These are the 30 most read items on National Newswatch, from the last seven days.
A high-stakes lawsuit involving former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps turns on a long-running debate in Ottawa over whether she lobbied during the pandemic without registering — and whether, as a result, a federal contractor is off the hook for tens of millions in allegedly unpaid commissions to her company. Copps, a Liberal heavyweight turned lobbyist, has long denied lobbying...
A trailblazer in uniform, Critchley was just 17 years old when she became the second woman ever to serve as an armoured crewman in her unit. She and dad Steve later made history as the first father–daughter gunnery crew in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. She’s now looking to take out Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in one of the safest...
“I think that was a bit of a political mistake [for the] prime minister [to give] Pierre a sort of free pass to run in a byelection and saying he’s going to call it at the earliest opportunity,” said one Liberal MP, who asked not to be identified to share their concerns.
The national council has reduced itself to a mere ‘housekeeping’ role and has allowed itself to be ‘bullied’ by senior party and campaign officials. If the national council is unwilling to lead, it might as well ‘disband,’ says Marilyn Elliott. A former and prominent three-term Alberta national councillor is considering coming out of retirement to run for the Conservative Party’s...
Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy is accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney of taking a "bootlicking" approach to U.S. President Donald Trump at the expense of Canadian values. "You have to be principled, you have to be tactical, you have to be pragmatic. But you also have to be tough and know what you stand for," Axworthy said in...
As revelations circulate about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s willingness to discipline top bureaucrats who aren’t meeting his standards, some say it’s a chance for the public service to sharpen up and self-correct—or to finally weed out bad apples. “It’s about time,” said David McLaughlin, a former senior provincial public servant and chief of staff to then-prime minister Brian Mulroney. “Good.”...
The Liberal government’s plan to find billions of dollars in operating efficiencies would require a 24 per cent cut in public service spending and “devastate the federal government,” according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign platform included savings from “increased government efficiency,” with $6 billion in savings in 2026-27 and $13 billion a year...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he did not speak Friday with Donald Trump before the U.S. president announced a sudden end to trade negotiations in response to Ottawa's plans to push ahead with a digital services tax at the end of the month. Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social that he was "terminating all discussions on trade with Canada"...
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Thursday that a 49-year-old Canadian has died while in its custody. A detainee death notice from the agency, commonly known as ICE, said that Johnny Noviello was pronounced dead by the Miami Fire Rescue Department at 1:36 p.m. on June 23. The agency said he was found unresponsive at 12:54 p.m. at a federal...
Political power, it goes without saying, has become overly concentrated in the Prime Minister’s Office in recent decades. It’s the unelected appointees, the Katie Telfords, those who have the prime minister’s ear daily, who wield the power. They’re the inner circle – cabinet, the outer circle. We shouldn’t expect it to be much different under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Under...
Pierre Poilievre is planning to use the upcoming (yet to be called) byelection in the riding of Battle River–Crowfoot as his springboard back into the House of Commons. The result in this rural Alberta riding is a foregone conclusion — Damien Kurek, who resigned his seat so that Poilievre could fill it, took 82.8% of the vote in the April...
U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to broaden his list of demands on Canada to re-open trade talks, listing his past grievances about Canada’s supply management policies that control production and imports of eggs, dairy and poultry. Mr. Trump made the comments in a pre-recorded interview with Fox News Channel host Maria Bartiromo that aired Sunday morning. Prime Minister Mark Carney...
A new law meant to protect supply management might not be enough to shield the system in trade talks with a Trump administration bent on eliminating it, trade experts say. "It's certainly more difficult to strike a deal with the United States now with the passage of this bill that basically forces Canada to negotiate with one hand tied behind...
Projects in various stages of development could represent capital investment of $109 billion. A decade after a promised boom in the liquified natural gas industry failed to materialize, Canada has arrived at the starting line, rekindling some aspirations of becoming a major LNG player. The long-awaited LNG Canada project is now up and running — and there are six more...
Days after Ottawa rescinded the digital services tax aimed at tech companies to advance trade negotiations with the U.S., critics have voiced their disappointment in the government’s handling of the situation. But one expert calls this move by Prime Minister Mark Carney a “mini-win.” The play made by the federal government to hold on to the tax until the last...
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada is rescinding the digital services tax and will resume trade negotiations with the United States. The announcement was made in a statement following a phone call between Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump. The move comes three days after Trump said he was terminating all trade discussions with Canada because of...
Much is being said about Prime Minister Mark Carney’s determination to turn around the massive vessel known as the federal bureaucracy to overcome built-in inertia and achieve faster, more efficient results helped along by digital innovations. Aside from the deeply ingrained risk aversion of senior managers themselves, the biggest challenge may be bringing the federal public service into the modern...
The federal government is taking steps to eliminate the interprovincial trade barriers under its jurisdiction, Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland announced in a press release Monday. In a statement, Freeland said Ottawa has now removed all 53 federal exemptions in the Canada Free Trade Agreement that would inhibit interprovincial trade. Prime Minister Mark Carney significantly reduced the number of federal...
Iain Aspenlieder, 46, facing charges of mischief, harassment. The City of Ottawa has fired one of its lawyers after he was charged earlier this month with vandalizing the National Holocaust Monument, sources have confirmed to Radio-Canada.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is "terminating all discussions on trade with Canada" and threatening new tariffs over Ottawa's plans to push ahead with a digital services tax at the end of the month. Trump says Washington will notify Canada about new tariff rates required "to do business with the United States" within the next week.
Independent members seek signatures to re-register PC party that led Alberta for decades. Two Independent MLAs expelled from the UCP are bidding to resurrect the old party brand of Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein. Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair are petitioning to re-register the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta — the party that governed Alberta from 1971 to 2015, before...
For a while there, things were going so well. Prime Minister Mark Carney — aka “the Trump whisperer” — had morphed from critic to texting buddy of the U.S. President. Over the past three months, Carney had been chatting with Donald Trump, building backchannel goodwill. After the successful G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., hopes were high that Ottawa would strike...
As Canada approaches a critical starting point for its electric vehicle goals, pressure is building on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to rethink its plan. Starting next year, the Liberal plan to get more electric vehicles on the road will enter its first phase: mandating sales targets for car companies, which could purchase credits, including by spending on charging infrastructure...
The federal government is ordering a Chinese maker of surveillance camera systems to shutter its Canadian business and leave the country over national security concerns. Industry Minister Melanie Joly says in a post on X that the orders issues to Hikvision Canada Inc. are the result of a national security review under the Investment Canada Act. As part of the...
The Liberal government's controversial major projects bill became law Thursday — legislation Indigenous leaders have warned could lead to widespread protests and legal challenges if Ottawa doesn't respect their rights and title. Bill C-5 gives Ottawa the power to fast-track projects meant to boost the national economy by side-stepping environmental protections and other legislation. An initial draft of the bill...
To more than a few Canadians, he was as irritating as a neighbour’s leaf-blower, or a yapping dog next door, or a crying baby across the aisle in a plane, or a pneumatic drill on local sidewalks. His voice hit the ear like an assault, a whining, scolding, hyperpartisan blast of relentless grievance.
Poilievre has been without a seat in the House since he was defeated in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton. Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call a byelection on Monday in the Alberta riding of Battle River—Crowfoot, where Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will be looking to regain a seat, the National Post has learned. Voters will be called to...
PM would put supply management back on table if deal depended on it, says ambassador. Dreams do come true. U.S. President Donald Trump wished for Canada's tax on U.S. tech companies to disappear on Friday, and by Sunday, it had. Mostly, there was a sense of surprise that the federal government would play such a valuable card this soon. The...
On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney set the date for the federal byelection in the Alberta riding of Battle River–Crowfoot, which Conservative MP Damien Kurek vacated in order to provide a seat for Pierre Poilievre. There’s little doubt that Poilievre’s bid will be successful when voters go to the polls on August 18 — only one riding in the country...
The Canadian man who died while in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week was a "very polite, quiet, unassuming man with a very simple life" who did not pose a danger to anyone, says the lawyer who represented him. Dan Leising represented Johnny Noviello, 49, who died in a detention centre in Florida on Monday. The...