Murray Brewster

Senior reporter, defence and security

Murray Brewster is senior defence writer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. He has covered the Canadian military and foreign policy from Parliament Hill for over a decade. Among other assignments, he spent a total of 15 months on the ground covering the Afghan war for The Canadian Press. Prior to that, he covered defence issues and politics for CP in Nova Scotia for 11 years and was bureau chief for Standard Broadcast News in Ottawa.

Latest from Murray Brewster

Carney talks de-escalation with Trump, as Belgian PM offers no sympathy for Iran

Calling the Iranian regime "evil," Belgium's prime minister reluctantly endorsed the notion of a regime change in Tehran on Monday. Bart De Wever says Iran is a sponsor of terrorism and should never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.
LIVE

Canada opens the door to deeper European defence and security partnership

Canada and Europe were drawn a little closer together Monday after Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a strategic defence and security partnership with the European Union.

Carney heads to Europe with military spending on the agenda

Prime Minister Mark Carney departs Sunday to meet with European and NATO allies amid heightened tension in the Middle East and mere hours after the United States joined Israel's war with Iran.
Analysis

Where the G7 came from — and where it might go in the era of Trump

Established in the 1970s to show solidarity in shepherding the global economy, the G7 finds itself at a crossroads on its 50th anniversary. The gathering of the world's richest democracies has faced squabbles and questions about its relevance in the past.

These Afghan-Canadians were recruited by the military to advise soldiers in combat. They're now suing DND

Canadian citizens of Afghan descent who were recruited as military language and cultural advisers — and at times carried out some of the most difficult and dangerous assignments of Canada’s war in Afghanistan — are now suing the federal government for discrimination and failure to care for them following their service.

Carney says Canada will meet 2% NATO spending target by March

Saying that the era of the United States' dominance on the world stage is over, Prime Minister Mark Carney has committed his government to meeting the NATO benchmark target of two per cent of the country's gross domestic product by the end of the current fiscal year.

Groundwork laid in Brussels for NATO leaders to debate 5% defence spending target

NATO defence ministers have inched toward meeting U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that members of the Western military alliance invest five per cent of their gross domestic product in their militaries and related defence infrastructure.

German, Norwegian officials urge Canada to join 'familiar family' in buying new submarines

Competition for Canada's multibillion-dollar submarine program is heating up and remarks from the Germans and Norweigans come weeks after two South Korean shipyards submitted a detailed, unsolicited proposal.

U.K.'s defence review has lessons for Canada, says former NATO chief

The U.K. has released its long-awaited defence review and one of its authors is encouraging the Canadian government to take notes.

The time when foreign invasions were impossible is over, former diplomats tell defence conference

The post-Cold War era where nations didn’t have to worry about their sovereignty and territorial defence is over, a former NATO secretary general told the conference in Ottawa.