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 Stephanie Ha.
The federal government is set to temporarily suspend the federal fuel excise tax on gas and diesel starting next week. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement in Ottawa on Tuesday, just hours after his government secured a majority through three byelection wins. The suspension will come into effect on April 20 and last until Sept. 7, and it comes...
The RCMP is clarifying previous comments from Commissioner Mike Duheme, saying the police organization is aware of incidents of intimidation and harassment by foreign states, but is unable to identify current criminal links. “What we can say is that the RCMP is aware of complaints of intimidation and harassment against certain communities across Canada. The RCMP, and the broader Government...
New NDP Leader Avi Lewis says “hard conversations” will be necessary as he takes the helm of the party amid public backlash for his leadership from provincial NDP leaders. “I do believe that hard conversations are necessary. I’m a person who actually welcomes them,” Lewis said while speaking to reporters in Winnipeg on Monday. Lewis won the leadership on Sunday...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is criticizing Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau for his English-only message of condolences to the families of the pilots who died in a plane crash on Sunday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. “We live in a bilingual country, and companies like Air Canada particularly have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages regardless of...
Alberta Liberal MP Corey Hogan says the Keystone XL pipeline is being used as leverage in the federal government’s ongoing trade talks with the U.S. “I can tell you that Keystone XL and the energy security it would provide the United States has always been one of the cards that Canada has in our deck as we start thinking about...
The federal government launched an appeal on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to defend its use of the Emergencies Act, which former prime minister Justin Trudeau invoked in 2022 as a way to shut down the so-called “Freedom Convoy.” “Canada has sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to review of the use of the Emergencies Act...
The federal government is facing questions on why an Iranian missile strike on a military hub in Kuwait, where Canadian Armes Forces (CAF) personnel are deployed, was not made public sooner. Reports of the strike were first published in La Presse on Thursday. According to the report, the incident occurred on March 1 at the Ali Al-Salem Air Base in...
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says the threat level in Canada from Iran or its proxies has not changed since the war in Iran began nearly two weeks ago, while adding that threat-related activities are “likely to continue.” “The level remains at ‘Medium,’ meaning that a violent extremist attack remains a realistic possibility,” a CSIS spokesperson said in a...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party will focus on affordability and the cost of living in three critical byelections happening next month. “We will be running candidates on the platform of making Canada affordable at home and stronger at home,” Poilievre said while speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Monday. “We think that the number 1 issue in...
As the federal government seeks to bolster its domestic defence industry, Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced more than $900 million for defence innovation in Canada, including money for drone technology with Bombardier. Joly made the announcement in Ottawa on Monday at the National Research Council (NRC), alongside National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Secretary of State (Defence Procurement) Stephen Fuhr...
As questions surrounding India’s involvement in foreign interference and transnational repression persist, B.C. Premier David Eby says he has received “no information” that agents of the Indian government have been involved in extortion in his province. “I want to be clear: At this point, we do not have any information,” Eby said in an interview with CTV Power Play on...
One day after senior government officials downplayed threats of foreign interference and transnational repression by India, one Liberal MP and members of the Sikh community are pushing back against that assessment. “I strongly condemn these remarks made by the government official because the claim is very disconnected from the reality the community is facing on the ground,” Liberal B.C. MP...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she did not discuss the “broader trade relationship” between Canada and the U.S. when she recently met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington. “Both he and I are cognizant of the fact that the trade file rests with other ministers in our respective governments,” Anand said in an interview with CTV...
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who has had a long-time friendship with U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, says he had “positive” meetings with U.S. officials in his latest trip to Washington. “I’ve been having some very productive, promising and positive conversations with the White House, with the (U.S.) State Department, with senators representing border states that we do a lot of business...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are pushing for collaboration after a one-on-one meeting on Parliament Hill on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between the two leaders in 2026 and coincides with the start of the winter sitting. In a post to X following the roughly 30-minute gathering, Carney said “we need Parliament to move swiftly...
With a new sitting of Parliament underway, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are expected to meet this week. In a video posted to X on Monday afternoon, Poilievre said he is “seeking an urgent meeting with the prime minister” to “bring practical solutions, an openness to hear other ideas and work together to fast-track results.”
While an Alberta separatist group confirms it had meetings with U.S. officials over the past year, its leaders won’t say which members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration they have spoken with directly. “We’re meeting at a very high level,” Alberta Prosperity Project legal counsel Jeffrey Rath said in an interview with CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday. When asked by...
With Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre set to face a leadership review in two days, many of his MPs are publicly voicing support for his direction over the party. Poilievre is set to face a mandatory leadership review in Calgary at the party’s national convention on Friday following last year’s federal election loss. According to the party’s constitution, if a leader...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing by his speech at the World Economic Forum last week, despite claims from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration that he “aggressively” walked back some of his comments during a phone call. “To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president. I mean what I said in Davos,” Carney said to reporters on...
With Parliament resuming after the winter break, Prime Minister Mark Carney has unveiled a boost to the GST credit as part of a suite of new affordability measures. Carney made the announcement in Ottawa on Monday, launching what’s called the “Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.” The quarterly GST payments will see an increase of 25 per cent over the next...
Prime Minister Mark Carney insists Canada is not seeking a free trade deal with China, just one day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian goods, if it were to pursue one. “We have no intention of doing that with China or any other non-market economy,” Carney told reporters ahead of a Liberal caucus...
Less than one week after the Conservatives lost another MP to the Liberals, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre won’t explicitly rule out whether more of his caucus members will cross the floor. “I think Canadians have a reasonable expectation that when you run on a platform to bring down the cost of living, to control spending, to lock up criminals, that...
Interim NDP Leader Don Davies says his party is open to taking on the Speaker of the House position in exchange for resources, but insists the scenario is “hypothetical” and no such discussion has taken place with the Liberals. “I think you have to be fluid. You have to be open. We haven’t had that proposal put to us, so...
Microsoft vice-chair and president Brad Smith insists his company can protect digital sovereignty in Canada, regardless of who is leading the U.S. government. This week, Microsoft announced it will invest $7.5 billion in Canada over the next two years as part of a data-centre expansion, bringing its total investment in this country to $19 billion between 2023 and 2027. But...
After the Liberals convinced another Conservative MP to cross the floor, Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says there are more Conservative members who are “extremely frustrated” with the leadership of the party. “All of my colleagues here have the same experience of speaking to Conservative members, unfortunately a group which is in the minority in their group, who are extremely...
Conservative MP Michael Ma, who represents the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville, is crossing the floor to the Liberal Party, according to a statement released Thursday night. Ma, who was first elected in this year’s federal election, now brings the Liberals one seat shy of a majority with 171 seats. “After listening carefully to the people of Markham–Unionville in recent weeks...
Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., is stepping down in the new year as the country’s top diplomat in Washington, according to a statement on Tuesday. “After over eight years in Washington, including six years as Canada’s ambassador to the United States, I have advised Prime Minister Mark Carney that I will be ending my tenure in the United...
The Liberal government will vote against a Conservative motion on Tuesday that calls for the federal government to support a bitumen pipeline, a senior government source tells CTV News. The opposition motion, which is non-binding, explicitly calls for the support of “one or more pipelines enabling the export of at least one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta bitumen...
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is leaving the door open to support the Liberal government, despite recently calling her vote in favour of the federal budget a “mistake.” “It certainly seems that way, but I’m a bridge builder, and I never say never,” May said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday, when asked if Prime Minister Mark...
Job and Families Minister Patty Hajdu is defending the federal government’s decision to provide Algoma Steel with nearly half a billion dollars in loans, despite knowing the company would be issuing layoff notices. “At the end of the day, we have to save this sector, and I think we went into this eyes wide open, knowing there was going to...
Former environment minister Steven Guilbeault, who resigned last week from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet over a “profound” disagreement in climate policy, says it will now be “impossible” for the federal government to reach its 2030 emissions targets in the wake of the energy deal with Alberta. “I think that my government needs to be honest with Canadians,” Guilbeault said...
The federal and Ontario governments are defending their decision to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to Algoma Steel, despite knowing the company’s business plan to lay off workers. “What I know is that without federal support, Algoma would not be in the position that they are today,” Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said while speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to work with British Columbia on a potential new pipeline but still hopes to convince that province to lift the federal tanker ban. “I’m sensitive to the fact that we don’t want to see the entire coast of British Columbia, that has extensive port infrastructure. I understand that,” Smith told reporters in Calgary...
Prime Minister Mark Carney shuffled his cabinet on Monday following the resignation of Steven Guilbeault last week, and has brought back a familiar face from the Justin Trudeau era. Marc Miller, who last served as the minister of immigration under Trudeau, has been appointed as minister of Canadian identity and culture and minister responsible for official languages. Miller was first...
B.C. Premier David Eby – who has vehemently opposed Alberta’s pursuit for a new bitumen pipeline to the West Coast – says he is open to a pipeline project in his province if the tanker ban remains in place. “No, I think we can have those conversations,” Eby said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday, when asked...
Amid the ongoing trade war with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a slate of new measures to help and protect the steel and lumber industries. Among the new measures is further limiting foreign steel imports from countries without a free trade agreement with Canada — from 50 to 20 per cent of 2024 levels — a...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he believes there is a “way forward” for Canada and China to resolve its trade dispute, as both countries work to recalibrate relations. “There is a path for us to negotiate our way forward,” Moe said in an interview with CTV Power Play on Monday. “I have confidence that the federal government is finding their...
B.C. Premier David Eby says he wants any potential energy deal between Alberta and the federal government to include a cap, or potentially a ban, on the use of taxpayers’ dollars to build a pipeline. “(Prime Minister Mark Carney) has outlined to me that the agreement with Alberta is not finalized yet, and I took the opportunity of our conversation...
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...
As the federal government and Alberta work towards an agreement that could include support for a new pipeline, B.C. Premier David Eby is calling out a pair of Western premiers who he says should “know better.” Multiple provincial and federal government sources tell CTV News that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the federal government could be days away from an...
As Canada and Sweden look to strengthen economic and security ties, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf says the renewed partnership comes amid a changing world. “If you think upon the situations in the world, it’s changed. It’s quite dramatic in the world,” Carl XVI Gustaf said on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with CTV National News Chief News Anchor Omar...
One day after the House of Commons passed the federal budget, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon says federal public service job cuts will be “minimal.” “I believe that the impact on people – involuntary departures – will be minimal, and that is certainly a desirable thing,” MacKinnon said in an interview with CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Tuesday...
Interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO) Jason Jacques says he will be applying for his job on a permanent basis, now that the posting is officially up. “Oh absolutely,” Jacques said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday. “From my own perspective, having worked in the office since the beginning, I think it’s important that parliamentarians have the choice.”...
B.C. Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson says he is “not unhappy” as a member of the Liberal government, despite a significant shift in environmental policies under Prime Minister Mark Carney. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, pointed on Wednesday to reporting from the Toronto Sun that says Wilkinson – who served as both environment and climate change minister and energy and natural...
As Canada looks to recalibrate relations with China amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S., former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig is warning against making China “the core” of its economic diversification strategy. “Making China the core of that strategy (is) not a good idea, because it’s not geopolitically a reliable partner,” Kovrig said in an exclusive interview with CTV’s...
Alberta Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux says he’s resigning as a member of Parliament, but Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the resignation won’t come into effect until “next spring.” “I ran in the last election hopeful that Canadians would put faith in a team led by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, offering a chance to change Canada’s perception in our own country and...
After Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping met face-to-face in South Korea, China’s ambassador to Canada is suggesting the two countries “triple” trade with one another if the market allows. “I think it depends on the market, on the products. Is there enough competitiveness or not,” Ambassador Wang Di said in an interview with CTV’s Power Play...
In what will be a high stakes meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping will sit down across from each other to recalibrate a relationship between their countries at a time when the United States has pushed Canada to the sidelines in trade negotiations. The meeting will take place on the margins of the summit...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says trade talks with the U.S. “had been making progress” until President Donald Trump suddenly ended negotiations with Canada over Ontario’s anti-tariff ad. “There were a series of very detailed, very specific, very comprehensive discussions ... up until the point of those ads running,” Carney said Monday while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has responded to the U.S. president’s announcement it would cut off negotiations with Canada over an anti-tariff ad. “Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together. God bless Canada and God bless the United States,” wrote the premier Friday morning on social media.
While India continues to dismiss allegations linking Indian diplomats to homicides and extortions, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says it’s important to “build relationships with India.” When asked directly by reporters in Ottawa on Thursday if the RCMP was receiving more evidence on those cases from India, Duheme wouldn’t answer directly. “That file is before the courts, so I’m not going...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pre-budget address on Wednesday in Ottawa is set to focus on “the new government’s economic plan,” a source familiar with the speech tells CTV News. Carney is scheduled to speak to a group of university students on Wednesday evening, and the source sought to frame the rationale for that audience being that they are the generation...
As India and Canada work to reset relations, India’s new high commissioner to Canada is dismissing allegations — made by both the RCMP and former prime minister Justin Trudeau — that linked Indian diplomats to homicides and extortions in this country. Instead, High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik says renewed conversations between the two countries have focused on “the entire security situation,”...
As the federal government works towards its next batch of major projects, Prime Minister Mark Carney is not ruling out a new pipeline to the B.C. coast or lifting environmental policies like the tanker ban and emissions cap. “This government believes in nation-building projects, in both clean and conventional energy,” Carney said when asked directly by reporters in Ottawa on...
Former parliamentary budget officer (PBO) Yves Giroux says it’s likely too early to tell whether Canada’s fiscal outlook is as precarious as his successor is warning. “I would probably, personally, wait until we see what’s in the budget before making such a statement,” Giroux said during a panel discussion airing Sunday on CTV Question Period. “I think, for my part...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to head to Washington early next week to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump – his second visit since becoming prime minister – with a source telling CTV News that movement is expected on steel and aluminum tariffs. Carney will leave for Washington on Monday evening and will meet with Trump on Tuesday, in...
While Alta. Premier Danielle Smith says her province plans to lead an effort to build a new oil pipeline, she won’t say the maximum amount of taxpayer funding she is willing to commit to the project. On Wednesday, Smith announced Alberta is committing $14 million to be the proponent of, and to fund the initial planning stages for a proposed...
Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound says while the federal government plans to reduce the size of the federal public service through attrition, he also concedes “there will be adjustments.” “The objective is through attrition, but there will be adjustments,” Lightbound said in an interview with CTV Power Play on Thursday when asked by host Vassy Kapelos...
While Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree pushes back against calls for him to resign or be fired following leaked audio that in which he can be heard questioning the federal gun buyback program he oversees, Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has “confidence” in his minister. “I have confidence in the minister, he is doing important work,” Carney said when...
As the federal government prepares its long-anticipated budget in November, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he would like to see “billions of dollars” in cuts. “There needs to be billions of dollars of reductions in the federal bureaucracy,” Poilievre said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday. Poilievre also said the federal government “should cut the budget for...