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 Robert Fife.
The head of the prestigious Halifax International Security Forum is warning that U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to steal the 2026 midterm elections. Peter Van Praagh, president of the Washington-based think tank, said in a recently published essay that many Americans are misguided to believe that the midterms will play out fair and square. He said the warning signs...
Former banker Doug Guzman is expected to depart as head of the federal government’s newly created Defence Investment Agency after only a year on the job, two sources say. The sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Guzman is frustrated by the slow pace of government bureaucracy in getting defence procurement projects moving and approved.
Like most Canadians of my generation, I grew up watching Lloyd Robertson on the nightly news. He was Canada’s Walter Cronkite. A broadcaster’s deep voice and the smoothest of deliveries. He was a reassuring presence even in the toughest of times. In my years as Ottawa bureau chief at Sun Media and later the National Post, I had the opportunity...
Martin Cauchon, a vice-chair of the Canada China Business Council lobby group and former Liberal cabinet minister, is under consideration to be Ottawa’s envoy to China as both countries work to mend fractured diplomatic and economic ties, three sources say. Mr. Cauchon, a justice minister in Jean Chrétien’s government, has a long history of developing close business ties with China...
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...
Canada’s spy agency says five countries, including China and India, remain the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in this country despite all being singled out in a public inquiry into these activities. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service also identified Russia, Iran and Pakistan as countries that engage in foreign meddling and spying in Canada. In its 2025 annual...
The federal government is eyeing a new oil pipeline route in southern British Columbia that some in Ottawa believe would face fewer environmental hurdles and less resistance from Indigenous groups than the northern route Alberta is proposing, two federal sources say. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an memorandum of understanding in November, with the goals...
Beijing is pushing Ottawa to back its bid to join a major free trade agreement between Indo-Pacific nations, including Canada, Japan and Australia, according to a Canadian senator who just returned from a diplomatic mission to China. Senator Clement Gignac, who co-chairs the Canada-China Legislative Association, said he in turn urged his Chinese counterparts to lift travel sanctions on Canadian...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed to not proroguing Parliament in order to take control of House of Commons committees if the Liberals win three upcoming by-elections and form a slim majority.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has left vacant for 10 months the role of a federal ombudsman whose job is to probe overseas human-rights abuses by Canadian corporations, and Ottawa says the once-heralded watchdog agency remains under review. The government is also declining to say whether federal budget cuts have affected staff who are responsible for enforcing Ottawa’s forced-labour import...
Canada and the rest of the democratic world are facing a “tsunami” of transnational and digital repression with the rise of authoritarianism in the U.S., the arrival of artificial intelligence and a softening of attitudes on human rights, according to a respected Canadian cyber-research group. The director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global...
A violent extremist attack against Canada’s Jewish community is a “realistic possibility” in the next six months, the federal Integrated Threat Assessment Centre warns in a report obtained by The Globe and Mail. ITAC, which is a specialized organization in the Canadian intelligence community, also said it is unlikely that “Iranian lethal operations” in Canada would target Jewish public officials...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have discussed the possibility of an early federal election in casual conversations about the importance of a majority mandate to deal with uncertain economic times, according to three sources. The sources said the Progressive Conservative Premier, who has forged a close relationship with the Liberal Leader, offered his opinion that the...
The German auto industry is keen on expanding its presence in Canada and is in the midst of discussions, Berlin’s economic minister says. Katherina Reiche, Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, said the Canadian auto sector strategy laid out by Prime Minster Mark Carney last week “is very attractive” for Germany. “I can’t go into detail, but please take the...
The federal government has proposed former British Columbia chief electoral officer Anton Boegman as head of the newly created Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, two sources say. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told reporters Tuesday that he has sent a letter to recognized opposition parties and to Senate groups, recommending the government’s choice for commissioner. The government is supposed to consult...
Armed Forces envision insurgency tactics like those used by Afghan mujahedeen, sources say. But officials and experts stress a U.S. operation is unlikely, and the scenarios are conceptual. The Canadian Armed Forces have modelled a hypothetical U.S. military invasion of Canada and the country’s potential response, which includes tactics similar to those employed against Russia and later U.S.-led forces in...
Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a long-awaited shuffle of deputy ministers Friday that aim to focus on his key priorities of revitalizing the economy and the country’s national defence. He moved 12 deputies to key departments including new faces at the departments of finance and national defence. Eight deputy ministers are departing the government, according to a list of changes...
The arrest of a Canadian Armed Forces intelligence operator on espionage charges appears to have its origins in another murky episode that has vexed the country’s military establishment for more than a year. The operator, Master Warrant Officer Matthew Shawn Robar, was arrested and charged Dec. 10 with multiple offences related to passing highly sensitive government secrets to what court...
A Canadian Armed Forces intelligence operator charged with espionage exposed a fellow military member’s identity during unauthorized dealings with a foreign intelligence agency, according to documents filed in military court. Master Warrant Officer Matthew Shawn Robar was arrested last week and charged with passing highly sensitive government secrets to what court documents refer to as a “foreign entity.”
A Canadian military counter-intelligence officer who is facing charges of espionage was allegedly sharing special operational secrets with Ukraine without the approval of his superiors, The Globe and Mail has learned. Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar was arrested last week and charged with multiple offences related to passing highly sensitive government secrets to a foreign entity. But the military has...
Canadian financier Mark Wiseman has officially been selected by Prime Minister Mark Carney to take up Canada’s most important diplomatic role as ambassador to the United States as the country prepares for tough USMCA trade talks, two sources say. The appointment was approved by cabinet on Thursday, the sources said. The Prime Minister is to make the announcement in the...
Opposition parties are warning Prime Minister Mark Carney against appointing a long-time friend and wealthy financier as Canada’s ambassador to Washington. The U.S. envoy post opened after Ambassador Kirsten Hillman announced Tuesday that she will leave Canada’s most important diplomatic position in the new year. A source has told The Globe and Mail that Canadian financier Mark Wiseman, a close...
Opposition MPs, national-security experts and human-rights activists are accusing the federal government of dragging its feet on setting up a foreign agent registry. The last Liberal government, under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, passed enabling legislation in June, 2024, to set up a registry and name a commissioner to oversee it. But the new government of Prime Minister Mark Carney...
Ottawa and Alberta appear close to striking an energy accord long sought by Premier Danielle Smith to boost her province’s oil and natural gas sector, with Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia playing a key role in the negotiations, two sources say. Two federal insiders said the broad outlines of the agreement, which would take the form of a memorandum of...
U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra is facing internal criticism over his management of the Michigan Republican Party before he took up his duties as Donald Trump’s voice in Canada. Some Republicans, including the current chair of the Michigan GOP, say Mr. Hoekstra left the party saddled with a US$1-million debt.
The Liberals are pursuing other Conservative MPs to cross the floor after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont stunned Conservatives by joining Mark Carney’s caucus. Two Liberal sources say the minority government has been in discussions with a number of Conservative MPs to gauge their willingness to either cross or sit as independents before a vote is held on the federal...
Tuesday’s federal budget will announce a $50-billion fund for local infrastructure, including housing, transportation and a specific stream for health infrastructure such as hospitals and emergency services, a senior government official told The Globe and Mail. The source said the budget will also lay out a plan to retire aging military fleets as a way to save money on maintenance...
Millions of dollars of Canadian technology has been shipped through a sprawling network of Hong Kong-based shell companies to feed Russia’s war machine, according to an investigation by a human-rights watchdog. The Washington-based Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation (CFHK), in collaboration with the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, combed through Ukrainian battlefield forensics, Hong Kong public records...
A trade deal on steel, aluminum and energy could be ready for Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump to sign at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later this month, two sources say. Such a deal would offer long-sought relief for the Canadian metals industry, which has been among the hardest hit in this country by U.S. tariffs...
High-level trade talks between Canadian and U.S. officials have resumed in Washington as a united front among the provinces has begun to unravel in the face of punishing tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and lumber. Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia, the country’s top public servant, has joined Canadian Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, the chief trade negotiator, in Washington to continue talks...
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s minister in charge of U.S. trade, has remained in Washington in the days after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Tuesday White House visit to pursue high-level negotiations aimed at lifting punishing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, lumber and autos. The talks have taken on an intensity that has led to some optimism on the Canadian side that substantial...
Mark Carney heads to Washington Monday, with his government setting expectations low for talks on tariffs and security with Donald Trump, even as damage mounts from the U.S. President’s protectionist levies. Two senior government officials said not to expect any breakthroughs at the Tuesday White House meeting and emphasized that this will just be a working visit. One U.S. industry...
Canada could encourage more high-end tourism by allowing South Americans to use U.S. visas to enter the country, says a former Chrétien-era cabinet minister. Herb Dhaliwal told The Globe and Mail Thursday that he made the proposal to the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and the idea is under consideration. Mr. Dhaliwal held several cabinet posts under former...
The Alberta government plans to head up an application for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast, leveraging the expertise of Enbridge Inc. ENB-T, South Bow Corp. SOBO-T and Trans Mountain Corp. to help develop the plan, according to three sources. The idea is to hammer out an application and an early estimate that can be sent to the...
A prominent advocate for a Sikh homeland in India was arrested on firearm charges in Ontario earlier this month, more than two years after his predecessor’s killing led to a significant rift in Canadian-Indian relations. The arrest happened a day after Canada’s national security adviser met with her Indian counterpart in New Delhi as part of an effort to reset...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s national security and intelligence adviser has travelled to New Delhi for a one-on-one with her Indian counterpart, with the two countries seeking to heal their fractured relations after India was accused of involvement in the 2023 murder of a Canadian citizen. Nathalie Drouin said in a statement that she held talks Thursday with national security adviser...
Canada’s spy agency is warning Canadian tech entrepreneurs about showcasing their wares at international pitch competitions organized by China, events it cautions pose a serious risk to their intellectual property. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has issued a bulletin in tandem with U.S. partners, such as the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, that lays out steps tech players should take...
Tom Pitfield, a top lieutenant to Prime Minister Mark Carney and long-time Liberal Party campaign strategist, is one of the largest shareholders in a marketing and analytics company that has for years been working on behalf of Big Tobacco in Canada and globally, two sources say. The sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Pitfield, who shares principal-secretary duties...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is considering naming two sitting MPs to diplomatic posts as rewards for their service as former cabinet ministers and as a means to recruit fresh talent, unencumbered by the Justin Trudeau years, two sources say. Bill Blair, a former Toronto police chief who served in several high-profile cabinet roles including National Defence and Public Safety, is...
Prime Minister Mark Carney expects high-ranking public servants to speedily carry out his ambitious nation-building agenda and is prepared to discipline anyone unable to meet his expectations, government and Liberal insiders say. To meet his stated goal of achieving “the largest transformation” in the Canadian economy since the Second World War, the sources say, Mr. Carney is also ready to...
Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler, who is on an Iranian hit list, says he fears Tehran may have activated sleeper cells in Canada to carry out acts of violence against opponents of the regime. Mr. Cotler, a noted Canadian human-rights advocate and critic of the Iranian clerical regime, would not discuss his personal security situation since war broke out...
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says Ottawa continues to have “difficult conversations” with New Delhi about the 2023 killing of a Canadian Sikh leader, but the Prime Minister’s Office has declined to say if the matter was raised earlier this week in talks between Mark Carney and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Mr. Carney ducked a question Tuesday about whether...
As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the final day of the G7 summit, Canada’s spy agency warns that New Delhi remains a persistent foreign interference threat to this country. In its annual report to Parliament, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service also identified China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan as the main perpetrators of foreign interference.
The Senate has agreed to hold full hearings to study two key pieces of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s agenda, including bills proposing a middle-class tax cut and to fast-track major projects, according to two Senate sources. Mr. Carney has suggested he wants to have bills C-4 and C-5 passed by Canada Day. Both bills are at second reading in the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is holding direct talks with U.S. President Donald Trump to iron out a framework for a trade and security agreement, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada says. Pete Hoekstra told The Globe and Mail that talks between the leaders and top cabinet ministers are being held under a cone of silence to ensure a positive outcome. The...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will present provincial and territorial premiers next week with the broad outlines of legislation that will impose a two-year approval process for major nation-building projects such as ports, critical mineral mines and trade corridors. The legislation contains measures to fast-track significant infrastructure projects through upfront regulatory approvals, and includes a framework to remove all federal barriers...
A former MP who was barred from running in the federal election for the Liberal Party because of alleged ties to India has formed a lobby group for Hindu Canadians. Chandra Arya, who served as a member of Parliament for the Ottawa riding of Nepean for more than nine years, was removed as the Liberal candidate for the district shortly...
The Conservative caucus will meet on Tuesday to mull over the party’s election defeat and select an interim Opposition Leader to replace Pierre Poilievre amid concerns that the Liberals are trying to poach some of their MPs. Front-runners for the job of Opposition Leader are former leader Andrew Scheer and deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman, according to a caucus source...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is at risk of losing his Ottawa-Carleton riding as the party scrambles to send in volunteers to save the seat he has held since 2004, two federal and two provincial Conservative sources say. With several polls showing the Liberals poised to win the election, the loss of Mr. Poilievre’s riding would put the leader in a...
Toronto-Dominion Bank closed down the accounts of a pro-Beijing organization on suspicion of money laundering in the spring of 2023, and shuttered the joint account of then-sitting MP Han Dong without explanation, according to confidential documents. Records show TD Bank had concerns about suspicious activities of the Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations and the information was passed on to...
A Liberal candidate running in a Greater Toronto Area riding, whose candidacy has come under scrutiny for ties to pro-Beijing groups, accepted an invitation from China to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army victory over Japan in the Second World War. Peter Yuen, who has also been linked to Toronto’s Chinese consulate, joined a group of about...
The Liberal candidate selected by Mark Carney to replace one who was dropped over a China-related controversy is a member of a Beijing-friendly lobby organization and has given talks at events honouring a Toronto group that advocates for the annexation of Taiwan by China. Onetime Toronto police deputy chief Peter Yuen, who is now carrying the Liberal banner in the...
A prominent Canadian conservative think tank has invited the top tariff power broker from Donald Trump’s first cabinet to a conference in Ottawa this week that includes a who’s who of premiers, former politicians and Conservative strategists. Former U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, who supports dramatically higher tariffs and dismisses concerns about tanking the global economy, will be the keynote...
Calls are mounting for Liberal Leader Mark Carney to fire Toronto-area candidate Paul Chiang, who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong. NDP candidate Jenny Kwan urged Mr. Carney to drop Mr. Chiang for his comments on Conservative candidate Joe Tay. “He...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney is being urged by the Conservatives to fire a Toronto-area candidate who said people should bring a Conservative politician to the local Chinese consulate to collect a bounty on him for criticizing Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong.
