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 Rachel Aiello.
Canada and the U.S. are close to a trade deal, according to U.S. President Donald Trump. Asked about progress toward a deal with Mexico, Trump said during a scrum with reporters in Washington that his administration is “very close” to a “very good” deal. “The same thing with Canada. Canada’s working very hard to make a deal with us. And...
For the first time in Canadian history, there’s an artist appointed by Parliament to promote the arts in this country, and the man chosen says he feels as if he’s been handed a blank roll of film. “The fact that this is the first time for this role, it’s a great opportunity to explore what this can or cannot be,”...
Billed as one of the largest social programs in Canadian history, some patients of the national dental care plan are still facing significant barriers accessing care, or once they’re in the chair, being able to afford it.
The FBI and RCMP are offering a US$1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Satinderjeet Singh, also known as Goldy Brar, who was charged back in July for the 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C. “Singh should be considered armed and dangerous,” Patrick Grandy, who is the assistant director in charge with...
Multiple industry and labour sources tell CTV News they have been told to get ready for the introduction of significant labour legislation as soon as next week. A senior government source says plans are underway to introduce such legislation following a review of the Canadian Labour Code that began in April. According to the sources, the legislation comes after a...
With trade talks between Canada and the United States at a standstill and U.S. President Donald Trump continuing his musings about making an all-North America U.S. territory, Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to Europe with plans to pursue a “unique” transatlantic alliance. His whirlwind visit – taking off Tuesday afternoon and returning to Ottawa Thursday evening – includes a...
Canada has supported the United States as its closest ally on numerous occasions over the decades. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the relationship has also faced its fair share of challenges, but time and again, Canadians showed up in support of their American neighbours. Here’s a look back at a few of the pivotal moments over the...
The Liberals handily clinched three federal byelections last night, and the results will have knock-on effects for more than just Prime Minister Mark Carney. From what the votes mean for parliamentary stability, to what one notable defeat could stir up for dissatisfied Conservatives, here’s what you need to know. The trio of wins puts the Liberals at 173 seats in...
A veteran is taking the Canadian Armed Forces to court, challenging the constitutionality of exclusionary military polices that still prohibit applicants who are living with HIV, despite recruitment challenges and advancements in treatment. J.B., whose full name is protected in the filing, served as an active-duty member in the regular force for 13 years, between 2007 and 2020. He was...
Years after the COVID-19 pandemic, a small number of Canadians who rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated are still suffering from adverse effects. And now, one Conservative MP is striking an informal inquiry to hear their stories. Though, concerns are arising that this forum won’t be able to provide the kind of accountability some are hoping for. Ontario MP...
As Canada’s premiers sit down with Prime Minister Mark Carney in-person on Thursday, they’re making it clear U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest escalation of the trade war is giving a “new sense of urgency” and they want to know Ottawa’s negotiation plan. “I think this is a window, this month that we have … to sharpen the pencil, to sharpen...
Canada’s premiers are meeting on Prince Edward Island this week, to discuss the biggest issues the country faces, as it grapples with looming Canada-U.S. trade talks, ongoing wildfires, rising separatist sentiment in two provinces and persistent affordability challenges. Gathering in Charlottetown over the next three days, provincial and territorial leaders are holding their annual summer meeting. Hosted by PEI Premier...
Canada’s minister of energy and natural resources told a room of chiefs on Thursday that in his mind “there is no good way to build major projects without First Nations partnership and leadership.” Amid tension over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to meaningfully consult Indigenous communities, while also angling to expedite approvals for new major energy and infrastructure projects in...
Monday marked the start of a new federal policy requiring all core federal public servants to be at work in-person four days a week, and while the rollout hasn’t gone over well with all workers, the federal finance minister says the move is about efficiency. “We need to bring people back to deliver service to Canadians, and at the same...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will work with the United States and Mexico to “modernize” the trilateral trade deal known as CUSMA, but won’t accept a bad deal from U.S. President Donald Trump. “We could sign a bad deal this afternoon. We could have signed a bad deal a year ago. We’re not going to sign a bad deal...
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says that based on the data he’s seen to date, this country’s economy is weak but “it is not clearly in recession.” “There’s been a lot of volatility, month to month, quarter to quarter, but when you look through the bumps, I mean the economy hasn’t really grown in the last year, but it...
Employing U.S. President Donald Trump’s marquee slogan, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a New York City business crowd on Thursday that “Canada strong will help make America great again,” a remark the U.S. envoy to this country said was “worth repeating.” Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the prime minister detailed his economic diversification strategy, and his plans...
Canadian wineries could be adding billions more to this country’s GDP in the years ahead if the barriers they are facing were to be addressed, new analysis finds. At a time where Prime Minister Mark Carney is pushing to strengthen domestic industries, there’s significant untapped growth potential in the wine sector, according to a new Deloitte report commissioned by Wine...
After a private meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is more confident that an energy memorandum of understanding (MOU) will soon be finalized. Smith and Carney met in Ottawa on Friday morning ahead of the premier’s keynote address to the 2026 Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference. Going into that meeting, Smith told the...
In its first-ever spring economic update, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s newly minted majority government is promising to spend billions on a strategy to train more skilled workers to help deliver on its plans to build big. The revised fiscal outlook also shows that while the federal deficit is $11. 4 billion lower in the current fiscal year than what was...
As top U.S. trade officials revive talk of Canadian trade irritants — such as provincial booze bans — Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has its own issues with the Americans, which he wants to see addressed. “Look, you know what’s an irritant? A 50 per cent tariff on steel, 50 per cent tariff on aluminum, 25 per cent tariff...
Despite being dealt double-digit defeats in the three federal byelections that handed Prime Minister Mark Carney his majority, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he has no plans to resign. “Canadians might be discouraged right now because of the current political situation, but let us say this, Canadians should not give up,” he said in the House of Commons on Tuesday...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals secured a majority government after clinching all three federal byelections held on Monday night. Nearly a year after last April’s minority government win and on the heels of courting five opposition MPs to cross the floor, Carney’s grip on power just got tighter. In the Liberals’ first win of the night in University-Rosedale, Ont., candidate...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is on the precipice of a majority government, a milestone the Liberals haven’t reached in years. There are three federal by-elections taking place on Monday, and the Liberals only need to win one to reach the 172-seat threshold required to control the majority of seats in this 45th Parliament. So, how did Carney get here? What...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke to longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu before she crossed the floor to join the Liberals about her previous positions on social issues, and he’s been reassured that she “will vote with the government.” “To be clear, the Liberal Party always will support the rights of women to choose, always without question. And I...
The Liberal government has tabled revised “lawful access” legislation, seeking to give police new powers to access digital evidence in what federal officials say is an effort to keep pace with technological and judicial advancements. The version tabled Thursday by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is a second attempt at advancing legislation of this kind in this Parliament, after the...
With the latest floor crossing, Mark Carney has established himself as the prime minister who’s convinced the most opposition MPs to join the governing party since Jean Chretien nearly three decades ago. First it was Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont in November. Then, Conservative MP Michael Ma in December, both citing the need for unity and a desire to work with...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is putting some distance between himself and comments made by his senior officials that appeared to downplay the ongoing threat of foreign interference and transnational repression from India. “I would not use those words, first point. Secondly, our approach … is one of vigilance and engagement,” Carney said. “We have made progress, but regardless of the...
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he sees a path to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and anticipates more specifics from the U.S. administration soon. Gearing up to head back to Washington, D.C. next week to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and “others” next week, LeBlanc said he’s “not pessimistic about renewing the trilateral framework.”...
The boost to the federal GST credit Prime Minister Mark Carney promised Canadians last week is one step closer to being enacted. In one of their first moves on Monday, members of Parliament unanimously approved a Conservative motion proposing to speed up the House of Commons’ deliberations over Bill C-19, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit Act. That bill seeks...
The breakout Canadian star of Crave’s original hit series “Heated Rivalry” was back on home ice Thursday night. Hudson Williams – who plays Ottawa-born Shane Hollander – hit the red carpet at a gala for Canada’s media industry heavyweights, alongside Prime Minister Mark Carney. Stepping out together, Carney and Williams embraced, and after a flurry of photos, gave a joint...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the anti-tariff ad his government ran south of the border briefly this fall, was “the best ad that’s ever been run,” despite U.S. President Donald Trump terminating trade talks with Canada over it. “12.4 billion views,” Ford said while speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Thursday. “We wanted to bring it to the attention of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says if U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to sit down as soon as this weekend to “hammer out” sectoral deals to ease tariffs hitting certain industries, Canada is “ready,” while conceding the chances of short-term relief for steel, aluminum and lumber sectors is unlikely. Carney said that, given trade talks remain terminated, the federal government anticipates...
Prime Minister Mark Carney touted his “big, broad, and growing Liberal tent” on Thursday night, buoyed by another MP jumping ship from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s caucus to join his, a year after the party appeared to be in dire straits. “Some of you – and I salute you – have been Liberals your whole life. Some of you apparently...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s motion calling for the House of Commons to declare their support for a new Alberta pipeline failed Tuesday, after a day of considerable parliamentary wrangling. By a vote of 139 to 196, the motion – the official Opposition’s final opportunity of the year to force a vote on an issue they deem pressing – was defeated...
As the Canadian government reviews its commitment to purchase American-made Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, a new poll shows what Canadians think should be prioritized in procuring replacements to the aging CF-18s. The CTV News and Nanos Research survey gauged Canadian’s views on what matters the most to them in terms of defence cooperation, in light of ongoing trade tensions...
Steven Guilbeault has resigned from the prime minister’s cabinet, citing his strong opposition to the federal Liberal government’s major new energy agreement with Alberta, accusing Mark Carney of dismantling of climate plans. The dramatic departure comes just hours after Carney signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, laying the groundwork for strengthened cooperation on major energy...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed a major new energy cooperation agreement outlining the emission and other climate conditions that need to be met in order for a new oil pipeline to the Pacific to be approved under the federal major projects law. Signing a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), the federal and provincial governments...
The prime ministers of Canada and India have agreed to launch negotiations towards a new Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), according to a senior government official. Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian President Narendra Modi met on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The two countries – who are in the midst of a reset of a strained relationship...
The first confidence vote connected to Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne’s 2025 federal budget will take place in the House of Commons on Thursday night. Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon’s office confirmed to CTV News that the Liberals are treating both the Conservative sub-amendment, and the Bloc Quebecois amendment to the main motion seeking approval for the budget, as matters of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly welcomed Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont to his Liberal caucus Wednesday morning, thanking him for his decision to cross the floor, bringing the minority government one vote closer to a majority. “I’m honored to welcome him as the newest member of our government caucus,” Carney said, at an announcement at a public transit facility in...
Presenting a plan for major infrastructure and industrial investments intended to shape Canada’s future, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first ever federal budget focuses on driving economic growth, while projecting a deficit that is billions of dollars bigger than forecast a year ago. Framed as a plan to create an economy “by Canadians, for Canadians,” the budget – titled “Canada Strong”...
Conservatives Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canada’s youth have “sacrificed enough,” telling them that he thinks ahead of next week’s budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to “lull” them “into accepting a worse quality of life.” In a campaign-style speech to youth in downtown Toronto on Thursday night, Poilievre painted a grim picture of their present, placed the blame at...
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is falling short on recruiting and training enough members to meet this country’s operational requirements, a new audit finds. Amid a renewed recruitment push and massive spending commitment from the federal government, a report tabled in the House of Commons this morning from Auditor General Karen Horgan found that while thousands apply annually, on average...
Next week, the Canadian government will bring forward a new bail reform bill aimed at cracking down on violent and repeat offenders, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Thursday. The new legislation will target those accused of serious crimes such as violent auto thefts, breaking and entering, human trafficking, as well as sexual and violent assaults, in an effort to keep...
Today Industry Minister Melanie Joly will be unveiling the federal government’s vision for bringing Canada into a new industrial era, with a strategy to save jobs, open new employment opportunities, and draw in global investment and talent. The minister is set to articulate this new Canadian industrial strategy in a speech at the Canadian Club of Toronto. A copy of...
The federal health minister says the national dental care plan will be spared from spending cuts, but pressed on the program’s uptake – nearly half of those enrolled have yet to visit a dentist – Marjorie Michel says “it’s still a work in progress.” The minister spoke to the state of the program at an event in Ottawa on Thursday...
Amid his push to strengthen energy and economic ties with Europe, Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed Tuesday that the federal government will imminently be unveiling major new investments in port infrastructure. “Our government is in the process of unleashing half a trillion dollars of investment in energy infrastructure, port infrastructure, particularly intelligence infrastructure, as well, with AI,” Carney said Tuesday...
Turnout at advanced polls in the Alberta byelection, where Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is vying to regain a seat in the House of Commons, is on par with the number of electors in the riding who cast early ballots during the general election this spring. According to an estimate issued by Elections Canada on Wednesday, 14,454 electors in Battle...
Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson holds dual Canada-U.S. citizenship and sees “no reason” to give up his American citizenship “at this time.” Hodgson confirmed his dual citizenship in an interview on The Vassy Kapelos Show on Tuesday, stating he has “no confusion about where my loyalties lie.” The rookie minister entered federal politics this year, under Prime...
U.S. ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says the current stage of trade negotiations is slow moving, but not stalled. “It’s going to take a while to work through it,” Hoekstra said in an interview with CTV News Senior Political Correspondent Mike Le Couteur on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of issues that are still on the table ... the next few...
Ahead of the First Nations summit to discuss the federal government’s controversial major projects bill getting underway, Assembly of First Nations Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak is calling for “more listening” from Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We’re going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he produces tomorrow,” Woodhouse Nepinak told reporters in Ottawa on Wednesday. “I think that...
Ten weeks after a disastrous election outcome that saw the federal New Democrats lose most of their seats, the party is launching a “review and renewal process” before triggering its next leadership race. The post-defeat soul searching is slated to last all summer long, with consultations stretching into the fall, aimed at reflecting on the 2025 campaign to “help shape...
Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia, who represents the Montreal-area riding of Lac–Saint–Louis, has been elected Speaker of the House of Commons. Monday marks the return to the House for newly elected and returning MPs, after a five-month hiatus to choose a new Liberal leader and hold a general election. According to House of Commons procedure, electing a Speaker of the House...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has not had any conversations with anyone from the other federal parties about crossing the floor in order to help the Liberals form a majority government, a metric the party is now just two seats shy of. In an excusive interview with CTV News’ Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos, his first broadcast interview since...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will be sworn in and unveil his new cabinet on Tuesday, Rideau Hall has confirmed. In a ceremony presided over by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, the newly elected prime minister will present to Canadians who he has picked to deliver on his series of campaign commitments, and lead on key files at a pivotal time for...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre didn’t adapt enough to Justin Trudeau’s departure or U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to office, says Erin O’Toole, who is now suggesting his successor reconsider his tone and approach to provincial relationships before taking a second crack at becoming prime minister. In an interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play with Vassy Kapelos, O’Toole said the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says what he’s learned from the 2025 federal election is that “the map has changed dramatically” and the party needs to plot out a path to pick up enough additional votes to get them across the finish line next time. “If you told me … that we would get 41 per cent of the vote a...
Outgoing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s national campaign director is taking responsibility for the results of the 2025 federal election, the worst electoral showing in the party’s history. “It is painful to be where we’re at. It is painful for me to know that this is the campaign that I ran, and I take responsibility for the outcome,” said Singh’s chief...
Amid questions about the future of the Conservative Party and its leader Pierre Poilievre, one Progressive Conservative premier says it’s time for some “soul searching,” and one defeated member of Parliament says she thinks the party needs to not be “so extreme” going forward.