Articles by Tonda MacCharles

Jul 2 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — China’s sweeping new national security law extending the Communist government’s control over Hong Kong takes aim not only at pro-democracy protesters but also non-residents, foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and international media. It subjects all persons in Hong Kong, including non-residents acting “from outside the region,” to strict bans on political activities that Beijing deems to […]

Jun 29 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Freedom for two Canadians held in Chinese prisons may well depend on the steps Ottawa now takes to redefine its ever-souring relationship with Beijing. The two countries have been locked in an increasingly tense impasse since December 2018, when Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arrested in China, just days after RCMP detained Chinese tech […]

Jun 25 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Former top officials from Canada travelled to China last November in an attempt to free two Canadians detained there, the Star has learned. The “bipartisan and non-partisan” effort to win the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor was part of a back-channel diplomatic effort at finding a compromise that its organizer, Gordon Houlden, believes […]

Jun 23 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Canada could avoid a second wave of the coronavirus if it learns the lessons of South Korea and Taiwan and attacks testing, tracing and treatment of COVID-19 cases and practices “dynamic distancing” from the get-go, MPs heard Tuesday. That means as the economy reopens, communities must be ready to reimpose physical distancing and socially restrictive […]

May 30 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — In the children’s street game of war, you stand in your corner of the world, declare what turf you want to occupy, hit its fleeing leader with a stick, and lean in to redraw your desired boundaries. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insists he’s not playing that game. He says he respects provincial jurisdiction and the […]

May 7 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — New data reveals the overwhelming toll on elderly Canadians in long-term care during the COVID-19 outbreak, showing they make up 82 per cent of all deaths. The National Institute on Aging says that as of Wednesday, May 6, there were 3,436 resident deaths and six staff deaths for a total of 3,442 deaths across long-term […]

Apr 23 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Canada needs to triple its daily number of coronavirus tests and be prepared to jump on new outbreaks, tracking anyone who comes in contact with an infectious person, before provinces reopen the economy, says Canada’s chief public health officer. The provinces and territories are now testing about 20,000 Canadians a day for the COVID-19 virus, […]

Apr 15 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Associated Press, Toronto Star — Canada has passed the crest of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic but COVID-19 could infect many more people than federal officials have estimated if isolation measures are relaxed too soon or too broadly, according to a new study. That’s because there is no vaccine in sight and most Canadians still have no immunity, […]

Apr 14 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Canada’s health minister gave the approval to donating personal protective equipment from the national emergency stockpile that was on the verge of expiry to China, a newly released email shows. A Jan. 31 email written by Public Health Agency of Canada chief of staff Marnie Johnstone indicates Health Minister Patty Hajdu had offered “notional agreement” […]

Mar 16 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Who’s the cast of characters managing the COVID-19 crisis at the federal cabinet level? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau struck a special cabinet committee last week to focus the federal response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. It unveiled a $1 billion aid package Wednesday. Here’s a look at Trudeau’s COVID-19 team:

Feb 19 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — It was nearly midnight Tuesday in the last hour of an emergency debate on the Wet’suwet’en blockades crisis when Jody Wilson-Raybould stood in the Commons, blasted the Trudeau government for “punting” the hard work of resetting Indigenous relations, and laid out four proposals to ease tensions. Wilson-Raybould, now an independent MP, called for Trudeau to […]

Feb 3 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Liberal star recruit and rookie cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault clarified Monday the Trudeau government will not move to licence news media organizations as he tried to contain political damage from comments he made in a weekend interview. Guilbeault clutched notes as he went before cameras to say a report submitted last week to the government […]

Jan 11 2020 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — John Crosbie was born a Newfoundlander in 1931, long before his fellow citizens voted to join the country called Canada. At home, he was a towering political figure. A Liberal who stood up to Joey Smallwood and challenged the leadership of his mentor, the legendary premier who had dragged Newfoundland and Labrador into Confederation, Crosbie […]

Dec 27 2019 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — This is what brawls look like on the top court bench. Judges don’t throw off their robes and come to blows. What they do — judicial jousting — is more subtle. Split rulings. Lengthy dissenting opinions. Constitutional decisions that see judges split not only into two groups, but sometimes going three or four different ways. […]

Dec 14 2019 — Tonda MacCharles — Toronto Star — Canada’s new foreign affairs minister is raising fresh concerns about two human rights advocates jailed in a Saudi Arabian prison who have begun hunger strikes, among them Raif Badawi, whose wife and three children live in Canada. Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, speaking after attending an international human rights conference in Berlin and travelling to […]