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 Daniel Otis.
The byelection that returned Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to Parliament cost taxpayers more than $2.3 million, according to estimates released by Elections Canada. When Poilievre’s Conservatives were defeated in the April 2025 federal election, the Conservative leader also lost his Ottawa-area riding by more than 4,500 votes to Liberal newcomer Bruce Fanjoy. After more than two decades in Parliament, the...
The Canadian government will face questions about its “confusing” stance on the Iran war when the House of Commons hosts a debate on the conflict tonight, according to former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy. “It’s still not clear about where Canada stands on the fundamental issue of the rule of law, which says aggression is an international crime,” Axworthy told...
The federal government recorded more than 2,600 cases of employee misconduct and wrongdoing last year, resulting in at least 145 terminations and 783 suspensions without pay. The misconduct and wrongdoing allegations run the gamut from sleeping on duty to sexual harassment, racial discrimination, workplace violence, privacy breaches, timesheet fraud, inappropriate social media posts and the theft of government property like...
What does U.S. President Donald Trump actually want from Canada? While Trump says the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian products, he has also repeatedly expressed a desire to turn Canada into a “cherished” state. Before leaving office, former prime minister Justin Trudeau suggested the Trump administration was really after Canada’s natural wealth. Trump and U.S. officials are also pressuring Ottawa on...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will accept an invitation from Donald Trump to join the U.S. president’s “Board of Peace,” a U.S.-led effort in planning the future reconstruction of Gaza, CTV News has learned. Speaking on background before departing China on Friday, a senior Canadian government official told reporters the request came earlier in the day. Carney will accept, but has...
Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations says recent U.S. military action in Venezuela shows that Greenland and Canada need to take threats to their sovereignty seriously. “The president has created a whole new guessing game of who’s next,” Bob Rae told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday. “An attack on Greenland would be an attack on NATO, it would be...
Canada is set to tighten immigration rules and accept fewer new residents, students and temporary workers in 2026. The ongoing cuts are a major shift for the country, which had been boosting immigration levels for years. First introduced in late 2024 and updated again in November, the new caps and lower targets are meant to reduce Canada’s unemployment rate, address...
The Supreme Court of Canada has ditched its iconic red and white robes for a simpler black design. The new robes made their debut this week as the court marked its 150th anniversary and the opening of a new judicial year. Featuring red piping and white collars over black silk, they replace the bulky, bright red outfits with white fur...
Canada’s Department of National Defence spent at least $1.28 million on King Charles III’s overnight trip to Ottawa in May, including nearly $870,000 for a ceremonial flyover by Royal Canadian Air Force fighter jets and more than $330,000 for transportation, including round-trip flights. The Department of Canadian Heritage, which organized the roughly 24-hour visit, also spent at least $435,000, according...
A decade after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action, Canada still has a long way to go to address the impacts of the residential school system on Indigenous people. “Think about it, 150 years it took for us to get here to this very dysfunctional, toxic relationship that is highly problematic,” University of Manitoba Indigenous studies...
The Canadian military spent approximately $125,000 to send soldiers to guard the entrance to Buckingham Palace for 10 days in July. Members of the Edmonton-based Lord Strathcona’s Horse regiment were sent to the British capital for the mission, which lasted from July 11 to 21. Using British horses, they served as the ceremonial King’s Life Guard at the Horse Guards...
Canada’s points-based immigration system can give a slight boost to applicants who are single. To get an edge, some married permanent residency candidates are saying their spouse won’t accompany them to score as many as 40 extra points out of a possible 600. Immigration lawyer Matthew Jeffery says the points system only benefits married applicants if their spouse is well-educated...
King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited Canada House in London on Tuesday morning. The visit was meant to mark Canada House’s 100th anniversary. Home to Canada’s diplomatic mission to the U.K., the grand building on London’s iconic Trafalgar Square also showcases Canadian art, music and culture. Charles and Camilla met with Canadian officials, including Canadian High Commissioner to the...
Spare parts for Canada’s fleet of F-35 fighter jets will be owned by the U.S. until the moment they are installed on Canadian aircraft. With the U.S. becoming an increasingly unpredictable ally, some defence experts are expressing concerns about the deal to upgrade Canada’s air force. “One of the main selling points of the F-35 was that we would have...
Canadian members of Parliament spent a record $187.8 million in 2024, including $32 million on travel. That’s an increase of $12.7 million over 2023, according to proactively disclosed expenditure records. The $187.8 million in taxpayer money also included $114.1 million for MP staff salaries, $39.8 million for third-party contracts and $1.9 million for hospitality expenses.
From the first handshake outside the White House, one body language expert says U.S. President Donald Trump clearly showed “a certain level of respect” for Prime Minister Mark Carney during their meeting today. “Obviously, the risk always with a handshake with Trump, is he’s going to pull you off balance. We see that happening time and time again,” Mark Bowden...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s bid to regain a seat in Parliament through a byelection could cost taxpayers more than $1 million, according to data from recent races. When Poilievre led the Conservatives to defeat in the April 28 federal election, he also lost his Ottawa-area riding by more than 4,500 votes. Long considered a Conservative stronghold, the Carleton seat was...
The next leader of the federal Liberal Party could become the shortest-serving prime minister in Canadian history, beating an unlucky record set 119 years ago. When a new Liberal leader is declared on March 9, they will take over from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will have held Canada’s top job for just over nine years and four months. If...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s eldest son has just dropped his debut single. Released at 12 a.m. ET on Friday, Xavier Trudeau’s song ‘Til The Nights Done’ is a moody R&B track that evokes Canadian musicians like Drake and Justin Bieber. “What you know about me, I ain’t like him,” the 17-year-old Trudeau sings. “We could roll sum, we could light...
A majority of Canadians want Ottawa and the provinces to team up against U.S. tariff threats, according to a new survey from Nanos Research(opens in a new tab). The nationwide public opinion poll commissioned by CTV News found that 54 per cent of respondents want the federal and provincial governments to lead the response together, as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump...
Donald Trump has vowed to renegotiate the USMCA free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico if he wins the November presidential election. "I am announcing today that upon taking office, I will formally notify Mexico and Canada of my intention to invoke the six-year renegotiation provisions of the USMCA that I put in," Trump told the Detroit Economic Club on...
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun. The program is designed to compensate owners of assault-style firearms that were banned by the Liberal government in 2020(opens in a new tab). Although many details of the program still haven't been revealed after four...
On Monday, former U.S. president Donald Trump repeated the false claim that Fidel Castro could be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's real father. While Trump frequently expresses his love for Canada, he has previously taken aim at Trudeau for being "two faced," "weak" and a "far left lunatic." "Personal dynamics between presidents and prime ministers have always mattered," Carleton University political...
A "Secret" Royal Canadian Mounted Police report paints a dark picture of Canada's future. Obtained through an access to information request, the heavily redacted document outlines troubling trends to prepare for in Canada, including climate change, misinformation, government distrust and a global recession.
Citing everything from troop shortages to dwindling ammunition stocks to aging equipment and technology, a growing number of current and former defence officials are raising alarms about the state of the Canadian military. Even by its own estimates, only 61 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces is considered ready for operations, according to the most recent data(opens in a...
Recently declassified documents from the Royal Canadian Air Force show how two Air Canada flights spotted a suspected Chinese spy balloon days before it became headline news. Once classified secret, the heavily redacted "vital intelligence sighting" report and air force "daily log" file from Jan. 31, 2023, offer a glimpse into how authorities initially responded to the high-altitude balloon, which...
Early on Jan. 19, several pilots flights reported "multiple lights sometimes in a triangle formation(opens in a new tab)" high above the Canadian Prairies. "I had a company aircraft over Thunder Bay suggest, he thinks it possibly could be satellites," an air traffic controller in Winnipeg told aviators around 4:45 am local time, according to audio obtained by CTVNews.ca.
The Governor General's office spent more than $117,000 on dry cleaning over the past five-plus years. According to a document tabled in the House of Commons on the request of Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General spent a total of $117,566.34 on dry cleaning between Jan. 1, 2018 and May 30. That works...