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 Steven Chase.
The Canadian government gave notice Thursday it’s introducing new legislation to stop the import of goods made with forced labour as the U.S. threatens new tariffs on foreign trading partners. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand on Thursday told the House of Commons that within days, the government will be tabling “an Act respecting the prohibition of the importation of goods...
Guerman Goutorov, a Canadian businessman who operates an armoured vehicle manufacturing company, has been hit with sanctions by the European Union for allegedly helping Russia in its war on Ukraine. The Canadian government, however, has not penalized or sanctioned Mr. Goutorov or his company, which is headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, though Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s spokesperson told...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Canada wants to boost trade with China by 50 per cent in the next four years while protecting its national security interests, as she welcomed her Chinese counterpart to Ottawa. She made no mention on Friday of the fact a Canadian warship transited the Taiwan Strait days before Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s high-stakes...
A Canadian warship transited the Taiwan Strait that’s claimed by China as an internal waterway – in defiance of Beijing’s warning – days before a high-stakes visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister to Ottawa. The frigate HMCS Charlottetown made the trip last week, the Department of National Defence said Thursday. “On May 22, 2026, HMCS Charlottetown conducted a routine transit...
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Canada in late May, Beijing announced Friday, marking his first trip here in a decade as both countries work to cement a new partnership struck in January after a bitter trade war and years of strained relations. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand plans to take Mr. Wang on a hike in nearby Gatineau...
The Canadian Armed Forces are asking military personnel in the National Capital Region to return some field gear, including vests to hold body armour, to address what the Forces describe as “critical equipment shortages” for deployed operations. A May 13 e-mail from National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, obtained by The Globe and Mail, cites this inventory shortfall. It directs all...
A Canadian MP has arrived in Taiwan to meet President Lai Ching-te in defiance of a recent warning from China’s ambassador against further trips to the self-governed island by Parliamentarians from Canada. Beijing considers the democracy of 24 million people a breakaway province despite the fact China’s governing Communist Party has never ruled the territory since it took power more...
Defence Minister David McGuinty declined to say whether Canada would continue sending warships through the Taiwan Strait, weeks after China’s ambassador warned doing so would damage a new strategic partnership Prime Minister Mark Carney has struck with Beijing. Mr. McGuinty cited operational security as a reason for not answering. “Those are operational questions, security questions – I don’t get into...
Defence Minister David McGuinty said Canada could contribute a vessel, demining assistance or satellite imagery if a mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz proceeds. Mr. McGuinty, who wrapped up a defence and trade visit to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Thursday, said a condition of this support would be “a durable cessation” of hostilities in the vital...
Both South Korea and Germany are making final pitches for a lucrative contract to build 12 submarines for Canada, with Berlin dispatching its defence minister for another visit to Ottawa and the Koreans sailing their offered vessel 14,000 kilometres for a ship visit to Victoria. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he expects to make a decision by the end...
A Senate bill headed for the House of Commons proposes to give the federal government explicit power to confiscate the assets of foreign states that are held in Canada, a measure that could help repurpose Russian funds for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Analysts say, however, that Prime Minister Mark Carney, with his majority in the Commons, will have to weigh the risks...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is shuttering a trouble-plagued Arctic naval facility, two government sources say – a project from the Stephen Harper era that was originally conceived as a major demonstration of Canadian sovereignty in the North. The Nanisivik Naval Facility on northern Baffin Island was first promised in 2007 by the Harper government, but cost-cutting later resulted in...
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 new “strategic partnership” that Prime Minister Mark Carney struck with China this year would be damaged if Ottawa sends more military vessels through the Taiwan Strait or if Canadian parliamentarians keep meeting with officials in Taiwan, Beijing’s envoy says. In an interview Thursday, Wang Di, China’s ambassador, said he’s optimistic about warming ties between Beijing and Ottawa but laid...
The success rate for basic training in the Canadian military has dropped to 77 per cent over the past fiscal year as the Canadian Armed Forces grapple with the impact of recruiting changes designed to boost enrolment, according to a leaked internal report. That compares with a historical average of 85 per cent, according to an internal January, 2026, report...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed on Friday to closely coordinate their efforts as potentially turbulent talks commence on renewing a trilateral trade pact with the United States. The two leaders spoke Friday about the upcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a readout. And they pledged “close coordination to...
After more than a decade of involvement, Canada’s special forces are dropping out of a U.S.-sponsored military exercise in Africa, with Ottawa saying it needs to reconsider where to deploy its resources. The decision to stop participating in the annual Flintlock exercise, a key Pentagon priority in Africa, could be a sign that the Department of National Defence is stretched...
The Canadian government says it has extended its bidding process to pick a submarine builder so the two entrants vying for the prize – among the largest defence contracts in this country’s history – can sweeten their bids. It’s an acknowledgment that Ottawa wasn’t satisfied with the economic and industrial benefits promised in the bids, submitted ahead of a March...
The Canadian government has given the two submarine builders vying for a massive defence contract an opportunity to revise their filed bids – a move that also provides the companies an opportunity to enrich the industrial benefits they would provide to Canada. Both South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean and Germany’s TKMS already submitted their bids weeks ago to meet an early...
Canada is talking to Britain, Japan and Italy about obtaining observer status in their joint program to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft. Ottawa is sending letters to all three countries formally requesting this, a senior Canadian government official said. The Globe is not identifying the source because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
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 said Monday he still planned to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser co-hosted by a Liberal MP who cast doubt on reports of China’s human-rights abuses against Uyghurs. Mr. Carney also defended Canada’s efforts to block imports of goods made with forced labour as this country prepares to allow Chinese-made electric vehicles back into the market. The...
India would like to create a trusted traveller program with Ottawa that could ease access to Canada for Indian businesspeople similar to the NEXUS program for Canadians and Americans, New Delhi’s top envoy says. Dinesh Patnaik, India’s high commissioner to Canada, said such an arrangement could be part of the deepening ties between the two countries that follow from Prime...
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...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada has not yet received requests from Persian Gulf states for military aid to help them defend against attacks from Iran. And, he suggested, these requests might not arrive. The Prime Minister spoke to journalists in Tokyo near the end of a two-day visit to Japan. Earlier this week, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff...
A developing alliance between Canada and Australia on critical minerals, which together produce significant portions of the world’s lithium and uranium, is the kind of coalition-building that middle powers should be undertaking in a fractured global order, Prime Minister Mark Carney says. His remarks form the latest chapter in the Prime Minister’s call to action for middle powers to work...
Iran’s deceased leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was “a force for evil,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said Tuesday as he defended the Liberal government’s decision to back U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran. Mr. Khamenei, 86, was killed in U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran Saturday, a pre-emptive attack that critics say may have violated international law. Prime Minister Carney’s government however...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is sounding an optimistic note about the chances of reaching a deal soon to supply India with uranium as he landed in Mumbai Friday with Prime Minister Mark Carney to expand trade with the subcontinent. The Globe and Mail reported in November that Canada and India were putting the finishing touches on a 10-year deal worth...
Canadians currently view the United States as more of a risk than a partner, according to a new poll that finds three-quarters dispute the idea that our southern neighbour is a trustworthy ally. A survey by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail took stock of deteriorating Canadian opinions of the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump’s first year...
Canada would like to see NATO’s new Arctic Sentry mission become permanent as part of a greater focus on the north for the Western alliance, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says. NATO announced Wednesday it has launched this mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic as part of an agreement to defuse severe tensions within the alliance prompted by...
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 new submarines Canada plans to buy will not arrive with all the necessary equipment to operate under Arctic ice, meaning they will require modifications after delivery, the head of the navy says. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee said Canada will need to add under-ice gear to the boats after they arrive, such as upward-facing sonar that can detect and map overhead...
Canada’s former top soldier says this country should keep its options open on the question of acquiring nuclear weapons. Retired general Wayne Eyre, who stepped down as chief of the defence staff in 2024, was speaking at a forum on Canada’s military readiness. He was asked by a moderator whether Canada in this age of geopolitical turmoil should develop a...
The departing Canadian ambassador to the United States said it’s unclear whether Ottawa, Washington and Mexico City will be able to conclude a scheduled review of the continental USMCA free-trade deal this year. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has already signalled it wants changes to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, including for all three members to more closely align on external...
Ottawa and Seoul have signed a memorandum of understanding intended to bring South Korean auto manufacturing and investment to Canada, according to a document reviewed by The Globe and Mail. The MOU stems from the Asian country’s campaign to win a multibillion-dollar contract to build up to 12 submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy.
India has long viewed Canada as the “younger brother” of the United States, slow to approve foreign investment and major projects, but this perception is changing under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Indian high commissioner to Canada says. Ottawa and New Delhi are preparing to launch talks on a comprehensive trade deal as the Prime Minister makes plans for a...
Canada is planning to reserve preferential access to its domestic auto market for foreign automakers who build vehicles in this country under a new auto policy to be released in February, a senior Canadian official said Saturday. The official also said Canada gave advance notice to the United States of its Jan. 16 decision to part with Washington and slash...
Two Canadian MPs from the governing Liberal caucus have cut short a trip to Taiwan this week that would have overlapped with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing aimed at patching up relations with China. They say they are returning home early “informed by advice from” the Canadian government. Liberal members of Parliament Helena Jaczek and Marie-France Lalonde were...
Ottawa has asked the governments of South Korea and Germany, two countries with companies bidding to build the Canadian navy’s next submarine, to facilitate auto industry production pledges in Canada as part of the pitches, a source familiar with the matter said.
Donald Trump’s military strike on Venezuela, his designs on Greenland and his government’s declaration of ownership over the Western Hemisphere together represent an existential challenge to Canada, Bob Rae, this country’s former ambassador to the United Nations said Tuesday. Mr. Rae said in an interview that Canadians would be mistaken in thinking they’re not “on the menu” too, meaning “the...
The Canadian government is in wait-and-see mode when it comes to Donald Trump’s military strike on Venezuela, a senior official says, as it tries to determine whether the U.S. President plans unilateral action in other countries. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Canada is in a particularly...
Canada and its allies must send a strong signal to the United States from a Paris summit on Ukraine this week that they do not support President Donald Trump’s flouting of international law through a military strike on Venezuela that seized its leader, foreign policy experts say. French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday is gathering leaders of European countries as...
Mark Carney became Prime Minister on a promise to reduce Canadian dependence on the increasingly protectionist and unreliable United States under Donald Trump. “It’s clear the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner,” Mr. Carney said after taking office. “The old relationship” Canada had with the United States, he said, is over. Significant parts of his travel reflect this, with...
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.”
Senior Global Affairs leadership and a parliamentary aide to Prime Minister Mark Carney are in China now for talks that could pave the way for him to visit next year. Mr. Carney, looking for new export markets because of an increasingly protectionist United States under President Donald Trump, is trying to patch up relations with Beijing after a severe diplomatic...
Canada is providing another $50-million to furnish Ukraine with combat drones and drone parts as Kyiv nears the end of a fourth year of fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia. Defence Minister David McGuinty announced the funds Tuesday during the 32nd meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which co-ordinates military aid to Ukraine from more than 50 countries...
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...
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...
Before trade talks abruptly ended in October, Ottawa and Washington were discussing a U.S. proposal that would have lowered tariffs on most Canadian steel exports to the United States while effectively capping the amount of steel heading south across the border. U.S. trade negotiators proposed a tariff-rate quota system that would introduce two tiers of levies based on historical levels...
Canada is expected to buy close to $4-billion in air strike munitions from the United States government in a sale disclosed Thursday on the eve of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s next meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. These are the type of bombs that can be carried by fighter jets such as Canada’s aging CF-18s or the new U.S.-made...
Canada needs to be prepared for the risk the United States may announce its withdrawal from the trilateral USMCA trade deal as a negotiating tactic, according to a legal expert who is testifying on the agreement at public hearings in Washington this week. Barry Appleton, a Toronto lawyer who is co-director of the Center for International Law at New York...
A former air force commander says Ottawa should buy its full order of 88 U.S.-made F-35s to fill an imminent gap in fighter capacity but switch to European warplanes for future purchases to provide more independence from the United States. Retired lieutenant-general Yvan Blondin, who was commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2012 until 2015, said the possibility...
Canada and India are putting the finishing touches on a deal to supply New Delhi with uranium in another signal of warming relations after a two-year diplomatic rupture. The export deal would be worth about US$2.8-billion, two sources familiar with the negotiations say, and its term could run for 10 years, according to one of the same sources.
The Royal Canadian Navy is considering expanding its training-ship operations to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, a move that would enable it to assist in patrolling the maritime border between Canada and the United States. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, said as part of its modernization effort, it is weighing increasing its fleet of...
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...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he stands ready to resume trade negotiations with the U.S. and tried to reassure Canadians that he is taking steps to shore up the country’s economy after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs by another 10 per cent. Mr. Trump said this weekend he’s hiking tariffs on Canadian imports after an Ontario government...
