Happy Wednesday everyone!

Short post today as the House is off on its Easter break. Just going to cover a pair of new Bills.

New Bills

C-383 – The Prohibiting the Export of Thermal Coal Act

C-383 is sponsored by Laurel Collins (NDP, British Columbia, Victoria) and makes it illegal to export thermal coal. You're able to get a special exemption to this if both the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Transport agree that it's needed to address an imminent threat to human safety, health, or the environment. Regardless of if the exemption is approved or denied the Ministers will need to publish the reasoning for their decision. The punishment for breaking C-383 is a fine up to $6 million for the first offence and $12 million for each offence after.

C-383 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.

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C-382 – An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act (extra-energy-efficient products)

C-382 is sponsored by Don Davies (NDP, British Columbia, Vancouver Kingsway) and exempts certain products from GST and creates a tax credit for purchasing them.

Products that qualify for this need to be at least 10% more energy efficient than the standards applied to them under the Energy Efficiency Regulations and will need to hold less than half the market share for that product. The rebate will be 10% of the cost of the product up to $1,000.

The initial list of products that can qualify are:

• Clothes washers and dryers
• Dishwashers
• Refrigerators and freezers
• Electric stoves
• Dehumidifiers
• Microwaves
• Ceiling fants
• Air conditioners of every type, from portable to central AC
• Heat pumps of every type
• Electric furnaces
• Ventilators
• Electric boilers
• Electric water heaters
• Lighting
• Compact audio products
• Video products
• TVs
• External power supplies
• Battery chargers
• Electric motors

C-382 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.

Happy Wednesday! The House is off for Easter break this week so we've got a shorter summary today. Just a few Motions regarding the Carbon Tax and a handful of Bill updates.

Committee Reports

Committee on Science and Research (SRSR) – Revitalizing Research and Scientific Publication in French in Canada

The SRSR has been looking into ways to promote French-language research and publications in Canada. They've got a pretty long list of recommendations, but it pretty much all boils down to providing more, predictable funding for groups that promote this, offer more supports like translation services, and making sure French-language projects are considered fairly when it comes to applying for research grants.

These recommendations were accepted with everyone voting in favour of them.

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Motions

Carbon Tax Increase – Andrew Scheer (Conservative, Saskatchewan, Regina—Qu’Appelle)

We had another Motion from the Conservatives on the Carbon Tax, this time regarding the upcoming increase.

Given that 70% of the provinces and 70% of Canadians oppose the Prime Minister's 23% carbon tax hike on April 1, the House call on the NDP-Liberal coalition to immediately cancel this hike.

Not much to say here other than pointing out that the NDP aren't in an actual coalition with the Liberals and that the Bloc Québécois have routinely supported the Carbon Tax as well. (I'm actually pretty sure the NDP have no power over the increases now and the Liberals could just cancel them regardless of what the NDP say)

This Motion failed with everyone but the Conservatives voting against it.

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Carbon Tax Election – Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)

Next up we've got Pierre's promised attempt to call for non-confidence and trigger an election.

That the House declare non-confidence in the Prime Minister and his costly government for increasing the carbon tax 23% on April 1, as part of his plan to quadruple the tax while Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat, and house themselves, and call for the House to be dissolved so Canadians can vote in a carbon tax election.

Only thing I'm going to say here is that the quadruple part doesn't kick in until 2030, and is based on a decade of increases.

Pierre's Motion also failed with the Conservatives being the only party to vote in favour of it.

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New Bills

C-384 - Turkish Heritage Month Act

C-384 is sponsored by Brian Masse (NDP, Ontario, Windsor West) and declares October as Turkish Heritage Month.

C-384 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.

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C-375 – An Act to amend the Impact Assessment Act (federal-provincial agreements)

C-375 is sponsored by Gérard Deltell (Conservative, Quebec, Louis-Saint-Laurent) and allows the feds and provinces to enter into an agreement to exempt a project from needing a federal environmental impact assessment. This only works if there would be a provincial impact assessment, and there will be a 60 day period for anyone to file an objection to these agreements.

C-375 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote. If this is something you care about (whether for or against) contact your MP and let them know!

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Bill Updates

C-365 – Consumer-led Banking Act

C-365 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with the Liberals being the only party to vote against it. Worth noting here is that Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Liberal, Ontario, Beaches—East York) voted against the rest of his party and supported it.

The main Liberal argument against it is that it's sparse on details and they're already working on their own system.

The Bloc Québécois call out that fintech companies are already starting to link to Canadians' bank accounts, and that that opens up a lot of risk. The sooner we get some regulated means of doing this the better.

C-365 will now be sent to the Committee on Finance.

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C-29 – National Council for Reconciliation Act

When we last saw C-29 the House was still looking at the Senate's amendments on it. Steven MacKinnon (Liberal, Quebec, Gatineau) proposed a Time Allocation Motion to hold a vote on them after one more day of debate, which passed with the Liberals and NDP voting in favour and the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting against. The Green Party was evenly split on this one.

I have a question for y’all. If Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister of Canada and removes the carbon tax, will the Carbon tax in the Quebec province will also be removed? I wonder because the carbon tax in Quebec is different from the rest of the Canada.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Shorter post today as the House has only just come back, but we've got an NDP Motion regarding the conflict in Gaza so there's that!

Motions

Peace in the Middle East - Heather McPherson (NDP, Alberta, Edmonton Strathcona)

This is a bit of a long one but Heather's Motion pretty much calls for Canada to break off any actions that are supporting the conflict, punish bad actors, and work for aid and a resolution to the conflict. This includes:

1. Demanding an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages
2. Suspending all military trade with Israel and increasing efforts to stop the illegal arms trade with Hamas
3. Reinstate funding to the UNRWA and support the independent investigation into its actions
4. Support the prosecution of all violations of international law in the region and the work of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court
5. Demand unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza
6. Ensure Canadians in Gaza can return safely and remove the cap of 1,000 temporary resident visa applications
7. Ban Israeli settlers from Canada, impose sanctions on Israeli officials who incite genocide, and maintain sanctions on Hamas leaders
8. Advocate for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and work towards a two-state solution
9. Officially recognize the State of Palestine and maintain our recognition of Israel's right to exist and live in peace with its neighbours

Amendment - Steven MacKinnon (Liberal, Quebec, Gatineau)

Steven wants to make the following changes to the Motion:

• Add a call for Hamas to lay down arms to Point 1
• Call for the immediate cease of arms transfer instead of suspension in Point 2
• Push for long-term governance reforms and accountability measures to be put in place with the UNRWA for Point 3
• Expand access instead of removing the cap on temporary resident visas for Point 6
• Change Point 7 to be sanctioning Israeli settlers and maintaining sanctions against Hamas
• Replace Point 8 with reaffirming that Israeli settlements are illegal and a serious obstacle to negotiating a two-state solution, as well as advocating for an end to Israeli occupation
• Change Point 9 to no longer recognize the State of Palestine but to work with international partners to establish the State of Palestine as part of a two-state solution

The amendment passed with the Conservatives being the only party to vote against it. Also worth noting that Ben Carr (Liberal, Manitoba, Winnipeg South Centre), Anthony Housefather (Liberal, Quebec, Mount Royal), and Marco Mendicino (Liberal, Ontario, Eglinton—Lawrence) broke ranks with the Liberals and voted against the amendment as well.

The Motion itself then passed with everyone voting the same way they did for the amendment.

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New Bills

C-277 - The National Strategy on Brain Injuries Act - Alistair MacGregor (NDP, British Columbia, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford)

C-277 will have the Minister of Health build a national strategy to handle brain injuries. This will include promoting measures to prevent it, identifying the most effective treatments and supports for people suffering from brain injuries, and improving the sharing of information around them.

C-277 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-270 - the Stopping Internet Sexual Exploitation Act - Arnold Viersen (Conservative, Alberta, Peace River—Westlock)

C-270 will require the makers of porn to verify the age of anyone depicted in it with government ID, as well as get their consent to have their likeness depicted in it. Distributors of porn will need to get written confirmation of age and consent, as well as notification that the consent hasn't been withdrawn. It's worth noting here that it calls out consent to have their image in the material, which should also affect AI-created porn.

Anyone who doesn't follow these laws can be punished with a fine of up to $500,000 and/or two years in prison. They can also be put under the following court orders:

• No internet access except as approved by the court
• Removal of the offending porn from the offender's computer system
• Removal of the offending porn from the internet and any other networks

The Governor General will be able to create regulations on what type of ID can be used for age verification as well as how long any documentation on age verification or consent are to be kept.

C-270 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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Bill Updates

C-35 - Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act

C-35 has been granted Royal Assent.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Super short post today as the House is currently on it's March Break. We've got a breakdown on the new Pharmacare bill today to make up for it!

New Bills

C-376 - An Act to amend the Criminal Code (orders prohibiting the possession of weapons)

First up we've got C-376 sponsored by Eric Melillo (Conservative, Ontario, Kenora). This one's pretty simple and has to do with violence or threats of violence. Right now if you're convicted of one of these crimes and you face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more you're automatically banned from having a firearm. C-376 removes the 10 year requirement and just automatically bans you from having them.

C-376 hasn't gone up for debate yet so we don't have much on what the parties think about it, other than Eric saying it'll help reduce violent crime.

C-376 is currently waiting for its Second Reading Vote.

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C-64 - The Pharmacare Act

C-64 is sponsored by the Mark Holland (Minister of Health, Ontario, Ajax) and gets the process of establishing a national pharmacare program started.

Anyone familiar with our healthcare system or who've been watching any of the Private Members' Bills that attempted to set this up already knows what this looks like. C-64 will set up the ability for provinces and the feds to come to an agreement where the feds will reimburse the provinces for providing coverage for certain prescription drugs, as well as drugs related to diabetes and contraception.

This will start with the Canadian Drug Agency putting together a list of essential drugs and related products that should be covered by this plan. They'll have one year to put this list together, at which point the Minister of Health will open discussions with the provinces to start providing coverage for the drugs on the list. The Minister will also be responsible for putting together a bulk purchasing strategy for the items on the list.

The Minister will also have a month after C-64 passes to put together a team of experts to look into the implementation and financing of the pharmacare plan. They'll have one year to report back to the Minister on their recommendations.

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Closing Fun

And that's all for today! The House is back next week, though you can expect another short post as very little tends to get done at the start of the week.

Happy Wednesday everyone! We've got some updates to the ArriveCAN issue last week, some changes to the House's hours of operation, as well as a number of updates to bills!

Motions

ArriveCAN - Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)

Pierre has a Motion involving the ArriveCAN spending. He calls out that a number of companies were paid for work on ArriveCAN but the money wasn't all used on developing the app. (He quotes the Procurement Ombud's stat that in 76% of the contracts involved some or all of the proposed resources, such as subcontractors and employees, never actually worked on ArriveCAN) He calls on the government to provide a line-by-line report of all the money spent on ArriveCAN and the value of staff time for development. (Salaries, bonuses, etc) Within 100 days of this Motion being adopted he wants the government to recoup all the funds that were paid to people who didn't actually work on ArriveCAN, and the Prime Minister will need to present a report showing all the money was repaid.

The Motion passed with the Liberals being the only ones to vote against it.

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Extension of sitting hours and conduct of extended proceedings - Steven MacKinnon (Liberal, Quebec, Gatineau)

Steven's Motion makes a number of changes to how the House handles its schedule. There have been accusations that the Conservatives are trying to filibuster everything and prevent the government from getting any work done, so this Motion is his attempt to fix that. There's a fair bit here.

First, there's a change to extensions on debate for anything the government feels is an urgent matter. Normally extended hours in the House require a vote, but this Motion makes it so it only requires the one leader of an opposition party to support the extension. This only applies to urgent matters, and has to be done at least a day in advance. When this extension is applied the House will sit until midnight, and after the normal sitting hours the only topic that can be discussed is the urgent matter the extension was for.

Next there's a change to last-minute work on budget bills. On the last day for the government to pass a budget bill the Speaker will no longer need to seek approval to deal with motions or advance to a vote. That's skipped and the bill will just go to the vote.

A small change is next, allowing the government to call for the Third Reading of a government bill on the same day it comes back from committee.

There's a bit of a bigger change to the last few days before the summer or winter breaks (three days before summer, two before winter) as well. First up any Minister will be able to adjourn the House for the break without notice and without a vote. If the government's decided all important work is done they can just go on break. In addition to this any pending votes on anything other than a Private Members' Bill cannot be put off until after the break. If a vote is planned for those last few days it is required to happen before going on break, no delays. (The idea being that this prevents delaying major government bills from progressing for several months by putting off a vote until after the break)

Finally Steven has a change to address that massive voting marathon we saw not too long ago. On any day, after midnight, that the House hasn't completed a series of votes on a bill any Minister can call to suspend the House until 9am the next day. This would give MPs a chance to go home and get some sleep before returning to complete the voting.

This Motion passed with the Liberals, NDP and Greens voting in support of it. The debates around it got real messy real fast, but the general opinion of the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois is that this is another attempt from the Liberals to shut down debate, as well as evidence that they can't keep the House operating smoothly.

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Committee Reports

Committee on Government Operations and Estimates - ArriveCAN

The Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) has been looking into the spending on ArriveCAN. As part of this study they asked to speak to Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony, the owners of GC Strategies.

For those who don't know GC Strategies is a company that was given $20 million to work on ArriveCAN and didn't actually do anything for the app, using the money to pay subcontractors instead.

OGGO's report to the House lets them know that Kristian and Darren have refused to testify before the committee. They ask the House for permission to require the two of them to testify within 21 days, and to detain them if they refuse. In the case of a detention OGGO wants to keep them detained until they are satisfied that they no longer need to hear from them.

The House has granted this request with unanimous consent.

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Bill Updates

C-318 - An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and the Canada Labour Code (adoptive and intended parents)

C-318 came back from committee with some changes that the Speaker promptly struck down. The committee wanted to include children being placed with caretakers following Indigenous practices instead of traditional adoption in C-318. The chair of the committee said the committee couldn't do that, as it was outside of the scope of C-318 and would create additional government spending. (Turns out committees are outright not allowed to do this) The committee voted to keep these changes anyway, but the Speaker has sided with the chair and had them removed.

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C-354 - An Act to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act (Quebec's cultural distinctiveness and French-speaking communities)

C-354 went up for its Second Reading and passed with the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, and NDP voting in favour of it.

The Bloc Québécois are pushing for this bill as they feel the CRTC is no longer working to protect French-language media. They call out that there's no formal system to require the CRTC to work with Quebec on issues that affect them, and are concerned that the tradition of alternating between francophones and anglophones for the chair of the CRTC has now been broken.

The Liberals argue that CRTC hearings already require them to work with language minorities that could be affected by their decisions, as well as holding open consultations which Quebec could use to testify before them.

C-354 will now be sent to the Committee on Canadian Heritage.

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C-321 - An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders)

C-321 went up for its Third Reading and passed with everyone voting in favour of it. It will now be sent to the Senate.

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C-320 - An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (disclosure of information to victims)

C-320 also went up for its Third Reading and passed with everyone in favour of it. It will join C-321 in being sent to the Senate.

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C-35 - Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act

C-35 came back from the Senate with some minor changes to the wording. The House accepted these changes with unanimous consent, and it is now waiting for Royal Assent.

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New Bills

C-377 – An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (need to know)

C-377 is sponsored by Alex Ruff (Conservative, Ontario, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound) and makes it easier for MPs to access information that needs secret security clearance. This type of information usually has to deal with national security, foreign affairs, or public safety. Normally to gain access to that information an MP needs to prove that it's required to do their job. This means certain MPs, such as Ministers or their critics, have an easier time getting that information than others. C-377 changes it so any MP applying for clearance is automatically assumed to need that information. (This doesn't automatically give them access to the information, just removes the need to prove they need it)

C-377 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-378 - An Act amending the Canada Labour Code (complaints by former employees)

C-378 is sponsored by Dominique Vien (Conservative, Quebec, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis) and increases the amount of time federally-regulated employees can file complaints of workplace violence or harassment after leaving their jobs from three months to two years. Dominique doesn't think three months is long enough for employees who left their jobs because of harassment or violence to decide if they want to come forward about what happened, so she wants it increased.

C-378 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-223 – The National Framework for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income Act

C-223 is sponsored by Leah Gazan (NDP, Manitoba, Winnipeg Centre) and creates the framework for establishing a national basic income system.

The framework would be built by the Minister of Finance and involve consulting provincial ministers, experts on basic income programs, and any other relevant stakeholders. There's a few things the framework needs to include, such as a method for determining what a livable basic income is for the different regions of Canada. (For example, food and services are much more expensive in the territories than it is in Ontario) The framework also needs to make sure that the basic income doesn't result in a loss of services and supports for people living with disabilities. (For example, in Ontario you can lose disability support if you make too much money. The framework will need to make sure the basic income doesn't count towards this)

C-223 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-380 – An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (plastic manufactured items)

C-380 is sponsored by Corey Tochor (Conservative, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon—University) and removes manufactured plastic from the list of environmentally toxic substances. This means it will no longer be regulated under the Environment Protection Act.

C-380 is waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-381 – The Protection against Extortion Act

C-381 is sponsored by Tim Uppal (Conservative, Alberta, Edmonton Mill Woods) and increases the punishments for extortion. Right now the only case of extortion that has a minimum sentence is using a firearm while committing extortion on behalf of organized crime, which is a minimum 5 year sentence. C-381 makes it so any extortion as part of organized crime has a minimum sentence of 5 years, using a firearm that isn't prohibited or restricted for extortion outside of organized crime has a minimum sentence of 4 years, and any other cases of extortion have a minimum of 3 years. C-381 also makes it so arson as part of extortion is an aggravating factor, resulting in harsher sentencing.

C-381 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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Closing Fun

And that's all for the week! It'll be a shorter post next week as the House is on its two-week March break. See you all then!

Can't wait for LGBTQ information to be labeled "ponrographic". Sneaky, sneaky Milhouse. Sneaky sneaky.

Happy Wednesday!

So I've been doing these posts in other subreddits for a while now and thought I'd put one over here too.

Basically, getting tired of the obsession politics these days have with scandals and whatnot I thought I'd toss up some summaries on the actual work the federal government's been doing. Less focus on finger-pointing and accusations and more on the work our political parties are doing. I try to keep these non-partisan, only really digging in when legislation is just poorly written or someone says something that's outright wrong or needs more context. Enjoy!

Motions

Situation in Ukraine – Heather McPherson (NDP, Alberta, Edmonton Strathcona)

Heather asks for unanimous consent that the House:

- Condemn the continuation of Russia’s unjustified full-scale aggression against Ukraine

- Call on Russia to end hostilities against Ukraine and withdraw all its troops from the territory of Ukraine

- Call on the Government of Canada to continue to provide military and financial assistance to Ukraine, to conduct the security guarantee agreement with Ukraine in order to increase its capabilities to defend itself from Russian unprovoked aggression

- Support Ukraine’s future membership in NATO

- Call on the Government of Canada to strengthen sanctions against Russia, confiscate the assets of Russian oligarchs and Russian sovereign assets for Ukraine’s rebuilding

- Call on the Government of Canada to exert all possible efforts and provide necessary diplomatic and financial support to ensure the return of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia

- Call on the Government of Canada to support efforts to bring those responsible for violations of international law to justice

She was given unanimous consent, so it looks like everyone supports these.

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New Bills

C-379 – The Combating Motor Vehicle Theft Act - Randy Hoback (Conservative, Saskatchewan, Prince Albert)

C-379 increases the minimum sentence for a third (or greater) offence of car theft from six months to three years, as well as making sure anyone sentenced for car theft can't be given conditional sentences (such as house arrest)

C-379 is currently waiting for its Second Reading vote.

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C-374 – An Act to amend the Copyright Act (Crown copyright) - Brian Masse (NDP, Ontario, Windsor West)

C-374 makes it so the federal government can't hold copyright over anything produced by it or under its direction. Brian's argument for this is that a lot of government-funded research is never made public due to copyright protections, and by removing this that research will become public. C-374 will also remove any existing copyrights the government holds.

C-374 is outside the Order of Precedence.

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Bill Updates

S-202 – An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate)

S-202 went up for its Third Reading and passed with the Conservatives being the only party to vote against it. It is now waiting to receive Royal Assent.

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C-317 – The National Strategy on Flood and Drought Forecasting Act

C-317 went up for its Second Reading and passed with everyone voting in favour of it, and will now be sent to the Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

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C-273 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Corinne’s Quest and the protection of children)

C-273 went up for its Second Reading and passed with the Conservatives being the only ones to vote against it.

The NDP supported it as addressing one of the Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as addressing a number of studies from around the world that say physical punishment tends to have more negative effects on developing children than positive ones. They do have some concerns about it removing protections for things like forcibly removing a violent child from a classroom though, and want to see what comes up in committee.

The Conservatives think the topic is too complex to be resolved with the amount of time allowed to a Private Members' Bill. They also call out concerns about the government taking tools away from parents and opening things up to additional government control.

The Bloc Québécois said that they opposed the Bill due to current problems teachers face dealing with out of control children and that removing the ability to forcibly remove a child will cause more problems. They also say that the committee won't be able to amend C-273 as it's only one very straightforward line. I'm not sure why they decided to vote in support of it though, best I can see is they want the committee to bring up these issues.

C-273 will now be sent to the Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

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