Olivia Stefanovich

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 Olivia Stefanovich.

Ottawa removing half of federal internal trade barriers: source

Ottawa removing half of federal internal trade barriers: source

Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand informed the provinces Friday that Ottawa will remove more than half of federal internal trade barriers in a move to make Canada less reliant on the United States, according to a senior federal government source. Anand made the announcement at an informal, virtual meeting of the Committee on Internal Trade, which is responsible for implementing...

Trudeau warns Vance about impact of U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs

Trudeau warns Vance about impact of U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance that punishing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum will hurt his home state Ohio, a senior Canadian official said. The two leaders met on the sidelines of an international summit in Paris, as the Trump administration moves forward with its threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and...

Trudeau heads to Europe to shore up alliances in face of Trump threats

Trudeau heads to Europe to shore up alliances in face of Trump threats

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will try to strengthen Canada's trade and security ties over the next five days with European allies also facing threats from U.S. President Donald Trump over their economy and sovereignty.Trudeau is heading to Paris and Brussels starting Saturday — just days after Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Canada until March 4.

MP Jaime Battiste drops out of Liberal Party leadership race - says he will support Mark Carney

MP Jaime Battiste drops out of Liberal Party leadership race - says he will support Mark Carney

Nova Scotia Liberal MP Jaime Battiste says he will be dropping out of the Liberal Party leadership race in favour of backing former central banker Mark Carney.

Defence minister sidesteps watchdog's call to compensate military's eyes and ears in Afghanistan

Defence minister sidesteps watchdog's call to compensate military's eyes and ears in Afghanistan

Defence Minister Bill Blair is dismissing calls from his department's watchdog to offer immediate compensation, and physical and psychological care, to a group of former combat advisers denied health benefits, despite playing a pivotal role in Canada's Afghanistan military mission, CBC News has learned. Robyn Hynes, interim ombud for the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces...

Trudeau asks Indigenous leaders in Canada for help standing up to Trump

Trudeau asks Indigenous leaders in Canada for help standing up to Trump

National Indigenous leaders in Canada say the prime minister is asking them to lobby their counterparts in the United States as part of the pushback against president-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the request during a Wednesday morning meeting with leaders of the national organizations representing Inuit, Métis and First Nations. It was the first time...

Cape Breton MP Jaime Battiste seeks to launch Liberal leadership campaign

Cape Breton MP Jaime Battiste seeks to launch Liberal leadership campaign

Sydney-Victoria MP Jaime Battiste is mounting a campaign to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and become the next leader of the Liberal Party, CBC News has learned. Battiste made history in 2019 when he was elected as the first Mi'kmaw MP. Now he said he wants to make history again as the first Indigenous prime minister. "Before there was a...

Poilievre's 'Santa Claus' quip trivialized Inuit presence in Arctic, says national Inuit leader

Poilievre's 'Santa Claus' quip trivialized Inuit presence in Arctic, says national Inuit leader

There's more to relieving tensions in Arctic than icebreakers and guns, Natan Obed says. The leader of the national organization representing Inuit says the Conservative leader trivialized Inuit and everyone who lives in the Arctic with a "Santa Claus" social media quip criticizing Ottawa's plans to appoint an Arctic ambassador. In a post published online over the weekend, Conservative Leader...

Ottawa to compensate Inuit in Nunavik for mass sled dog slaughter

Ottawa to compensate Inuit in Nunavik for mass sled dog slaughter

The federal government says it will offer financial compensation to Inuit in Nunavik for the devastation caused by the mass slaughter of their sled dogs decades ago. More than 1,000 of the dogs that Inuit relied on for their livelihoods were shot to death by Mounties, employees of the Hudson's Bay Company and other authorities during the mid-1950s and late...

Ottawa to reinstate Arctic ambassador as it faces challenges from U.S., Russia and China in region

Ottawa to reinstate Arctic ambassador as it faces challenges from U.S., Russia and China in region

Ottawa is finalizing its long-awaited Arctic foreign policy with Inuit leaders for release before the end of the year, as Canada braces for a second Trump presidency and increasing threats to its sovereignty from China and Russia. Inuit leaders and federal ministers met in Ottawa Friday to go over the details of the policy, which are expected to include the...

Canada could help balance the scales with China as tensions rise in South China Sea, experts say

Canada could help balance the scales with China as tensions rise in South China Sea, experts say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has an opening during this week's summit with regional leaders in Laos to step up Canada's efforts to help Southeast Asian countries facing escalating threats from China, experts say. Southeast Asian countries want to stop China from using its navy, Coast Guard and merchant vessels to bully them during territorial disputes, and they need stronger protection...

Trudeau heads to Southeast Asia as Israel-Hamas war promises to overshadow trade talks

Trudeau heads to Southeast Asia as Israel-Hamas war promises to overshadow trade talks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to Laos this week to advance trade and political ties in the region as violence in the Middle East dominates public opinion in Southeast Asia. Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said Canada and other western nations have taken a "reputational hit" in Muslim-majority countries — including...

Parliament Hill security tightened after Singh's confrontation — one MP says it's not enough

Parliament Hill security tightened after Singh's confrontation — one MP says it's not enough

The service in charge of keeping Parliament Hill safe says it has significantly stepped up security following a confrontation between NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and protesters — but one Liberal MP says it's still not enough.Pam Damoff, parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, asked Sergeant-at-Arms Patrick McDonnell in a letter on Wednesday to boost security even more.

A part of Purrliament history: Last Hill cat survives cancer scare

A part of Purrliament history: Last Hill cat survives cancer scare

He's greeted millions of visitors to the most powerful political grounds in the country, and even put his name furr-ward for prime minister. Coal Taurozzi is the last surviving feline from the beloved former cat colony on Parliament Hill. For years, Coal brought joy to Parliament Hill with his jet black fur and bright green eyes. Now his pet dad...

National Indigenous leaders to meet premiers amid deteriorating relationship

National Indigenous leaders to meet premiers amid deteriorating relationship

Indigenous leaders will attend a meeting with Canada's premiers on Monday, with health care on the agenda — but also a deteriorating relationship.This is the first time Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed will meet provincial and territorial premiers since the June 2016 Council of the Federation meeting in the Yukon. This summer's meeting is being held in Halifax.

Poilievre promises less interference, more economic control in speech to Assembly of First Nations

Poilievre promises less interference, more economic control in speech to Assembly of First Nations

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made his first in-person speech to the Assembly of First Nations Thursday, promising the chiefs gathered in Montreal to reduce the federal government's role in their lives and give them more say over their economic future. "I'm not here to run your life. I don't want to run anybody's life," Poilievre said. "I want to run...

5 years after MMIWG inquiry's final report, former commissioners still waiting for progress

5 years after MMIWG inquiry's final report, former commissioners still waiting for progress

Five years after a national inquiry delivered more than 200 recommendations aimed at protecting Indigenous women and girls from going missing or being murdered, former commissioners say there's been too little systemic change across the country. Former chief commissioner of the inquiry Marion Buller and fellow commissioner Michèle Audette, who now sits as a Quebec senator, told CBC News they...

NDP, Green Party call for new law to fix problems with Indigenous class action lawsuit settlements

NDP, Green Party call for new law to fix problems with Indigenous class action lawsuit settlements

The federal NDP and Green Party are calling on the federal government to introduce a new law similar to one used by the U.S. for 9/11 victims to address problems with six Indigenous class action lawsuit settlement agreements. Nunavut NDP MP Lori Idlout and Green Party Deputy Leader Jonathan Pedneault sent a letter to three federal ministers on Wednesday urging...

National Indigenous women's organization accused of union-busting as it lays off dozens of staff

National Indigenous women's organization accused of union-busting as it lays off dozens of staff

The most prominent Indigenous women's organization in Canada is undergoing a federal financial audit where preliminary evidence of "ineligible expenses" was found, while facing union-busting allegations following a mass round of layoffs, CBC News has learned. The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), which relies on federal dollars to operate, is battling complaints filed to the Ontario and Quebec labour...

Opposition parties call for indefinite pause to MAID expansion for mental illness

Opposition parties call for indefinite pause to MAID expansion for mental illness

A special parliamentary committee is set to release a report this week that could shape the federal government's decision on whether to allow those suffering solely from a mental illness to obtain medically assisted deaths. Conservative and NDP members of the joint committee on medical assistance in dying (MAID) say they want an indefinite pause on the pending expansion of...

Ottawa says lawyers don't deserve $80 million for First Nation child welfare settlement

Ottawa says lawyers don't deserve $80 million for First Nation child welfare settlement

Ottawa wants to pay class action lawyers roughly half the amount they're requesting in legal fees for a multi-billion dollar First Nations child welfare compensation case — the largest settlement agreement in Canadian history. The federal government argued before Federal Court this past week that it should pay the class action lawyers between $40 million and $50 million, rather than...