China kidnapped two Canadians. What will it take to free them?

“The Michaels’ fates have taken on added resonance with a difficult decision facing the federal government: should Huawei, a global telecom giant with strong ties to the Chinese state, be allowed to build part of Canada’s emerging 5G network? On top of being labelled a national security threat by Western spy chiefs, the company has been under investigation in the U.S. for years, accused of breaking sanctions against Iran—and it was recently charged in the U.S. with racketeering and conspiring to steal trade secrets. Would a decision to give Huawei the green light—or a decision to bar it from being involved—have any bearing on the Michaels’ freedom? Pundits and insiders have debated those questions for months as diplomats work behind closed doors.”

Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Jason Markusoff – Maclean’s – March 2020

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The Most Important 15 Feet in Canada

“As concern spreads about a lack of shelter space in Toronto for a recent influx of refugee claimants, Orangeville Mayor Jeremy Williams was expressing nervousness an hour’s drive northwest of the quandary. His town, with around 30,000 people and a cherished heritage main street, doesn’t have space for the hundreds of border crossers who had arrived in Quebec via a quirk of Canada-U.S. border law, he says, just in case government officials wanted to ask him. And besides, wasn’t this the federal government’s problem to figure out, especially after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s #welcometoCanada tweet 18 months ago as the influx of border crossers was beginning?”

Jason Markusoff – Maclean’s – August 2018

What on earth is Stephen Harper up to?

“The speech starts as a stand-up routine, evolves into an Economist essay and concludes as promotional seminar. And what Harper is pushing is himself: ‘I’m also going to mention for those who may have interests abroad that Harper & Associates does maintain a number of platforms around the world that specialize in identifying good business opportunities in a number of sectors,’ he says of his nascent consulting firm. He notes his Conservative government reached several overseas trade deals without public backlash—’so we can be helpful in navigating these trends.'”

 

Jason Markusoff – Maclean’s – July 2018

The new underground railroad

“The taxi stopped at the side of the I-29 interstate after cruising north for about an hour. Their $400 in the cabbie’s pocket, he dropped off Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal a two-minute drive short of the North Dakota-Manitoba line. The driver pointed the men toward a darkened prairie field and a row of red blinking lights, wind turbines in the distance. Walk toward those lights, and they could grasp freedom.”

 

Jason Markusoff – Maclean’s – February 2017

Jason Kenney has everything to lose

“One night in May 2016, Kenney, an MP with no cabinet or critic duties for the first time in his career, and with no partner to nag him to kill the lights, stayed up past dawn in his condo. He crafted a 25-page memo to himself about how to retake Alberta, become leader of a dilapidated PC ­party, forge a merger with Wildrose, secure leadership of that new party and then keep marching onwards, right at Premier Rachel Notley. The next 20-some months unfolded as planned.”

Jason Markusoff – Maclean’s – March 2018