Happy Wednesday everyone!
As expected coming back from a break there’s a lot that happened last week. We’ve got a few reports from committees that were held up over the carbon tax, and some progress on some other Bills!
Motions
Carbon Tax – Pierre Poilievre (Conservative Leader, Ontario, Carleton)
Pierre has another Carbon Tax motion:
That, given that the carbon tax has proven to be a tax plan, not an environmental plan, the House call on the Liberal government to cancel the April 1, 2024, carbon tax increase.
Not a lot to say here. Don’t see how declaring it to be a tax instead of an environmental plan is a reason to cancel any increases. You aren’t allowed to propose the same Motion more than once, so the fact that he’s dropped the usual mentions of increased cost of living and whatnot I think he’s run out of ways to call for the carbon tax to be cancelled.
The Motion failed with 119 voting in favour and 209 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 1 | 150 | 1 |
| Conservative | 116 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| NDP | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Of note here is that Ken McDonald (Liberal, Newfoundland and Labrador, Avalon) voted against the rest of his party on this one.
Committee Reports
Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food – Processing Capacity
First report we’ve got is on increasing Canada’s food processing ability. The committee recommends:
- Investing in trade infrastructure, like transportation systems, to improve market access and supply chains
- Updating regulations to encourage development of local processing businesses
- Working with provinces to find funding opportunities to improve regional processing capacity and Canada’s supply chains
- Increasing funding to the Local Food Infrastructure Fund
- Considering food insecurity a priority, especially in terms of northern and Indigenous supply issues
- Reviewing regulations to make it easier to bring new solutions to the market without compromising food safety
- Working to coordinate provincial and federal regulations to make it easier for provinces to engage in international trade
- Implementing internal control measures with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure equal treatment and a reasonable internal appeal process to avoid relying on tribunals
- Reviewing slaughtering regulations involving mad cow disease to keep Canadian beef competitive
- Encouraging private-sector innovation hubs, connecting start-ups with established companies and university research centers
- Attracting more foreign investment to the agri-food sector
- Increasing access to Temporary Foreign Workers and raising the cap on low-wage positions under the program for food processing industries (This is currently set to 10%)
- Increasing access to the Agri-Food Pilot program to address labour shortages (This program makes it easier for certain TFWs to apply for permanent residency)
- Supporting innovative approaches to skills developments and encouraging retraining programs to help prevent future labour shortages
- Supporting, through programs or financial incentives, development of automation in the food industry and expanding internet access to areas where food producers are located
- Supporting the provinces in creating a grocery code of conduct
- Encouraging banks to provide funds to help new businesses enter the agri-food market
- Reviewing equivalency standards with food imports, especially when looking at different levels of subsidies or carbon footprints (So if the US is giving more subsidies to cheese production we’d want to make sure Canadian cheese can compete when US cheese is imported)
So a bit of a longer report there, but now we get on to the more important part:
Amendment – Pat Kelly (Conservative, Alberta, Calgary Rocky Ridge)
Instead of agreeing to acknowledge the report’s findings, Pat wants to send the report back. He wants the committee to add to the fifth recommendation a call to end the carbon tax. His reasoning here is that a group representing 130 First Nations in Ontario has filed a lawsuit over the tax and the Premier of the Northwest Territories has asked for an exemption from it, so removing it should be included in that recommendation.
Pat’s amendment was rejected with 116 in favour and 213 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 153 | 1 |
| Conservative | 115 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| NDP | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 2 | 0 |
The report itself was then accepted with everyone voting in favour.
Committee on Finance – Merger of RBC and HSBC
Easy one here, the Committee on Finance recommends against the government allowing the merger of RBC and HSBC. They mention lack of competition and a likely increase in banking fees as reasons to block it.
Amendment – Ryan Williams (Conservative, Ontario, Bay of Quinte)
Ryan wants to send the report back to be reconsidered because the Minister of Finance has decided to ignore the report and allow the merger to go ahead. He’d rather give the House time to declare if they accept the merger before it goes through.
This amendment failed, with 144 voting in favour and 184 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 152 | 1 |
| Conservative | 115 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
The report itself was then accepted with 175 voting in favour and 153 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 152 | 1 |
| Conservative | 115 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Committee on Public Accounts – Protecting Canada’s Food System
The Committee on Public Accounts has come back with a report on protecting our food system. For anyone wondering this committee is the one that reviews reports by the Auditor General, and also review reports from other government groups.
Their report here came back with seven recommendations:
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) should report back on the progress of developing a national emergency preparedness plan for a crisis that affects Canada’s food system
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and AAFC should report back on their progress on making sure future food support programs are measuring sustainability and diversity commitments
- AAFC should report back on how its food support programs will be delivered fairly and transparently
- DFO, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, and Pacific Economic Development Canada should report back on their progress to standardize data collection on programs they run
- AAFC should report back on the progress of updating their performance measurements on how effective their food support programs are
- Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) should report back how they’re collecting pre-subsidy prices for food under the Nutrition North Canada subsidy program to determine if the program is effective
- CIRNAC should make sure any changes to funding the Nutrition North Canada subsidy program includes consulting Indigenous groups
Pretty dry, just a lot of requests for other reports. But we’re mentioning it because…
Amendment – Lianne Rood (Conservative, Ontario, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex)
Yep, another amendment. Lianne wants to send the report back to have the committee recommend that the agriculture sector be exempt from the carbon tax.
The amendment failed with 116 voting in favour and 213 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 153 | 1 |
| Conservative | 115 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| NDP | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 2 | 0 |
The report itself was then accepted with everyone voting in favour.
Bill Updates
C-355 – Prohibition of the Export of Horses by Air for Slaughter Act
C-355 went up for its Second Reading and passed with 181 voting in favour and 137 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 151 | 0 | 1 |
| Conservative | 0 | 107 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 3 | 0 | 0 |
The Conservatives have a few issues with C-355. First, they argue it’ll create extra red tape that’ll discourage a number of industries from transporting their horses to and from Canada. They call out events like the Olympics, as well as international races at Woodbine racetrack. Requiring approval from the Minister of Agriculture would bog things down. They also argue that the horses being shipped out for slaughter are being raised for that purpose, and that these aren’t injured race horses being slaughtered.
The Bloc would rather just change existing legislation instead of introducing new legislation, and don’t like passing legislation to protect a single type of animal when we’re shipping all sorts of animals by air. They’d prefer passing more sweeping animal welfare legislation.
The NDP want to see what’s found about C-355 during committee review. They also mention that this was originally a Liberal campaign promise back in 2021, and call out the fact that if we’re transporting live horses for slaughter in other countries we’re losing out on the economic benefits of doing the actual raising and slaughtering here then shipping out the meat instead. They point out that during COVID it became obvious that we lack processing facilities, and want to encourage more of those facilities here instead of leaving them in other countries.
C-355 will now be sent to committee for review.
C-321 – An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders)
C-321 came back from committee review with a small change, any reference to “healthcare professional” (including in the title) was changed to “person who provides health services”.
The House accepted this change with everyone voting in favour of the committee’s changes. C-321 will now go to its third reading.
S-202 – An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate)
S-202 came back from committee review with some minor changes and was accepted with 210 voting in favour and 113 voting against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 152 | 0 | 1 |
| Conservative | 1 | 112 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| NDP | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Very little has changed from the Second Reading vote here, though Leslyn Lewis (Conservative, Ontario, Haldimand—Norfolk) broke rank with the rest of the Conservatives and is now supporting S-202.
S-202 is now waiting for its Third Reading vote.