Steven Chase
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.
Carney to announce Canada’s defence spending will hit 2% of GDP NATO target this fiscal year, sources say
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce what his government is billing as the largest increase in defence spending since the Second World War, measures that sources say would enable Canada to meet NATO’s 2-per-cent military expenditure target this fiscal year, well ahead of any previously announced schedule. Two senior government sources told The Globe and Mail that Mr...
Carney to unveil defence, security priorities Monday as Canada under pressure to boost military spending
Prime Minister Mark Carney will unveil his defence and security priorities Monday and tour a Toronto Armed Forces facility as he prepares for the late June NATO Leaders Summit where countries including Canada are expected to commit to higher military spending. Mr. Carney’s agenda was released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday.
Carney agrees to high-level talks with Beijing on resolving Canada-China trade war
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Chinese counterpart agreed Thursday to “regularize channels of communication” in Canada’s estranged relationship with China and hold talks to resolve a trade war affecting billions of dollars of trade between the two countries. Mr. Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang also agreed to further cooperate on fighting illegal production of the opioid fentanyl. It...
Carney and Trump holding direct talks on trade and security, U.S. envoy says
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...
Canadian auto sector has a future working with U.S., ambassador says
The U.S. envoy to Canada held out hope Tuesday for the Canadian auto sector despite Donald Trump’s talk of cutting it out of the American market. Pete Hoekstra told a Toronto audience that Canada may still be able to work together with U.S. automakers under an industrial strategy focused on the threat from Chinese vehicle makers.
Former Liberal MP ousted over alleged ties to India starts Hindu-Canadian lobby group
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...
Trump’s meeting with Carney to unfold against a backdrop of renewed 51st-state rhetoric
U.S. President Donald Trump says it’s “highly unlikely” he would resort to military force to annex Canada but is adamant that the border separating it from the United States is “an artificial line” that prevents the two territories from forming a “beautiful country.” Speaking to NBC just days before his first in-person meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mr. Trump...
Trimming F-35 order could antagonize Trump as security and trade talks get under way: analysts
The federal government says a reconsideration of its $19-billion purchase of U.S.-made warplanes is under way, a review that defence analysts warn could antagonize U.S. President Donald Trump as Ottawa and Washington prepare for talks on a new economic and security relationship. Shortly after Mark Carney took office as Prime Minister in March, Defence Minister Bill Blair announced that the...
U.S. will seek more control over Canada’s future trade dealings with China under renegotiated USMCA, expert predicts
U.S. President Donald Trump will seek even more restrictions on Canada’s ability to sign trade agreements with China when Washington and Ottawa start renegotiations on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an international trade expert predicts. David Collins, who specializes in international trade and investment law at City St. George’s, University of London, says he expects the United States will seek to...
Conservative election platform pledges $75-billlion in tax cuts, referendums before future tax hikes
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are promising $34-billion in new spending and $75-billion in tax cuts over the next four years. They would help fund these expenditures with $56-billion in spending reductions over the same period, the Conservatives say. The party’s 2025 election platform, released Tuesday, also shows the Conservatives are betting that economic growth from their policies will generate significant tax...
TD Bank closed accounts of pro-China group, ex-Liberal MP Han Dong, records show
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...
Liberal candidate accepted invitation from China to celebrate People’s Liberation Army event
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...
Carney says he had never heard of pro-Beijing group despite photos with its leaders
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...
Liberal candidate Peter Yuen, chosen to replace Paul Chiang, linked to pro-Beijing groups, events
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...
Canada to impose tariffs of up to 25% on vehicles imported from U.S. Wednesday, escalating trade war
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...
Election threats watchdog detects Beijing effort to influence Chinese Canadians on Carney
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 pledges ‘national energy corridor’ to expedite approvals for pipelines, infrastructure
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 mount for Carney to fire Liberal candidate who said Conservative should be turned in to earn Chinese bounty
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...
Conservatives demand Carney fire candidate who said Tory should be turned in for Chinese bounty
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.
Ousted Liberal MP Chandra Arya barred from running under party’s banner over alleged ties to India
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...
CSIS alleges India organized support for Poilievre’s 2022 Conservative leadership bid
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...
Carney says export taxes an option in trade war and he wants serious talks with Trump, ‘not theatre’
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...
Carney says he thinks Trump waiting until election outcome before engaging with PM
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 ‘ready to move forward’ in relations with Canada, envoy says
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...
Germany and Norway offer Canada early access to new submarines in pitch to join project
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...
Poilievre pledges Arctic military base, naval icebreakers if party forms government
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...
Poilievre rebuffs calls to obtain national-security clearance to view top-secret information on foreign meddling
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.
Ottawa planning pandemic-level relief for workers, businesses if Trump imposes tariffs
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...
Hogue inquiry final report to propose measures against election interference and disinformation
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.
Trump says U.S. will ask all NATO member countries to boost defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP
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...
Canadian military ready to deploy at border if needed: top soldier
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.
Beijing says it’s willing to deepen economic ties with Canada as Trump brings trade chaos
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.
Ottawa mulls early release of U.S. targets for retaliatory tariffs
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...
LeBlanc defends stay at Irving home as Conservatives call for review of ethics screen
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...
Russian consultant accused of spying for Moscow spoke at Parliament Hill forum two days before arrest by FBI
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...
Inside Trudeau’s Mar-a-Lago dinner with Trump – and how it all went down
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...
Ottawa to announce border-security measures in coming weeks
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...
Provinces filling void left by Ottawa’s inaction on Canada-U.S. border, Poilievre says
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...
Trudeau opposes allowing Russia to keep ‘an inch’ of Ukrainian territory
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 eyes Canadian natural gas to supply to its growing energy needs
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 posts cyber attaché in Taiwan as ties deepen
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...
PMO staff say nobody told them about CSIS request to surveil Liberal powerbroker in 2021
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.
Foreign streaming giants launch campaign against Ottawa’s mandatory levy
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...
CSIS agents frustrated by delay for electronic warrant against long-time Liberal politician
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.
MPs to investigate former defence minister Harjit Sajjan’s use of special forces to rescue Afghan Sikhs
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.
India and China use illegal funds and disinformation to sway politicians, CSIS report says
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...
Netanyahu criticizes Canada for blocking military shipments to Israel
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...