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 Brennan MacDonald.
As the Canadian government prepares to review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) this summer — a deal the U.S. president is signalling he’s prepared to abandon — Japan’s ambassador is reminding Canada just how high the stakes are for a key component of Ontario’s economy.
Former U.S. president Joe Biden’s top national security official says that while Canada-U.S. relations will have to evolve given the current U.S. president’s trade actions and threats, a deep and sustained relationship moving forward is in both countries’ interests. Jake Sullivan, who served as Biden’s national security advisor from 2021-2025, joined CTV’s Question Period for an interview reflecting on Prime...
Industry Minister Melanie Joly, a prominent Liberal MP in Quebec, is ruling out a run for the provincial Liberal leadership, but insists she will be dedicating a lot of time and energy next year to pushing back against a potential referendum to leave Canada. Pablo Rodriquez, a former federal cabinet minister who served alongside Joly from 2018 to 2024, resigned...
As NATO faces growing threats, Canada is in a hurry to pick a new submarine to replace the country’s ageing Victoria-class vessels, according to Germany’s defence minister. The defence ministers from Germany and Norway are in Ottawa this week to make the case for why Canada should pick their joint conventional submarine over a rival South Korean proposal. “They are...
Three former top ministers in former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet are likely headed for diplomatic appointments, sources confirm to CTV News. Bill Blair, who served as defence minister until earlier this year, is set to replace Ralph Goodale as high commissioner to the United Kingdom. David Lametti, former justice minister under Trudeau and current principal secretary to Prime Minister...
CTV News has learned that Prime Minister Mark Carney and a group of his ministers will make a broad series of “sector-based” announcements Friday, aimed at increasing Canada’s competitiveness, supporting sectors impacted most by tariffs and spurring domestic industry. Multiple government and industry sources tell CTV News changes to some policies from Justin Trudeau’s time as prime minister are being...
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson has thrown cold water on Trans Mountain’s ask to prioritize optimizing the capacity of the government-owned oil pipeline before greenlighting new major pipeline projects. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to turn Canada into a world-leading energy superpower and his party passed the Building Canada Act in June, which gives the government sweeping new powers to...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she condemns an anonymous social media account that reportedly posted photographs of a Globe and Mail reporter, who is investigating allegations of political interference at Alberta Health Services. The Globe reported Monday that an X account called The Brokedown was posting photographs of Calgary-based reporter Carrie Tait meeting with two women who were former political...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s former firm Brookfield has registered more than a dozen business entities to an infamous address in the Cayman Islands that former U.S. president Barack Obama once described as either “the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world.” CTV News reviewed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings between 2015 and 202...
Several entities of global investment giant Brookfield Asset Management’s core business are registered to an address in Bermuda that also houses a local bike shop, CTV News has learned. Liberal Leader Mark Carney previously served as chair of Brookfield’s board, from August of 2022 until mid-January of this year, when he resigned to run for the party leadership. Last week...
The federal government is not considering dropping tariffs it imposed last year on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), steel and aluminum, despite Beijing’s retaliation and U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a trade war with Canada, according to the industry minister. Ottawa imposed a 100 per cent import tax on Chinese EVs and a 25 per cent import tariff on...
U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian trade products is moving ahead as scheduled on March 4, but a White House official says that could change “pending ongoing negotiations.” “But as of now, we don’t have any developments or progress to share, so they are still moving ahead as the president indicated,” a...
As Canadian officials grapple with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to launch a trade war, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says this country may now need a pipeline connecting Alberta’s oil and gas sector to the East Coast. Champagne’s comments come amid calls from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to resume talks on major pipeline projects that could connect the province’s oil...
Former New Brunswick Liberal premier Frank McKenna says if he were in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s shoes, at this point in the government’s mandate, he would step down. “If it were me, I would,” McKenna told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday.
The RCMP is alleging Indian diplomats and consular officials based in Canada engaged in clandestine activities linked to serious criminal activity in this country, including homicides and extortions. The stunning allegations are the latest in an escalating confrontation between India and Canada that kicked off publicly last year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was investigating credible allegations that...
Health Minister Mark Holland says he isn’t worried about Liberal electoral fortunes despite a tumultuous summer in which his party suffered a devastating byelection loss in Toronto, the party’s national campaign director resigned and the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement collapsed. Holland made the remarks as Liberal MPs gather in Nanaimo, B.C. for their annual caucus retreat.
As the Canadian government seeks to make inroads with the next U.S. administration, former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau says Canada needs to take U.S. security concerns seriously and accelerate the timeline by which Canada will hit NATO's defence spending obligation. Morneau made the remarks in an exclusive television interview with CTV News chief political correspondent Vassy Kapelos at the...
While the stakes for Canada may be high in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, only one Canadian federal party leader has actually attended either the Republican or Democratic national conventions. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he was invited to attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC), and he is using the opportunity to listen to what officials close to the...
Independent New Brunswick MLA Dominic Cardy officially launched a new centrist federal political party, aiming to win the support of disillusioned Liberal and Conservative voters. The Canadian Future Party, Cardy says, will be a fiscally responsible, socially liberal party that will offer a new political home to Canadians fed up with extremism on both the right and left.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals remain deeply unpopular, currently trailing Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives by as many as 17 points in the polls, after more than a year of lagging behind. If an election was held today, the Conservatives would likely trounce the Liberals and cruise to a majority government, with polling aggregator 338Canada projecting the Conservatives would win 212 seats...
Stunning allegations triggered outrage and distrust on Parliament Hill — but what can be done? Some parliamentarians were accused this week of conspiring with foreign governments, but their exact numbers and their identities remain a mystery to the public — and to many of their colleagues.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he sympathizes with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh but no longer understands his party's position on climate change after Singh appeared to waver on his support for the consumer carbon tax. "I feel for the NDP and for Jagmeet. This is a hard moment. There are political headwinds," Trudeau told reporters Friday at a press conference...
As the world braces for an election that could return Donald Trump to the White House, the prime minister of France says he doesn't want his country's security, or the security of the European Union, to depend on voters in the United States. Trump, who has long been a critic of the the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has sown...
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue's mandate for the foreign interference inquiry is sprawling — but one of her key tasks is to examine and assess the flow of information related to alleged meddling in the previous two federal elections. Testimony and documents published during week two of the inquiry's public hearings suggest Canada's approach to safeguarding those elections was plagued by failures...
Nations — Canada included — are running out of time to design and implement comprehensive safeguards on the development and deployment of advanced artificial intelligence systems, a leading AI safety company warned this week. In a worst-case scenario, power-seeking superhuman AI systems could escape their creators' control and pose an "extinction-level" threat to humanity, AI researchers wrote in a report...
The Canadian government has confirmed it will restore funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen is set to confirm the move at a press conference Friday in Mississauga, Ont. Canada suspended funding to UNRWA in January after Israel alleged 12 employees of the aid agency were involved in some capacity...
All of Canada's top diplomats have taken the extraordinary step of writing a joint letter to their superiors warning of an "untenable" situation as their health insurance provider fails to process claims for Canadian staff working abroad. The letter, obtained by CBC News, is written on behalf of all Canada's heads of mission and ambassadors around the world.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's position on South Africa's genocide claim against Israel on Monday, calling it "incomprehensible" and accusing the prime minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly of deliberately giving answers no one can understand. Trudeau told reporters two weeks ago that Canada's "wholehearted" support for the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is...
As families of Flight PS752 victims mark the fourth anniversary of the aircraft's destruction, the federal government isn't ruling out designating the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization — a measure the families have demanded for years. PS752 was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after taking off from Tehran on Jan. 8...
The House of Commons special committee studying Canada-China relations is urging the federal government to introduce new measures to prevent Canadian pension funds from investing in Chinese companies implicated in human rights abuses, corruption or threats to national security. The committee's report, tabled in the House of Commons this week, calls on Ottawa to, in partnership with provinces, look at...
Canada eventually will support an "accountability system" to investigate Israel's military conduct during its war against Hamas, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday. Joly also called for an end to the violence in Gaza but stopped short of demanding a ceasefire. She said Canada was still looking at different versions of an expected ceasefire resolution that the United Nations...
Federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's claim that Canada can achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 while simultaneously increasing oil and gas production is "incoherent." Smith has long argued that carbon neutrality is about a transition away from emissions and not a transition away from oil and gas production, a source of energy she insists will be...
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh should have pushed for a supply and confidence agreement with the Liberal government that was a year shorter, says former NDP leader and social democratic stalwart Ed Broadbent. The party and the Liberals signed an agreement in March 2022 that secures NDP support for the minority Liberal government in exchange for a commitment to act on...