What We’re Watching
- Lawrence MacAulay, the Minister of Agriculture said he will meet with federal Industry Minister François−Philippe Champagne and provincial ministers this week to discuss options if major grocers don’t sign the grocery code of conduct. On Thursday, Minister MacAulay and Quebec’s agriculture minister André Lamontagne urged all major grocers to adopt and adhere to the code.
- The Minister of Environment and Climate Change introduced Canada’s draft framework to cap pollution (not production) from the oil and gas sector. It proposes that conventional oil companies, oil sand producers and natural gas companies will collectively have to lower their emissions by 35 to 38 per cent compared to 2019 levels.
- The Standing Committee on Natural Resources referred Bill C-50, the Sustainable Jobs Act back to the House on Wednesday with some amendments.
In the House
- Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, is being considered at INDU committee.
- Bill C-49, the Act to amend the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act, is being considered at RNNR committee.
- Bill C-52, the Enhancing Transparency and Accountability in the Transportation System Act, awaits second reading.
- Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, is set for its first day of third reading debate today.
- Bill C-57, the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, is being considered at CIIT committee.
- Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code and the Canada Industrial Relations Board Regulations, 2012, is still at second reading.
- Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, awaits second reading.
Committee Updates
- HESA will meet today to discuss the opioid epidemic and toxic drug crisis.
- HUMA will meet today to discuss supplementary estimates, Ministers Boissonnault, Khera, Fraser and Sudds will appear.
- AGRI will meet today to discuss efforts to stabilize food prices.
- ETHI will meet on Wednesday to discuss social media and foreign entities.
- PROC will meet today to discuss the Speaker’s Public Participation at an Ontario Liberal Party Convention.
In the Senate
- Bill C-34, the National Security Review of Investments Modernization Act, awaits second reading.
- Bill C-241, the Act to amend the Income Tax Act (deduction of travel expenses for tradespersons) awaits third reading.
- Bill C-244, An Act to amend the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair), awaits second reading.
- Bill C-252, the Child Health Protection Act, awaits second reading.
- Bill C-294, the Act to amend the Copyright Act (interoperability), awaits second reading.
- Bill S-244, the Act to amend the Department of Employment and Social Development Act and the Employment Insurance Act, is being considered at SOCI committee.
- Bill S-254, the Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages), is being considered at SOCI committee.
Committee Updates
- OLLO will meet today to study matters relating to minority-language health services.
- RIDR will meet today to examine such issues as may arise from time to time relating to human rights generally.
- TRCM will meet tomorrow to study the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors.
- APPA will meet tomorrow to examine the constitutional, treaty, political and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
- AGFO will meet Thursday to examine and report on the status of soil health in Canada.
- ENEV will meet Thursday to study emerging issues related to the committee’s mandate.
- CIBA will meet on Thursday.
ICYMI
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, hosted a meeting in Ottawa with a delegation of counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and the Palestinian Authority to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and the path forward.
- On COP28’s Nature, Land Use, and Oceans Day, Minister Wilkinson announced that Canada has rejoined the International Tropical Timber Organization.
- Minister Guilbeault delivered Canada’s national statement at COP28.
- The Minister of Veterans Affairs, the Minister of National Defence and the Minister of Public Safety released a statement to mark the 35th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize for the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.
- MPs finally left the House of Commons late Friday night after voting for more than 24 hours straight, fulfilling a Conservative promise to stall the Liberal government’s legislation unless it agreed to scrap parts of its carbon tax.
- Cindy Woodhouse was elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in Ottawa on Thursday, securing victory as runner-up David Pratt conceded.
- The Minister of Immigration announced Thursday that as of January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised so that international students are financially prepared for life in Canada. For 2024, a single applicant will need to show they have $20,635, representing 75% of LICO, in addition to their first year of tuition and travel costs.
- R.J. Simpson, the member for Hay River North, was chosen as the next Premier of the Northwest Territories.
Provincial Updates
#ONPoli
- Ontario Liberal Leader (and Mayor of Mississauga), Bonnie Crombie, urged Premier Doug Ford to provide clarity regarding the province’s plan to dissolve Peel Region amid multiple media reports that the province is reconsidering its decision.
- The Ontario government is set to announce this week that it is fulfilling its five-year-old promise to allow the sale of beer in corner stores.
- Ontario’s acting Auditor General released his 2023 annual report at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, which found that at least 99 hospital patients have been placed into long-term care homes without their consent.
- The Auditor General report also found that the decision to move the Ontario Science Centre was based on “preliminary and incomplete costing information.”
#ABPoli
- Federal Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says Premier Danielle Smith’s claim that Canada can achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, while simultaneously increasing oil and gas production, is “incoherent.”
- Alberta’s Minister of Health, Adriana Lagrange, is facing pushback after attending a meeting focused on naturopathic medicine’s role in the province’s primary care.
#BCPoli
- British Columbia’s Conservative Party appears to be gaining momentum with voters as the fall election approaches. Some recent polls suggest the Conservatives, who received less than two per cent of the vote in the 2020 election and did not win a seat, would finish second if an election were held now.
- The federal government will be investing nearly $62 million over four years to support the implementation of the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence in British Columbia.
- The federal government has partnered with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to invest over $400,000 to help 9 communities in B.C. implement innovative strategies to manage their municipal infrastructure.
#ATLPoli
- Conservative MP for South Shore-St. Margarets, Rick Perkins spoke at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans parliamentary committee studying illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing last Thursday about “alarming” accounts of failed Canadian government efforts to thwart the illegal fishery for baby eels, or elvers, earlier this year.
- Minister Hutchings announced a $2.9 million investment to Atlantic Canada’s virtual accelerator, Propel, which helps entrepreneurs in the region build capacity to take their startups to the next level.
