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.
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.
Pierre Poilievre is facing mounting discontent over campaign manager Jenni Byrne’s handling of strategy and operations, multiple sources say, citing what they call her unwillingness to pivot from attacks on the Liberal government record to a laser focus on the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Justin Trudeau has rented a home in the upscale Ottawa neighbourhood of Rockcliffe, where he plans to live for at least another year, two advisers of the former prime minister say. There are no plans for Mr. Trudeau to play any role in the federal election campaign. Mark Carney called an April 28 vote shortly after he was sworn in...
The Liberal Party revoked MP Chandra Arya’s bid to run for the party leadership and his nomination in his own Ottawa riding over alleged foreign-interference concerns involving India, according to a source with top-secret clearance. Mr. Arya took a trip to India last August and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The source said Mr. Arya had not informed the government...
Agents of India and their proxies allegedly meddled in the 2022 election of Pierre Poilievre as Conservative Party Leader as part of a larger effort to cozy up to politicians of all parties, according to a source with top-secret clearance. The source said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service learned that Indian agents were involved in raising money and organizing within...
Barring an upset, Mark Carney is poised to be elected leader of the ruling Liberal Party on Sunday, becoming the country’s first prime minister without any political experience and setting the stage for an early election amid a trade war with Canada’s biggest trading partner. The return of Donald Trump to the White House and the U.S. President’s threats to...
Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper has accused Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney of falsely claiming credit for managing the 2008 financial crisis and linked him to the Trudeau’s government’s failure to build energy projects and increases in the federal deficit. In a hard-hitting fundraising letter to Conservative party faithful, Mr. Harper said the former central banker is not the...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call Saturday to ensure that any peace deal for Ukraine offers security guarantees and prevents Russia from using military force to further expand its territorial reach. Mr. Trudeau, who left Ottawa Sunday for a summit in Kyiv of world leaders on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of...
Donald Trump won’t be on the stage at the Liberal leadership debates but the four candidates are expected to focus on how they would handle the U.S. President’s “America First” economic agenda and threats to Canadian sovereignty. The Liberals are staging separate debates in French and English on Monday and Tuesday, respectively – a chance to lay out their vision...
The Liberal Party says its concerns about the campaign of leadership candidate Ruby Dhalla are not related to foreign interference from India. The Globe and Mail reported Thursday, citing two Liberal sources, that the party sent a list of questions to Ms. Dhalla that raise concerns about possible foreign interference from India and alleged campaign irregularities. Ms. Dhalla, the sources...
Conservatives MPs are targeting Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney, accusing the former central banker of being an elitist who is out of touch with the concerns of working Canadians. Heading into a caucus meeting Friday, the MPs took aim at Mr. Carney, seeking to link him to unpopular Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has for months refused to apply for a top-secret clearance to receive confidential briefings, has now rejected a proposal by CSIS to offer him classified guidance on foreign interference.
The federal government is planning a multibillion-dollar, pandemic-style bailout for workers and businesses if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods as early as Feb. 1, two sources say. The sources said some of the measures, such as waiving the one-week waiting period for employment insurance benefits, do not require parliamentary...
The final report from Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission, to be released Tuesday, is set to lay out how Ottawa and its security and electoral agencies can better protect the country’s political system from foreign meddling. But all eyes will be on what Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, the commissioner, says about federal politicians suspected of working for hostile powers.
Transport Minister Anita Anand is backing former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney for the Liberal Party’s leadership, making her the latest cabinet minister to turn away from former finance minister Chrystia Freeland. Ms. Anand told The Globe and Mail in an interview that her decision traces back to working with Mr. Carney when she was a visiting scholar at...
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 is defending staying over at the home of billionaire J.D. (Jim) Irving this month, as the Conservatives call on the ethics commissioner to review the conflict-of-interest screen set up to shield Mr. LeBlanc from his government’s extensive dealings with the New Brunswick family’s company, J.D. Irving, Ltd. In Palm Beach, Fla., for a meeting on...
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...
Canada needs to significantly strengthen its border, says a former chief of staff to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, because it can’t absorb large numbers of migrants who could flee here to evade U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations.
Canadian security agencies believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India knew about the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia and other violent plots, according to a senior national-security official who worked on the intelligence assessment of New Delhi’s foreign-interference operations in Canada. The official said Canadian and American intelligence tied the assassination operations to Home Affairs Minister...
Iran allegedly plotted to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a noted Canadian human-rights advocate and harsh critic of the clerical regime, but the attempt on his life was recently foiled by law-enforcement authorities.
The federal government is refusing to provide full disclosure of the evidence against a former RCMP inspector charged with foreign interference on behalf of China, citing national-security concerns, his defence lawyer says. The Mounties alleged in July that William Majcher, who has lived and worked in Hong Kong for years, was targeting a wealthy Vancouver real estate entrepreneur named Kevin...
Former defence minister Harjit Sajjan acknowledged the head of a Canadian Sikh charity called him directly to ask for special forces to rescue a group of Afghan Sikhs after the Taliban takeover in August, 2021. But Mr. Sajjan, now Emergency Preparedness Minister, told a parliamentary committee Tuesday he did not give the Afghan Sikhs special treatment. He said he acted...
Ottawa says it has expressed concerns to Russia about reports that it plotted to put camouflaged incendiary devices aboard cargo planes destined for North America. The Wall Street first reported that Russia was responsible for sending two incendiary devices to DHL logistics hubs in Germany and the United Kingdom in July.
Two major Canadian Sikh organizations are calling on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to obtain a top-level security clearance so he can learn the names of past and current Conservatives politicians and party members who may have collaborated with hostile foreign powers such as India and China.
Ottawa undertook an all-out effort to convince New Delhi to end its hostile foreign-interference campaign in Canada after the RCMP reached out in August to say 13 Canadians were in imminent danger and the scale of India’s activities could not be stopped solely by law enforcement, The Globe and Mail has learned. The RCMP and the Public Prosecution Service of...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Wednesday that Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre must have something to hide by refusing to obtain a national security clearance to learn the names of Conservative parliamentarians and party members engaged in or susceptible to foreign interference by unnamed hostile powers. But the Conservative Leader accused the Prime Minister of trying to gag him, and the...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser and the deputy minister of foreign affairs provided sensitive intelligence about India to The Washington Post days before the RCMP publicly alleged that Indian government agents have been linked to homicides, extortions and other violent criminal activities in Canada, two sources say.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top advisers say they have no plans to investigate why a CSIS surveillance warrant targeting an influential Liberal power broker was delayed in the office of then-public safety minister Bill Blair in 2021, three months before a federal election was called.
