May 27 2020 — Andrew Coyne — Globe and Mail — Unveiling details of the new Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy in April, Justin Trudeau took care to stress that abuse of the program by greedy employers would not be tolerated, promising “stiff and severe penalties for trying to take advantage of this system and of your fellow Canadians.” How fine, then, to discover among those lining […]
May 26 2020 — Globe and Mail — The Liberal government’s plan to extend the suspension of regular Parliamentary sittings until September due to COVID-19 went ahead Tuesday with the support of the NDP. The NDP also supported a motion to shut down debate on the extension, which was opposed by the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois. The NDP voted with the government […]
May 26 2020 — Nathan VanderKlippe — Globe and Mail — The Chinese government has issued a new warning to Canada about further “damage” to relations between the two countries – days before a British Columbia judge releases a decision on an extradition hearing for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Canada must “release Ms. Meng and ensure her safe return to China at an early date to […]
May 26 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — The Trudeau minister responsible for digital government is distancing herself from a fundraising pitch on one of her internet communication channels that was soliciting money to sue a Canadian journalist. A spokeswoman for Vancouver-Quadra MP Joyce Murray said this particular posting in a group her staff runs on Chinese language social media platform WeChat is […]
May 25 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is urging the Canadian government to build an international coalition and use the threat of sanctions against China’s authoritarian rulers to push back against Beijing’s efforts to tighten control over Hong Kong. Mr. Scheer alleged during the House of Commons Question Period that Prime Minister Trudeau has adopted a “policy of […]
May 25 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is staying mum on whether his government might join other allies in banning or restricting Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies from supplying gear for next-generation 5G wireless networks. Canada remains one of two members of the Five Eyes intelligence-pooling alliance – which includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Britain […]
May 25 2020 — Zach Paikin — Global Brief, Globe and Mail — As the COVID-19 crisis has progressed, US-China relations have begun to acquire a logic of comprehensive, zero-sum confrontation. Even in the event that a lengthy pandemic reaffirms the need for international cooperation, the processes that have now been initiated will be difficult to undo. Mutual suspicion has become rife and talk of a “new Cold […]
May 24 2020 — Globe and Mail — A Cayman Islands-incorporated gold-mining company, whose principal investor is an Egyptian billionaire, has been notified that Ottawa is considering whether to subject its $1-billion takeover of a Canadian rival to a deeper national-security review. All foreign takeovers are screened for national-security concerns but in rare instances – fewer than 10 in the previous fiscal year […]
May 24 2020 — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reached out to the heads of Canada’s six big banks to get their reading on the state of the economy and how COVID-19 relief efforts are faring, banking sources and federal officials told The Globe and Mail. It was the first time that Mr. Trudeau has had one-on-one discussions with […]
May 23 2020 — Marieke Walsh — Globe and Mail — Health Minister Patty Hajdu intervened Friday to stop Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam from answering a question at a House of Commons committee about whether Dr. Tam had warned Ottawa that the national emergency stockpile, which included protective equipment, was underfunded. The unusual move to shut down Dr. Tam prompted the Conservatives to accuse […]
May 22 2020 — Robert Fife and Steven Chase — Globe and Mail — Canada and western allies have strongly condemned China’s authoritarian leaders for planning to impose a harsh national security law that would ban “treason, secession, sedition and subversion” in Hong Kong – a move seen as a major blow to the city’s cherished freedoms. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been reluctant to be overtly critical […]
May 22 2020 — Kristy Kirkup — Globe and Mail — The federal Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens have all applied a federal wage subsidy amid a financial crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal wage subsidy program is designed to help organizations keep employees on their payroll even if revenue has dropped during COVID-19. Braeden Caley, the senior director of communications for the Liberals, […]
May 22 2020 — Globe and Mail — The family of slain Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi announced Friday they have forgiven his Saudi killers, giving legal reprieve to the five government agents convicted of his murder who’d been sentenced to execution. “We, the sons of the martyr Jamal Khashoggi, announce that we forgive those who killed our father as we seek reward […]
May 22 2020 — Campbell Clark — Globe and Mail — Remember the Resistance? The four small-c conservative premiers were lined up on a magazine cover alongside a pre-election Andrew Scheer and touted as the real counterweight to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. More recently, last year’s election left an apprehended national-unity crisis in its wake, with the revival of the Bloc Québécois and the seething rejection […]
May 21 2020 — Globe and Mail — The Chinese government is preparing to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong, raising fears of new curbs on the city’s freedoms as Beijing’s state media pledged the complete eradication of what it called a “cancer” of pro-independence sentiment. Though it not yet clear what the new rules will mandate, Beijing’s assertion of its […]