Trudeau was being slammed for not getting COVID-19 vaccines. Behind closed doors, Anita Anand was closing the deal

Dec 20 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — — Rookie cabinet minister Anita Anand fumed as the Conservative leader of the Opposition accused the Liberal government throughout the fall of signing bad deals that “put Canada at the back of the line” for COVID-19 vaccines. From late October onward, Erin O’Toole had shifted from attacks over rapid tests to hammering what he said was […]

Why did Justin Trudeau preorder so much COVID-19 vaccine? He says he learned from his earlier mistake

Dec 16 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — — Canada’s global scramble in the spring to buy personal protective equipment for front-line health workers taught the federal Liberal government a painful lesson — that it had to get a jump on buying vaccines, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In his first specific admission of where his government made mistakes during the pandemic, Trudeau told […]

Opposition parties signal they will not support the Liberals’ spending plans. Is an election next?

Nov 30 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — — The federal Opposition parties greeted the long-awaited economic update with a big collective thumbs down. The initial reactions of Opposition leaders signal new spending measures, totalling $25 billion, may not find support across the aisle, which could trigger another crisis of confidence in the minority Trudeau government. The 237-page economic update, and Chrystia Freeland’s selling […]

Erin O’Toole wants China’s ambassador to Canada to publicly apologize to Canadians, or be kicked out

Oct 16 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — — Canada’s Global Affairs officials summoned China’s top diplomat in Canada for a private dressing down Thursday after remarks he made warning Canada against offering political asylum to Hong Kong democracy activists. But Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says if Ambassador Cong Peiwu does not publicly apologize for his “belligerent” comments, which O’Toole called a threat to […]