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 Marieke Walsh.
Behind the closed doors of a Liberal caucus meeting this spring, things grew heated between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Nova Scotia MP Jaime Battiste. The two traded responsibility for the government’s shaky relationship with Indigenous groups, in an intense exchange that played out in front of all the other Liberal MPs gathered on the second floor of West Block...
The federal government’s pipeline deal with Alberta includes a cancellation fee that critics say is too low to ensure the province holds up its end of the bargain once the new oil infrastructure to the West Coast is built. The implementation agreement, released on May 15, sets out the conditions under which a new pipeline will be constructed. It stems...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Friday blamed Canada’s unity crisis – reignited this week after her decision to put a convoluted question about secession to a provincial referendum – on other political leaders. The Premier, a year ago, threatened an “unprecedented national unity crisis” if Ottawa did not scrap laws she viewed as hostile toward Alberta’s energy industry. She and...
Ottawa and Alberta are close to finalizing a new accord on industrial carbon pricing that would result in the fee going up to $130 a tonne by 2040, two government sources, one federal and one provincial, said Tuesday. If approved, the agreement would dramatically roll back former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s marquee climate policy and set the stage for the...
Mark Carney will not allow senators to return to the Liberal caucus, a senior government official said Thursday, ending speculation on how the Prime Minister will handle the second chamber. His predecessor, Justin Trudeau, unilaterally expelled Liberal senators from the party’s caucus in 2014 in response to the Senate expense scandal. Once in government, Mr. Trudeau set up an arms-length...
Any attempt by Alberta to separate from the rest of Canada must follow the strict rules set out by the Clarity Act, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday, while making the case that he can stop the secessionist push by demonstrating that the federation works. On Monday, the leaders of Alberta’s separatist movement said they had gathered enough signatures to...
Liberal Party leadership contender Karina Gould has officially entered the race, saying the fact that she could raise the money and get the required signatures in just two weeks is a sign of momentum for her bid. Ms. Gould, an MP and former cabinet minister, submitted her paperwork at party headquarters Thursday morning, joining former Bank of Canada governor Mark...
Former central banker Mark Carney is lining up more endorsements from senior cabinet ministers from Quebec and top party brass as the Liberal caucus is set to meet Thursday to discuss the leadership race and threat of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods.
The departures of Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc from the Liberal leadership contest has seen MPs flock to the camps of either Chrystia Freeland or former central banker Mark Carney, according to party sources. Pressure is also mounting on Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne to either enter the race or throw his support to either Ms...
Chrystia Freeland and former central banker Mark Carney are poised to seek the Liberal leadership while Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne remain uncertain over whether to join the race, sources say.
Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, three sources said Sunday, as the Prime Minister faces a caucus revolt and dismal public opinion polls that show his party will likely be swept out of power by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives.
Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under an ethics screen to shield him from his government’s extensive dealings with J.D. Irving, Ltd, recently stayed over at the home of the Irving family patriarch, highlighting the close and often controversial relationship between Mr. LeBlanc and the wealthy New Brunswick family. Mr. LeBlanc and his wife, Jolène Richard, slept over at the mansion of...
The Prime Minister has no plans to step down over the Christmas holidays despite mounting calls for him to quit, and Chrystia Freeland is considering a leadership bid that is being spurred on by Liberals who believe she is a strong contender should Justin Trudeau resign. A Liberal insider said the Prime Minister continues to reflect on whether to stay...
At about 8:45 on Monday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived on Parliament Hill, his motorcade gliding to a stop in front of the ornate set of wooden doors used almost exclusively by him. But instead of immediately getting out, Mr. Trudeau stayed in the back seat of the black SUV, on the phone. On the other end of the...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding discussions with cabinet ministers and senior party leaders about stepping down early in the new year, but close confidants have walked away from these conversations with starkly different conclusions about where he stands.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is considering a cabinet shuffle before Christmas, possibly as early as Wednesday, that could see a major role in the Liberal government for former central banker Mark Carney, three sources say. Mr. Trudeau has six cabinet positions to fill but the big question in Ottawa is whether Mr. Trudeau will replace Chrystia Freeland as Finance Minister...
Conservatives accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of throwing Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland under the bus just days before she is set to table the fall economic update, as he tries to recruit former central banker Mark Carney into his government. The minority Liberals faced a deluge of questions from the Conservatives on Thursday over a Globe and Mail report that...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made another attempt to recruit former central banker Mark Carney at a time when tensions with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have risen over increased spending on political strategies, three sources say. In recent weeks, as the government has struggled to overcome a 20-per-cent gap in the polls with the Conservatives, the sources say the former...
Relations between the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have chilled as tensions grow over the push for politically strategic spending measures such as the GST holiday, multiple sources say, risking the minister missing her pledge to keep the deficit at or below $40.1-billion. The sources say the idea for a sales-tax break on items such as toys...
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly repeated her support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after an interview she gave prompted more leadership speculation at a precarious time for the minority Liberals. Ms. Joly has long been touted as a future leadership hopeful, but until now she has been careful to keep any such ambition out of the spotlight. “When I gave...
Canada is not ruling out sidelining Mexico in future trade talks with the United States, with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland saying the federal government shares Donald Trump’s “grave concerns” that China is using the southernmost North American country as a back door for trade access. Ottawa’s priority is the bilateral relationship with the United States, Ms. Freeland said. “At...
The Conservatives are still raking in millions more than the Liberals or NDP as the clock ticks down to a general election, in what the party says is expected to be another record-setting fundraising year for the Tories. According to financial returns filed with Elections Canada Thursday, the Conservatives raised more than all the other political parties combined between July...
A call from some Liberal MPs for a secret ballot vote on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s future shows no signs of being answered. Instead, Wednesday’s caucus meeting ended with MPs emerging to once again claim unity against their common foe, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. The focus needs to be on how, under Mr. Trudeau, they can defeat him, MPs told...
A growing chorus of Liberal MPs called for a secret vote on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s future after his cabinet ministers tried to shut down the demands and argued it was time their party end the in-fighting. On Tuesday, six more Liberal MPs added their names to the list of people who are publicly demanding their caucus cast a vote...
Liberal MPs left a meeting with the Prime Minister divided on Justin Trudeau’s leadership but saying they are all united in stopping the Conservatives from forming government. “The Liberal Party is strong and united,” a smiling Mr. Trudeau said as he departed Wednesday’s lengthy caucus meeting, one that saw him on the hot seat as MPs gave voice to mounting...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will shuffle his cabinet Thursday afternoon to fill the gap left by outgoing Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, according to a government official who said no new faces will be added to the cabinet.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been told he can’t win the next election and should quit before he’s defeated. Several MPs and former cabinet ministers have publicly called for his exit, including veteran Quebec Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès at this week’s caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are trying to make sure they hold onto their core party base as they face what senior Liberals say is a must-win by-election in Montreal next week. The Sept. 16 vote in LaSalle-Émard-Verdun marks a make-or-break moment for the party, two senior Liberals said. One said it was difficult to chart the road to the...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is contending with an exodus of senior staff just as the minority Liberals are returning to a precarious position in the House of Commons, having lost the automatic support of the New Democratic Party. Five of his 38 ministers are losing their chiefs of staff in quick succession with several already gone, including the top...
While Canadians have a more favourable view of former central banker Mark Carney than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, most don’t think adding him to the minority government’s cabinet would help the Liberals’ fortunes, according to a new poll by Nanos Research. Mr. Carney has been often floated as a potential successor to Mr. Trudeau, should he resign. In the meantime...
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party is on track for another record-setting fundraising year, amassing more than $20-million from donors in the first half of 2024 and far outpacing the results of the Liberals and NDP. According to the latest quarterly fundraising numbers, released by Elections Canada on Wednesday, the Conservatives raised $9.8-million between April and June, bringing their total this year...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held talks on Sunday with Mark Carney and urged the former Bank of Canada governor to join the Liberal government, four sources say. Mr. Trudeau said Mr. Carney could become a member of the government through a by-election or wait to run when the general election is scheduled for October, 2025. He was not offered the...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has been trying for years to recruit former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to the federal cabinet but stopped short of saying he would like him to replace Chrystia Freeland as finance minister. The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office are concerned about Ms. Freeland’s effectiveness...
The minority Liberals have rejected a call from some of their own MPs to hold a caucus meeting in the wake of the party’s stunning defeat in the Toronto-St. Paul’s by-election, arguing that such a meeting is not logistically feasible. According to three sources, Liberal caucus chair and Quebec MP Brenda Shanahan confirmed late Thursday what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau...
Pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reconsider his future as leader, as he is receiving a marked lack of support from three senior Liberals in the wake of this week’s shocking loss in a Toronto by-election. On Thursday, The Globe and Mail spoke with a current federal minister, a recently ousted cabinet colleague and a former...
Former B.C. premier Christy Clark says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to be replaced and suggested MPs begin having private conversations with the Liberal Leader about the party’s electoral prospects if he stays on. In an interview with The Globe and Mail Thursday, Ms. Clark said Monday’s by-election loss in Toronto-St. Paul’s is a sign for the Prime Minister that...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing calls from two Chrétien-era Liberal cabinet ministers to step down as party leader, with the former MPs pointing to this week’s midtown Toronto by-election defeat as further evidence of a strong desire for change among Canadian voters. Wayne Easter said in an interview Wednesday that Mr. Trudeau and his team of senior advisers in...
Liberals have held the riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s for three decades, but heading into Monday’s federal by-election, people in the party say that while they expect to win, it will be a closer race than it should be. With national polls showing the governing Liberals badly trailing the Conservatives and issues such as affordability, Israel’s war with Hamas, and the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the only federal party leader foregoing access to a classified national security and intelligence watchdog’s report that says the country’s intelligence services believe some parliamentarians are “semi-witting or witting” participants in foreign-interference efforts. Mr. Poilievre has resisted offers from the government since last year to get his security clearance in order to see classified versions...
The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois are proposing that revelations about federal politicians colluding with other countries be turned over to the foreign interference inquiry, an effort to get to the bottom of allegations that the governing Liberals say they cannot further discuss publicly. The requests from the Bloc and Tories would ultimately expand the mandate given to Justice Marie-Josée...
Former CSIS director Richard Fadden says Canada can’t allow allegations that parliamentarians are colluding with foreign powers to remain unresolved. He recommends federal party leaders all request classified briefings to see if they can learn the names of those federal politicians that a security watchdog report said are collaborating with foreign governments for their own benefit.
The Liberals are escalating their attacks on the Parliamentary Budget Officer over an error in his carbon pricing analysis, but the federal watchdog has hit back, saying the government is keeping secret data that shows his overall findings are correct. The day after the federal government released its budget on April 16, the Parliamentary Budget Office posted an update to...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday defended withholding secret cabinet documents requested by the commissioner leading the foreign interference inquiry, arguing his government has already shared enough information with Justice Marie-Josée Hogue. The Foreign Interference Commission disagrees and has said it is in discussions with the government about the application of redactions covering about nine per cent of the cabinet...
The majority of Canadians have intensely negative responses to both Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a new Nanos Research poll that finds the credibility of both politicians low. Even as Mr. Poilievre far outpaces Mr. Trudeau in public opinion surveys, almost six in 10 respondents in the Nanos poll say the Conservative Leader elicits...
A day after declining to put any limits on how the Conservatives would use the notwithstanding clause if they form government, the party now says Leader Pierre Poilievre would only use the tool to override Charter-protected rights when it comes to matters of criminal justice.
The federal Conservatives say their proposed use of the notwithstanding clause to override Charter-protected rights and freedoms is focused on criminal justice matters but the Official Opposition did not rule out applying it to other policy areas as well, should they form government.
The federal government did not put an adequate focus on fostering economic growth in its recent budget, according to former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, who is often touted as a potential future Liberal leader. The minority Liberals are trailing the Conservatives by double digits in public-opinion polls, and in a speech delivered this week, Mr. Carney carved out...
The federal Lobbying Commissioner has not yet been in touch with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s top adviser, Jenni Byrne, as the watchdog probes allegations of inappropriate lobbying by staff working both in Ms. Byrne’s firm and a second one operating out of her office.
The federal Liberals expected upwards of 80 of their backbench MPs to vote with the NDP last week on a motion that included a call to recognize a Palestinian state, according to sources with knowledge of the deliberations, prompting a scramble to convince New Democrats to accept amendments and avoid exposing deep divisions in the governing party. But while there...
The New Democrats are asking the federal Lobbying Commissioner to investigate the relationship between Pierre Poilievre’s top adviser and a federal lobby firm that operates out of Jenni Byrne’s provincial lobbying office. Ms. Byrne is one of the most prominent Conservatives in Canada and was a key strategist in Mr. Poilievre’s leadership campaign that garnered him a landslide victory in...
On the first business day after Pierre Poilievre’s election as Conservative Leader, the senior staff of a lobbying firm run by his top adviser established a second company housed out of the same office, with many of the same staff – but dropping the name Jenni Byrne. Ms. Byrne is one of the most powerful Conservative operatives in the country...
The Liberal government has not agreed to fully fund diabetes medications, which remains an outstanding issue in negotiations on pharmacare, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says. Mr. Singh held a news conference in Toronto on the issue Wednesday as time is running out for the two parties to reach an agreement. The Liberals and the New Democrats have a working arrangement...
The federal government is strongly considering covering the costs of birth control as part of its negotiations with the NDP on new pharmacare legislation, according to sources with direct knowledge of the secret talks. Three sources told The Globe and Mail that the possible birth control funding is in addition to coverage for diabetes medications, which is also being discussed...
There’s no sign that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s sharper attacks against the Conservatives have shifted public sentiment in his favour a month into 2024, and things are getting worse for the Liberals on some metrics, according to new polling. The Nanos Research data, released Monday and conducted for The Globe and Mail, shows Mr. Trudeau isn’t faring well among voters’...
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday his party’s deal to prop up the minority Liberals will be off if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government doesn’t meet the deadline to introduce long-promised pharmacare legislation. However, the New Democrat wouldn’t rule out still supporting the government on confidence votes, such as the budget, even if the two parties no longer have a...
Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney are more popular choices to lead the Liberal Party than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a new Nanos survey conducted exclusively for The Globe and Mail. Eighteen per cent of respondents said Ms. Freeland, the Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, was the most appealing potential candidate for Liberal leader. Mr. Carney, the former...
The federal government expects to unveil its long-delayed oil and gas sector emissions cap during climate talks starting Thursday, underscoring Canada’s position that fossil fuels can still be part of the clean transition as long as their emissions are cut. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault set out the expectations for the global gathering, dubbed COP28, on Parliament Hill Wednesday, just before...
The federal government’s fully subsidized heat-pump pilot program for lower-income households in much of Atlantic Canada has tripled the cost of the federal heating retrofit policy, bringing the total price tag to $750-million. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the program more than a week ago as part of what the government called an “energy affordability
Former Bank of Canada governor and card-carrying Liberal, Mark Carney, says he hasn’t ruled out a future run for the party’s leadership. Mr. Carney, who has also served at the top of the Bank of England and is currently the chair of Brookfield Asset Management and the United Nations special envoy on climate action, has long been considered a contender...
