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.
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...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney says he had never heard of a pro-Beijing lobby group in the Toronto area despite photos on the Jiangsu Commerce Council of Canada’s website showing him with members of its leadership. He was asked Thursday about Peter Yuen, the Liberal Party candidate for the Ontario riding of Markham-Unionville. Mr. Yuen was appointed to replace Paul Chiang...
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...
The Canadian government’s retaliatory tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States will take effect Wednesday, an escalation of the Canada-U.S. trade war that could increase the sticker price of U.S.-made autos by as much as 25 per cent. The Department of Finance announced the counter-tariffs Canada is imposing on U.S-assembled vehicles will apply as of 12:01 a.m. EDT April...
A federal election-threats watchdog has uncovered an information operation from Beijing trying to shape opinion about Liberal Leader Mark Carney among Chinese Canadians. One example of messaging being circulated concerning Mr. Carney says “the United States is facing a tough prime minister from Canada.” The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force announced Monday this effort is taking...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pledged to create a “national energy corridor” across Canada, within which approvals for pipelines and other critical infrastructure would be fast-tracked, in order to help ship resources across the country or globally while bypassing the United States. He took aim at U.S. President Donald Trump in the announcement, saying this would help Canada reduce its dependence...
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.
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...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says export taxes on shipments remain an option for retaliation in an escalating Canada-U.S. trade war and said he’s only interested in serious negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump, “not theatre.” Mr. Carney, speaking to reporters in Halifax during an election campaign stop as leader of the Liberal Party, was asked whether he and his ministers...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, who hasn’t talked to Donald Trump since taking office as Prime Minister, said he thinks the U.S. President is waiting until the outcome of the April 28 election before engaging with new Canadian leadership. Canada and the United States are in the midst of a growing trade war with more punitive U.S. tariffs expected on Canadian...
China’s ambassador says his country is open to negotiating a free-trade agreement with Ottawa and co-operating on a research station in the Arctic – extending an invitation to repair strained ties as Canada’s relations with the United States worsen. However, Wang Di, Beijing’s envoy to Canada, says Ottawa would have to remove restrictions placed on Chinese investment in recent years...
A joint German-Norwegian project to build new diesel-electric submarines is pitching Canada to join the program, with one of the selling points being that Ottawa would get early access to a boat on the initial production line so it could meet targets for acquiring these new vessels. In September, Canada formally began looking for up to 12 new under-ice capable...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging, if his party forms government, to build a military base in Canada’s Arctic, buy two polar icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy and double the size of the Canadian Rangers patrol group responsible for upper reaches of the North. Mr. Poilievre is scheduled to unveil this pledge Monday morning in the Arctic city of...
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday the United States will be asking all member countries of NATO — which includes Canada — to increase military spending to 5 per cent of annual economic output. Such a requirement of members of the western military alliance would require a steep increase in budgetary expenditures for Canada. Canada is still a laggard in...
Canada’s top soldier says the military is prepared to deploy helicopters or surveillance equipment to help secure the border with the United States if asked.U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened 25-per-cent tariffs on goods from Canada as early as Feb. 1 over his concerns the country has failed to stem illegal migration and fentanyl smuggling into American territory.
China says it’s willing to deepen economic relations with Canada as this country’s trading relationship with the United States hits a rough patch. The People’s Republic of China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the U.S. and, in 2017, Ottawa came close to starting talks with Beijing on a trade agreement.
The federal government is weighing early release of a proposed list of American goods that would be targeted by retaliatory Canadian tariffs if Donald Trump goes ahead with a threat to impose a 25-per-cent tax on all products from Canada. This Canadian list would be published as part of consultations on proposed retaliation but would also be intended to alert...
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...
A Russian political consultant recently accused by the FBI of working for Moscow’s spies spoke on Parliament Hill last month at a conference on Russia’s future where she mingled with MPs, academics and policy makers. Nomma Zarubina appeared at a Nov. 19 forum in Ottawa’s Wellington Building called Rethinking Russia’s Future, organized by groups critical of the Kremlin. The Wellington...
One of the most important dinner dates Justin Trudeau has ever secured – an opportunity to dissuade Donald Trump from imposing steep tariffs on Canada – came together only days before the Prime Minister’s SUV finally pulled up at Mar-a-Lago Friday night. The Prime Minister originally suggested the two men meet in person as he was congratulating the U.S. president-elect...
The federal government is expected to announce border-security investments in the weeks ahead, either through the fall economic statement or separately if parliamentary gridlock continues, a senior government official said. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Wednesday that Ottawa is prepared to pump more money into the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the provinces are stepping in to fill a border leadership void caused by Ottawa’s inaction on border security. Speaking on Thursday, the day after an emergency meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premiers over pledged tariffs from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, Mr. Poilievre said Mr. Trudeau bears responsibility for problems at Canada’s borders, citing...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he opposes allowing Russia to keep any territory it has occupied in its invasion of Ukraine, warning that it would only embolden other hostile countries to invade their neighbours. Mr. Trudeau told a NATO assembly of parliamentarians in Montreal Monday that they need to push back against those who argue that assistance to Ukraine is...
Taiwan is eager to buy liquefied natural gas from Canada when the opportunity becomes available as part of the island’s effort to diversify supply, a senior government official says Chern-Chyi Chen, deputy minister of economic affairs in Taiwan, said CPC Corporation, the state-owned petroleum company, is in close touch with backers of LNG projects being assembled on Canada’s West Coast...
Canada has posted a cyber attaché at its unofficial embassy in Taiwan as Ottawa deepens co-operation with Taipei over combatting computer hacking and disinformation, a significant amount of which originates in China. For both Canada and Taiwan, China is the No. 1 cyberattack hazard in terms of scope and resources. Canada’s cyberspy agency, the Communications Security Establishment, in a new...
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.
Large foreign video and music streaming giants are launching a campaign against Ottawa’s new mandatory levy on their Canadian operations, trying to mobilize the public in this country to oppose the charge. The Washington-based Digital Media Association, which represents tech heavyweights such as Apple, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube, is switching on a website Monday to help amplify its criticism that...
It took at least six weeks for Bill Blair, then-public safety minister, to sign an electronic and entry warrant to monitor former Ontario cabinet minister Michael Chan in the lead-up to the 2021 federal election, according to documents tabled at the foreign-interference inquiry. Sworn testimony made public Friday suggests that the delay was eight weeks or more.
The Commons committee on national defence plans to investigate the actions of former defence minister Harjit Sajjan, who instructed the military to rescue a group of Afghan Sikhs in 2021, which military sources said undermined the mission of getting Canadians and Afghans linked to Canada out of Kabul.
China and India are deeply engaged in attempting to influence diaspora communities and elect MPs sympathetic to their interests through illicit funding and disinformation campaigns, according to a CSIS report tabled at the public inquiry into foreign interference. The inquiry has already heard testimony about the broad range of China’s foreign-influence activities, but the new Canadian Security Intelligence Service document...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criticizing Canada for blocking military goods shipments to Israel that could help his country in its war with Hamas. Earlier this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced new restrictions on sales of defence equipment to the Israeli government, saying she had suspended about 30 export permits and would also block a deal to...
Ex-CSIS director Richard Fadden is leading a contingent of former Canadian security and defence officials on a trip to Taiwan next week in an effort to deepen informal relations with the self-governed island as it grapples with increasing efforts by China to diplomatically isolate the Asian democracy.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has alleged, in documents filed in federal court, that three principal shareholders in Wealth One Bank of Canada were vulnerable to coercion by China’s ruling Communist Party and may have engaged in money laundering as part of Beijing’s foreign-interference operations in this country.
A retired RCMP officer charged with conducting foreign interference on behalf of China has won his bid to have the case moved out of Quebec; the change of venue could make it harder for the Crown It was switched to Vancouver Monday. Lawyers for William Majcher had argued this spring in a Longueuil, Que., courtroom that the charges should have...
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning all Canadians remaining in Lebanon to leave now because Ottawa is not guaranteeing it will be able to rescue them if conflict escalates.“Any Canadians there in Lebanon should be coming home,” he told media during an announcement in Ontario Monday.“We see that the risk of escalation is real. T
The Canadian government won’t commit to rescuing Canadians in Lebanon if war breaks out but evacuation planning is nevertheless under way.Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has for months urged Canadian citizens to leave Lebanon amid escalating violence between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Canada designates Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan lobbied in April for the Canadian Armed Forces to send about 100 soldiers to act as backdrops at a Vancouver concert by Punjabi pop star Diljit Dosanjh, one of India’s most popular singers and actors. Mr. Sajjan’s office confirmed that he received a request on April 15 from the singer’s manager, Sonali Singh, for Canadian...
Recently passed legislation to fight foreign interference would also impose jail terms of up to 14 years on military or ex-military members who divulge operational secrets to adversaries such as China and Russia. An act respecting countering foreign interference, also known as Bill C-70, passed in Parliament this spring and received royal assent on June 20. It allows the government...
Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturing giant BYD Co. expects to enter the Canadian market, according to a filing with a federal regulator – a development that comes as Ottawa contemplates trade action against made-in-China EVs. Chinese brand vehicles aren’t selling in Canada yet and could face challenges obtaining vehicle-safety standard certification for products, but their biggest potential obstacle may be tariffs under...
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she didn’t soft-pedal Beijing’s interference in Canadian affairs or its human-rights record during blunt talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last week, a one-day visit aimed at reopening channels of dialogue after six years of a deep freeze in bilateral relations. Ms. Joly met with the Chinese foreign minister for three and a...
The federal government has paid $8.6-million to acquire a privately owned aircraft hangar adjacent to a NORAD air base in the Arctic community of Inuvik, a strategic piece of continental air-defence infrastructure and satellite ground stations that has attracted interest from China and Russia.
Conservative Party supporters in Canada are more exposed to Russian propaganda than Liberals or New Democrats and more likely to believe Kremlin-directed narratives designed to undermine Western support for Ukraine, new polling suggests. Since Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, Moscow has steadily intensified information warfare efforts targeting Ukraine, the NATO military alliance and Western democratic allies...
Directors of a charitable foundation that struck a deal with Ottawa to sponsor the immigration of Afghan Sikhs to Canada made political donations to then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan’s Vancouver South Liberal riding association around the same time as Canadian special forces soldiers were instructed to rescue and airlift the group from Kabul.
Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and the Bloc Québécois said Thursday that they want parliamentary hearings into a Globe and Mail report that then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan directed the Canadian military to mount a rescue operation for Afghan Sikhs after the fall of Kabul in 2021, an action the senior cabinet minister said was government policy.
Then-defence minister Harjit Sajjan instructed Canadian special forces to rescue about 225 Afghan Sikhs after the Taliban takeover in August, 2021, in an operation that three military sources say took resources away from getting Canadian citizens and Afghans linked to Canada on final evacuation flights out of Kabul.
Photos posted on social media by Canada’s embassy in Cuba show a Royal Canadian Navy band member leading conga lines during a performance in downtown Havana, interactions that cast doubt on Defence Minister Bill Blair’s description of a warship port visit as a deterrent to Moscow. The Canadian government has come under criticism for making a friendly three-day naval stop...
