Through sometimes heated debates, scandals and alliances, federal parliamentarians have advanced their agenda by adopting this session policies that are capable of changing the daily lives of Canadians. Overview.
1. There will be a register of foreign agents
Just three days after the Hogue Commission concluded that foreign interference activities had indeed taken place during the last two federal elections, the government tabled its much-anticipated Bill C-70, the Countermeasures Act. foreign interference.
The legislation notably provides for the creation of a register aimed at strengthening the transparency of the activities of foreign actors, a register which already exists in countries such as the United States and Australia. Any person who, on behalf of a foreign state, attempts to promote external political interests or influence federal decision-makers must enter their name in the register within 14 days.
The government will also give the Canadian Security Intelligence Service more latitude in disclosing sensitive information. As the Conservatives wanted rapid adoption of the bill, the text moved quickly through the Commons.
2. Free medicines, but after a standoff
The new negotiations between Quebec and Ottawa on drug insurance promise to be difficult, but they will not be held before the Senate finishes its examination of the new flagship social program for 2024.
Justin Trudeau’s minority government had promised its partner, the New Democratic Party, to start thinking about universal drug insurance in Canada in exchange for its support. Promise kept, since he wants to pay for contraceptives and diabetes medications from coast to coast. Only problem: Quebec has a hybrid plan (public-private) which already covers some of these medications. According to the law, an agreement with the federal government is required for the provinces to improve their own system.
In June, Ottawa celebrated the “success” represented by its other recent social program, that on dental care. Two million seniors have already registered, including 700,000 in Quebec, a province where 60% of dentists accept checks from Ottawa.
3. Make the richest 40,000 pay
After more than eight years in power, the Trudeau government presented in 2024 a budget designed to appeal to young voters, millennials and members of generation Z. To reduce a deficit worsened by new social programs, we want to make the rich.
The Trudeau government is thus increasing the capital gains tax inclusion rate as of June 25. Only a handful of taxpayers are affected — 40,000, according to the Ministry of Finance — or those who make more than $250,000 in gains thanks to assets that have increased in value, such as shares or second properties.
4. Citizenship for “lost Canadians”
If passed, the bill to amend the Citizenship Act, tabled in Parliament in May, would allow children born abroad to a Canadian parent also born abroad to automatically obtain Canadian citizenship.
This is a long-standing demand of many rights groups, born when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government changed the law in 2009 to prevent Canadian parents born abroad from transmitting their citizenship, unless their child was born in Canada.
The bill has made very little progress since it was introduced in the House.
This is not the only policy put forward by the Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, in the winter. Ottawa also announced a new off-campus work limit of 24 hours per week for international students applicable starting in September and imposed a two-year cap on the number of international students accepted into Canada.
5. The last scab
Starting next year, federally regulated companies will no longer be able to call on scabs in the event of a labor dispute — a ban that has already been in force in Quebec for more than 45 years.
The New Democratic Party boasts of having “forced” the Liberals to pass a bill against “replacement workers” in exchange for its support in Parliament. In a twist, the Conservative Party also voted for the text, while Pierre Poilievre openly courted the vote of unionized workers.
Mr. Poilievre, for example, spoke at a construction union conference in Gatineau in the spring. However, he did not go so far as to curse the “ scabs », as did his opponent Jagmeet Singh, which earned him more applause.
The new law will apply in particular to the transport, financial institutions and telecommunications sectors, but will not come into force before 2025.