| Historical Information |
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| This post is about a previous Session of Parliament. Any legislation here that did not receive Royal Assent has been terminated. |
Happy Wednesday!
We’ve got another No Confidence Motion from Pierre last week, as well as a few updates to some Bills, including an interesting split in support for Universal Basic Income!
Motions
Civic-Mindedness and Respect in the House of Commons – Claude DeBellefeuille (Bloc, Quebec, Salaberry—Suroît)
First up we have a Motion that the House:
- Reiterate that elected officials are invested with the trust of the people and have a responsibility to the office they hold
- Reaffirm that violence and threats have no place in Parliament
- Urge all its members to behave with civic-mindedness and respect towards their colleagues, in order to allow a truly constructive debate, in the interests of democracy and the common good
This Motion was accepted with unanimous consent, so all the parties agreed to it without issue.
Author’s Note: Of course I’m only pointing this one out as I’m sure everyone’s heard it didn’t last long. Bardish Chagger (Liberal, Ontario, Waterloo) was cautioned against using the word “lie” regarding the Conservatives not long after, and Warren Steinley (Conservative, Saskatchewan, Regina—Lewvan) was called out for accusing Jagmeet of selling out the country almost immediately after that. There was a lot of interruptions and back-and-forth between the Liberals and Conservatives here. Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes (NDP, Ontario, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing) had her hands full trying to keep things under control. For anyone that wants to see what happened, you can start here and just read through the next bit of debate.
Confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government – Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)
Pierre has another No Confidence Motion, he’s gone a lot simpler with this one though. All it says is:
That the House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the government.
The Motion failed with the Conservatives being the only ones voting in support of it.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 151 | 0 |
| Conservative | 118 | 0 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| NDP | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 2 | 0 |
M-110 – National strategy to reduce food waste and combat food insecurity – Ali Ehsassi (Liberal, Ontario, Willowdale)
Ali wants the House to recognize that:
- Over 20% of food produced in Canada is wasted, costing the economy tens of billions of dollars
- Individuals, families, and communities across Canada face critical levels of food insecurity
- Surplus food unfit for human consumption could serve as animal feed
- In 2015 the UN set Sustainable Development Goals that included a commitment to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030
- National strategies have been developed in other countries to reduce food waste by incentivizing donations and preventing the destruction of unsold yet safe food
He asks that the House agree to:
- Establish a National Food Waste Hierarchy
- Align municipal and provincial regulations around food waste reduction and food donations
- Lead efforts to reduce the environmental impact of unused food resources
- Identify policy and fiscal incentives to reduce food waste
- Raise public awareness around food waste and insecurity
The Motion passed with the Liberals, NDP, and Greens voting in support of it.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 149 | 0 | 0 |
| Conservative | 0 | 117 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| NDP | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Committee Reports
How government and industry can fight back against food price volatility
The Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food (AGRI) has been studying food price volatility and ways to address it and have come back with a list of recommendations.
- Reduce the administrative burden associated with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and make the Recognized Employer Pilot program permanent.
- Increase staffing and regularity of inspections at the border to ensure compliance. Require that imported products meet the same quality standards, including environmental, labour, and growing standards, as domestic products.
- Support the passing of C-234 – An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.
- Review front-of-package labelling regulations to better balance public health objectives with industry concerns over the cost of compliance.
- Work with industry to make sure there are affordable alternatives to PLU stickers and primarily plastic food packaging before implementing pollution prevention measures.
- Review the Nutrition North Program to make sure it’s meeting its goals of providing affordable food to northern residents and that subsidies are being used by retailers appropriately. Re-evaluate the objectives of the Food Policy for Canada with a focus on food affordability.
- Establish a process to engage with provinces to enact legislation applying the Grocery Code of Conduct.
- Implement policies to tackle excessive net profits in the food supply chain.
- Reinforce competition by making the following changes:
- Require parties involved in a merger to prove why a merger won’t result in less competition
- Require that the Competition Tribunal preserves pre-merger states of competition and prevent mergers to increase market power and harm the economy
- Examine the rules around Competition Tribunal decisions to make sure they align with the Competition Bureau’s merger recommendations
- Allow the Competition Tribunal to dissolve or block a merger if it would result in excessive market share
- Continue to advocate for competition in the grocery sector, specifically by identifying and removing barriers to entry for new companies.
This report was accepted with all parties voting in favour of it.
Bill Updates
C-223 – The National Framework for a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income Act
C-223 went up for its Second Reading vote and failed, with the Conservatives, Bloc, and about 80% of the Liberals voting against it.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 28 | 120 | 0 |
| Conservative | 0 | 118 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| NDP | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 0 | 3 | 0 |
The Liberals don’t believe Canada is ready for such a broad program, and point out the more targeted programs they’ve been implementing to help with poverty. A lot of Liberal MPs seem to disagree with this, enough that I can’t single them out like I normally would but you can find them in the vote record.
The Conservatives are against it as they’d rather see more work to encourage business investment. They talk about how Canadian productivity has declined, making us less competitive in the global market, and that focusing on growing the economy will do more to help bring people out of poverty.
The Bloc Québécois are against it because it would be replacing social service programs, which are provincial jurisdiction and as such not something the feds are allowed to do.
Because it failed its Second Reading vote C-223 will not be proceeding.
C-378 – An Act amending the Canada Labour Code (complaints by former employees)
C-378 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with everyone voting in support. It will now be reviewed by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).
C-319 – An Act to amend the Old Age Security Act (amount of full pension)
C-319 came back unchanged from its committee review, but as far as I can see still hasn’t received its Royal Recommendation. It will be going up for its Third Reading vote soon, so if you want to see it pass contact your MP as well as Jenna Sudds (Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development), Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official Languages), and of course Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister). (I’ve listed two Ministers here as the Old Age Security Act mentions the Minister of a department that doesn’t exist anymore. The duties were split between these two, and I’m not sure exactly who would be responsible for this one, so here’s both for good measure)
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