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 John Paul Tasker.
First PM should be honoured, defenders say. Others argue he's a symbol of genocide. The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force. Five years on, there's a growing movement to restore some of what was taken...
U.S. revealing publicly for the first time what Trump expects Prime Minister Mark Carney to do. U.S. President Donald Trump's point-person on trade laid out a series of conditions Wednesday that Canada must meet in order to extend the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) when it comes up for a review next year — revealing publicly for the first time what the...
Motion calls government to support oil pipeline construction, adjust B.C. oil tanker ban. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's upcoming motion — which borrows language from the new Canada-Alberta energy agreement — is meant to force the Liberals to "put up or shut up" on whether they support a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast. "The only thing...
Minister spars with Conservative critic on criminals, newcomers — and salad. Immigration Minister Lena Diab sparred with her Conservative critic at a tense House of Commons committee meeting Thursday as the two disagreed on everything from immigration levels and deporting non-citizen criminals to what kind of salad they prefer. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner put Diab in the hot seat...
Concerns raised internally that ex-environment minister Steven Guilbeault could resign. With Prime Minister Mark Carney expected to lay out a path forward for an oil pipeline to northwest B.C. on Thursday, senior people around him have had to assuage skittish MPs and at least one cabinet minister about the virtues of the forthcoming "grand bargain" with Alberta. One dynamic at...
Deal expected Thursday on conditions for pipeline to northwest B.C. With Prime Minister Mark Carney poised to sign a "grand bargain" with Alberta later this week, some B.C. Liberal MPs are raising concerns about Ottawa possibly giving the green light to a new oil pipeline to the Pacific, sources say. Liberal MPs told CBC News that they have not been...
'We've had discussions. I've been busy,' Carney said when pressed for details. Prime Minister Mark Carney dodged questions about the last time he spoke to his U.S. counterpart Sunday, saying 'who cares?' when pressed by reporters. Still, a spokesperson for Carney said Monday he is considering a trip to Washington next week to attend the draw for the FIFA World...
Ottawa is weighing exemptions to tanker ban for oil pipeline route.Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are moving closer to reaching a deal on the future of Alberta's energy sector, according to a senior government official, and it's likely to include some language about a path forward for the northwest B.C. oil pipeline that Smith has long...
2 Conservative MPs didn't vote — and 2 more nearly didn't make it. Minutes before time ran out on Monday's budget vote, two senior Conservatives swooped into the chamber claiming their electronic voting app wasn't working and declared they wanted to vote against Prime Minister Mark Carney's first budget. MPs Andrew Scheer and Scott Reid, the party's House leader and...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday he is not reflecting on his leadership style after two MPs announced they were leaving his caucus — including one who cited the leader's "negative" approach to politics as the reason why he's calling it quits on the party. Speaking to reporters in Calgary at his first press conference since the defections last week...
Floor-crossing MP says he wasn't aligned with Conservative leader anymore, felt he was too negative. Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont said Wednesday he left the Conservative caucus because he didn't feel represented in leader Pierre Poilievre's party anymore and bristled at his "negative" approach to politics. D'Entremont said there are other Conservative MPs who "are in the same boat" and...
Liberals would be 2 seats shy of majority with floor-crossing. Nova Scotia MP Chris d'Entremont resigned from the Conservative caucus Tuesday — and he told CBC News he will join the Liberals. The longtime Conservative, who served in provincial politics before being elected to the House of Commons in 2019, told Politico earlier Tuesday he was considering crossing the floor...
Federal budget includes $141B in new spending — offset by cuts and savings as Ottawa slashes the bureaucracy, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne presented his first federal budget Tuesday and it includes big-ticket items to prop up an economy grappling with major economic disruptions but also cuts to the public service to get the fiscal house in order. Champagne’s document shows...
'This is the kind of budget you will remember,' finance minister says. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will deliver the new Liberal government’s first budget Tuesday that will be full of what he calls “generational investments” to spur growth and help the country weather the tariff-related economic storm. While Champagne is the minister in charge of the file, Prime Minister Mark...
Conservative MPs were told Wednesday to avoid criticizing NDP for now, sources said. The Conservative and NDP caucuses are grappling with what to do about the upcoming federal budget and whether they want to be part of an effort to trigger an election by voting it down, multiple sources told CBC News. Senior Conservative sources say the party's leadership does...
Government says it doesn't yet have the votes to get its budget through. Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer said Wednesday that his party thinks the government is trying to force another election by preparing a budget that the Opposition won't support. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is due to table this government's first budget next week and it's expected to include...
Former senator Don Meredith was found not guilty in his criminal trial on sexual assault charges on Wednesday. It brings to a close a years-long Senate scandal that tarnished the chamber’s reputation as a safe place to work and shone a spotlight on how difficult it is to remove a wayward member.
Poilievre called the national police force's leadership 'frankly just despicable' on a podcast last week. The fallout over Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's comments about the RCMP and its leadership continued Wednesday as he sought to recast his assertion that some people deserved jail time for the last Liberal government's missteps. In an interview with the YouTube channel Northern Perspective last...
In test calls, CRA agents gave accurate answers only 17% of the time when asked about individual taxes. In a scathing new report released Tuesday, the auditor general found Canada Revenue Agency contact centres are repeatedly failing to answer calls in a timely manner — and when agents do connect to a customer, they are often providing inaccurate responses. While...
Popular support for more immigration has cratered. The number of Canadians who say the federal government is letting in too many immigrants has spiked in recent years — and among Conservative voters the swing is even more dramatic, according to a new poll from Environics Institute. The Canadian consensus that adding more newcomers is generally a positive development is crumbling...
PM told Stellantis he is disappointed in company's decision to move production from Ontario to Illinois. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday his government is not considering hitting American goods with more retaliatory tariffs even as the trade war rages on, because there are signs that the bilateral talks on relief are headed in the right direction.
Carney says Canada-U.S. officials are currently 'negotiating terms' of a deal on tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday Canadian and American officials are currently "negotiating terms" of a deal on tariffs a day after he met with the U.S. president to try and bring the trade war to a close — and Canada will come out ahead when the...
Trump has 'demeaned our neighbours in the north,' Pennsylvania governor says. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted U.S. President Donald Trump for what he called his "tough-guy" approach to Canada after a meeting Monday with some provincial premiers in Quebec City. Speaking to reporters after this year's Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers weekend summit, Shapiro, a Democrat, said...
Conservative leader says he's willing to meet with the Americans to help move trade talks along. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has penned a scathing letter to the prime minister ahead of his meeting with the U.S. president this week, saying Mark Carney has been a disappointment on the trade file and needs to come back from this trip with some...
LeBlanc says he's 'hoping we can get progress' before 2026 trade deal review. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday the federal government is still holding out hope the two countries can reach a deal on punishing American tariffs before the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) comes up for a review next year. Speaking to the Senate's foreign affairs and international trade...
'Why don't you just join our country? Become the 51st state,' Trump says at speech to military officials.U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he again told some unnamed Canadian official that the country should consider joining the U.S. as the 51st state — returning to the annexationist rhetoric he used earlier in the year and subsequently dropped after Prime Minister...
Churches have been torched but data suggests Jews, Muslims are most targeted. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday that Christians and their places of worship are being targeted and, if elected, he will crack down on religion-based hate through tougher sanctions for crimes like arson. Speaking to reporters at an announcement on food inflation, Poilievre said he has watched with...
Travel is cratering, exports are down and consumer habits have been upended. In the weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a trade war with his punishing tariffs, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada's "old relationship" with the U.S. would be "over" soon — and now there's some hard evidence that is indeed happening. CBC News reviewed datasets on travel...
Canada's large immigrant population has long been regarded as a virtue — but new data suggests popular opinion on adding more newcomers has gone through a seismic shift after years of explosive growth. For much of the last 25 years, immigration was something of a third rail in Canadian politics, with few elected officials publicly questioning its value. On that...
Liberal government is set to introduce its own bail reforms this fall. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pitching tough-on-crime legislation ahead of Parliament's return, saying some communities have become "war zones" and a crackdown is needed now. The Liberal government is also promising legislation of its own this fall to tighten up a bail system that some law enforcement and...
Putin got a meeting, dodged any commitment to a ceasefire and Trump said nothing about tariffs or sanctions. U.S. President Donald Trump set the bar low for the high-stakes meeting with his Russian counterpart in Alaska — and it became apparent why late Friday as things wrapped up with little more than a commitment to meet again. Trump had the...
New government weighing changes to appointment process. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau upended 150 years of Canadian parliamentary tradition when he dumped Liberal senators, named Independents to the upper house and generally stripped the place of partisan elements. The experiment produced mixed reviews, with some old-guard senators — those who were there well before Trudeau — arguing the Senate is...
The Conservative leader is making changes but he's keeping his senior adviser Jenni Byrne — at least for now. Pierre Poilievre was feeling dejected and disappointed after the stinging federal election loss in April, sources close to the Conservative leader said, and he dialed back his public appearances for the better part of two months to reassess his strategy and...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a tougher stance on immigration, saying Monday he wants to see "very hard caps" on the number of newcomers allowed into the country. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Ottawa, Poilievre said the country has struggled to integrate newcomers and he wants to see more people leaving than coming in "while...
Conservative leader 'pandering' to Ontario and Quebec and 'we're sick of it': separatist. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's path back to the House of Commons runs through a rural Alberta riding that has become a hotbed for Western discontent and the independence movement — a potentially tricky situation to navigate for a leader with national ambitions. Poilievre, a Calgarian by birth...
'I don't know what will occur,' says government's Senate representative. Prime Minister Mark Carney's point-person in the Senate is pressing for the swift passage of the government's landmark "nation-building" projects bill, but he isn't certain he can get it over the finish line before the upper house is scheduled to break for the summer. In an interview with CBC News...
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to order what he called "truly extraordinary" military strikes on Iran in a series of text messages before the military alliance meets in the Netherlands. Those messages, which Trump posted to his social media platform, Truth Social, reveal Rutte was impressed that Trump decided to hit Iranian nuclear sites...
Bill to fast-track development has 'massive support among Canadians,' minister says. Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election campaign to "build big, build bold" and the legislation that would enable federal fast-tracking of major projects appears poised to clear the House of Commons despite some Indigenous opposition. The legislation, Bill C-5, essentially gives cabinet the ability to pick certain...
Prime minister was peppered with questions at closing newser. Officials in Prime Minister Mark Carney's office are retracting comments that the U.S. wanted to water down a statement about Russia's war in Ukraine on the final day of the G7 summit in Alberta. Tuesday afternoon, an official from the Prime Minister's Office told reporters from multiple outlets that a joint...
This summit could be one of the most consequential in years: experts.Prime Minister Mark Carney will welcome leaders of the world's most powerful democratic countries Sunday for the start of a three-day meeting in the Rocky Mountains — a high-stakes summit that longtime G7 observers say could be one of the most consequential in years. Carney's priorities for this gathering...
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump's contentious relationship with parts of the American judiciary, Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner said Tuesday "the rule of law and judicial independence is under attack" around the world.
Some observant royal watchers thought King Charles looked emotional at times throughout his trip to Canada last week — and a Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirms to CBC News that the normally stoic monarch found delivering the throne speech to be a particularly poignant moment.
'Strong and free' defence sees more Canadians backing the Crown: pollsters. King Charles is enjoying a popularity boost and there is considerably more support for maintaining Canada's ties to the Crown now than when he assumed the throne, according to public opinion polls released this week around his two-day visit to deliver a historic throne speech. After the long-reigning and...
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday the Canadian government invited her to come to Alberta for next month's G7 leaders' summit but she hasn't yet decided whether she will go. She told reporters at a news conference that she's also not sure if she would meet with Trump if she does decide to attend.
Charles says he's heartened to see revival of 'national pride, unity and hope' in Canada. King Charles delivered a historic speech from the throne Tuesday and he used that platform to praise Canada as a force for good that will remain "strong and free" as its relationships with longtime partners are "changing." Charles, who delivered the speech seated next to...
Canada's monarch will read speech from the throne in visit crafted to affirm Canada's sovereignty. King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Ottawa Monday for a two-day visit designed to show U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada is not a prospective American territory but a distinct constitutional monarchy with its own identity, culture and history. The King's visit, which is...
Carney's ministry includes 24 new people — and 13 of them were just elected. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a major overhaul of his cabinet Tuesday as he looks to remake the Liberals in his image and turn the page on the last government. Carney's new ministry, which includes 28 cabinet ministers and nine secretaries of state from every province...
A lot of the chatter was about foreign policy — and Carney pressed Trump on tariffs. After their Oval Office encounter under the glare of the TV lights, Prime Minister Mark Carney and his U.S. counterpart retreated to the Roosevelt Room for a working lunch on Tuesday. Much of the mealtime chatter was about foreign policy issues, according to a...
Canada's new PM meeting face-to-face with a hostile American president. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet his U.S. counterpart Tuesday for a high-stakes White House meeting — a face-to-face that comes as bilateral relations are at their lowest point in decades and with a trade war raging. Carney triumphed in last week's election in part because of his promise to...
Tory House leader says party will stand with Carney in U.S. trade war despite partisan differences. After a fractious federal election campaign focused on perceived Liberal failures, the Conservative House leader is now signalling the caucus may be willing to support some of Prime Minister Mark Carney's legislative agenda when the House of Commons returns later this month. In an...
Caucus sources say Poilievre's leadership is on solid ground even after falling short in Monday's vote. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been on the phone with caucus members and party supporters in the hours since the election, trying to shore up his position after he delivered uneven results, Conservative sources told CBC News. Poilievre, who has made it clear he...
Conservative leader goes down to defeat in his Ottawa-area riding and fails to unseat Liberals nationwide. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered mixed results for his party in Monday's election — boosting the Tory vote-share to a generational high with breakthroughs among new voting blocs, while at the same time failing to unseat Mark Carney and the Liberals from government and...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre painted a gloomy picture of Canada in his closing pitch to voters on Thursday, saying life will get worse if voters return a Liberal government in this election. After sounding a more optimistic and hopeful tone earlier this week around the release of his party's platform, Poilievre reverted to form at a news conference in Halifax...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Monday his party will release its costed platform on Tuesday, giving voters a sense of what a government led by him would do and where it would cut to pay for it all. The platform release comes the day after advance polls close and less than a week before election day. Poilievre is the last...
Conservative leader noncommittal about what he would do with Liberal firearms policy. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dodged questions Sunday about whether he would repeal the federal government's handgun ban, a measure brought in to tamp down on the diversion of legal firearms into the hands of bad actors. Poilievre hasn't said much during this campaign about what he would do...
Conservative leader blasts Carney for big spending promises but hasn't released a plan of his own yet. With about a week left before election day and well over two million ballots cast so far, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre still hasn't released a costed platform outlining his vision for the country and how he'd pay for his multibillion-dollar commitments. Conservative campaign...
'I'm a very different person from Justin Trudeau,' Liberal Leader Mark Carney says. With polls showing Liberal Leader Mark Carney is the front-runner in this federal election, the other three main party leaders on stage for Thursday's English-language debate spent much of the contest trying to tear him down. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre took aim at Carney early on in...
Liberal says he's 'not Justin Trudeau' and criticisms of past government aren't on him. Liberal Leader Mark Carney faced jabs from his opponents at Wednesday's French-language leaders' debate, with accusations he's out of touch with working people and won't offer enough change from his unpopular predecessor. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney was former prime minister Justin Trudeau's "economic adviser"...
The number of cross-border travellers going from Canada to the U.S. dropped by nearly 900,000 in March compared to the same month last year, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data — easily one of the worst year-over-year drops recorded outside of the COVID-19 health crisis. The border figures show 4,105,516 travellers crossed the U.S. northern...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has renounced his British and Irish citizenships, a spokesperson for the campaign told CBC News on Monday. Carney, who was born in Canada, acquired Irish citizenship decades ago through his family ancestry and got his U.K. passport in 2018 while working overseas as the governor of the Bank of England. Carney's wife is also British-born. "His...