Motions
Our first Motion of the week is an Opposition Motion from Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton).
Given that:
- Liberal budget 2023 adds more than $60 billion in new spending – that is $4,200 per family
- Inflation in Canada increased following the introduction of $60 billion in new Liberal spending
- following the increase in Canada’s inflation, interest rates were increased to 4.75%
- the IMF warns that Canada is the country most at risk of a massive mortgage default
- average mortgage payments are up 122% since the Liberal Prime Minister took office
- Canadian households have the most debt as a share of GDP of any country in the G7
- the solution is to eliminate the deficits, balance the budgets in order to bring down inflation and interest rates,
The House call on the government to table a plan to return to balanced budgets.
Once again there are some notes and disclaimers about this Motion. First up, Pierre mentions the $60b in new spending but ignores the $21b in new revenue. Still a lot of new spending but not as high as he says. It’s also worth noting that higher mortgages and/or debt are likely just a result of the housing crisis and balancing the budget won’t really do anything to affect the cost of housing.
The Motion failed with 145 in favour and 177 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 151 | 1 |
| Conservative | 113 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| Green Party | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Bill Updates
C-35 – Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act
C-35 went up for its Third Reading vote and passed with everyone voting in favour! It will now go to the Senate.
S-246 – Lebanese Heritage Month Act
S-246 was given Royal Assent!
C-22 – Canada Disability Benefit Act
The Senate sent back their response to the House changes to C-22. They’re fine with the changes to allow regulations to control the appeal process, and aren’t going to fight the House on blocking insurance companies from claiming some of the payments.
C-275 – An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act
C-275 went up for its second reading and was passed with almost everyone voting in favour. The only people that voted against it were the two independent MPs and Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Liberal, Ontario, Beaches—East York).
C-321 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders)
C-321 went up for its Second Reading vote and passed with everyone voting in favour!
C-282 – An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management)
C-282 went up for its Third Reading vote and passed with 262 in favour and 51 against. The split against it in the Conservative party seems to have gotten worse, as nearly half of the party voted against it this time.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 148 | 2 | 2 |
| Conservative | 56 | 49 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green Party | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Closing Fun
And that’s all for the week! The House is now adjourned until September, so I won’t be doing any more weekly recaps until then. Instead I’ll be doing extra Bill summaries and covering anything about House procedures that people might find interesting.
We are seeing the planet get warmer. The Conservative Party of Canada is going to throw its hands up in the air and say, “We’ve tried nothing, but we’re all out of ideas.”
Source
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