Happy December everyone! We’ve got a few Bill updates today and a pair of Motions, one of which addresses a recent statement from the Canadian Human Rights Commission on Christmas!
Motions
Opposition Motion – Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)
Our first Motion of the week comes from Pierre and calls on the House to:
Call on the unelected Senate to immediately pass Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, to remove the carbon tax on the farmers that feed Canadians, as passed by the democratically elected House.
Not much to say here aside from pointing out that he’s using charged language again. “Unelected Senate”, “democratically elected House”, these are terms that the Motion doesn’t need but cast a negative image on the Senate and its handling of C-234.
The Motion failed with 135 voting in favour and 178 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 145 | 5 |
| Conservative | 112 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 30 | 2 |
| NDP | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Christmas
Our next Motion is from Alain Therrien (Bloc Québécois, Quebec, La Prairie) and calls on the House to:
- Recall that Christmas is a tradition celebrated in Quebec and Canada
- Denounce the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s statement that “Statutory holidays related to Christianity, including Christmas and Easter”, represent an “obvious example” of “systemic religious discrimination”, and that this “discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism”
- Denounce all attempts to polarize events that have been part of Quebec and Canadian heritage for generations.
- Invite all Quebecers and Canadians to unite as we approach the Christmas season.
Basically they’re saying that, thought Christmas has Christian roots, it’s become a part of Canadian heritage and doesn’t represent any given religion anymore.
This Motion was passed with Unanimous Consent, so it looks like the rest of the House agrees.
Bill Updates
C-275 – An Act to amend the Health of Animals Act (biosecurity on farms)
The Committe on Agriculture and Agri-Food made some changes to C-275. The first of which is making it so it’s only a crime if you could reasonably expect the animals to be exposed to diseases or toxic substances. (This replaces the part about not taking precautions to prevent exposure). The punishment for individuals has also been greatly reduced, with the maximum fine dropping from $250k down to $100k, and the maximum jail time being reduced to 1 year.
C-275 then went up for its Third Reading vote, passing with 278 voting in favour and 36 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 133 | 13 | 5 |
| Conservative | 112 | 0 | 3 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 30 | 0 | 2 |
| NDP | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| Green | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 0 | 2 | 0 |
The NDP took away their support for C-275 because during the committee interviews it was revealed that this Bill was more about trespassing and less about protecting animals. (Specifically that it uses the term “Without lawful authority or excuse”) They want it to apply to anyone who fails to protect animals from disease, including the companies that own the animals.
C-275 will now be sent to the Senate.
C-48 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (bail reform)
A small change was made to C-48 as it passed through the Senate. Now, in addition to the statement that the judge considered the safety of Canadians when deciding if someone is given the reverse onus on applying for bail, the judge needs to include an explanation of how they decided that person ended up requiring the reverse onus.
C-48 was then given Royal Assent.
C-29 – National Council for Reconciliation Act
C-29 has seen a number of amendments, but they’re all just cases of further clarifying what the Council’s job is and making sure it represents all the groups with an interest in reconciliation. It passed through the House with everyone voting in favour of it, and has now returned from the Senate with even more amendments. (Again, ironing out exactly what the Council does and who needs to be part of it. Nothing here seems like a surprise or an attempt to exclude anyone, it’s just making sure everyone that needs to be involved is specifically called out as needing to be there.)
C-29 is now waiting to receive Royal Assent.