Report on parliamentary work in Ottawa | A restless spring on the hill

(Ottawa) Federal MPs leave the Hill and return to their lands for three months at the end of a turbulent spring, scarred by the issue of foreign interference. Time may pass more slowly for some ministers who will wonder if they will keep their car and driver, while rumors of a reshuffle are circulating. Five-point review.

Chinese interference

Months of secret CSIS documents leaked to the media, dozens of hours of House of Commons committee meetings, a weakened Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, federal MPs perhaps spied on by the Chinese regime, a diplomat from the Chinese consulate in Toronto declared persona non grata, a promise to create a register of foreign agents, repeated demands for a public inquiry into the interference, a former governor general who had become a special rapporteur forced to resign – and his report immediately condemned to accumulate dust –, ministers held in ignorance, contradicted ministers, a destabilized Liberal minority government, all that, in 100, 125 words maximum? No one is obliged to do the impossible, says a (not) Chinese proverb.

Calends greek

It is to this date that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland referred the moment of returning to a balanced budget in the fiscal year she tabled in April. She had set it at 2027-2028 in the fall statement of 2022, but since then everything has been written in red ink. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre makes his bread and butter of Liberal “inflationary deficits”, accusing the government of being out of touch with the people, and criticizing it for condemning adults in their thirties to stay in their parents’ basements. To these criticisms, the moneymaker holds up as proof of sound financial management the AAA rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s and the fact that Canada has the lowest deficit of the G7 countries.

Roxham closed

It was talked about so much that a way out had almost become illusory. For years, the Liberals have been lambasted for their handling of the arrival of asylum seekers at certain irregular crossings like Roxham Road using a breach of the Safe Third Country Agreement. Until the President of the United States, Joe Biden, visited Canada for the first time last March. It was on this occasion, and to everyone’s surprise, that Ottawa and Washington announced that the bilateral pact would henceforth apply to the entire land border of some 8,900 km. In return, Canada agreed to resettle 15,000 refugees from the Western Hemisphere in one year. Three months later, we are still waiting for the details of the reception program.

Appetite for batteries

The United States and their Inflation Reduction Act force Canada to place its pawns to ensure the sustainability of its automotive industry and develop the battery sector. And it is the tireless Minister François-Philippe Champagne who is the player delegated by Justin Trudeau. There were announcements at the General Motors battery materials plant in Bécancour, Quebec (147 million), but above all, that of the future Volkswagen battery giga-factory in Ontario (13 billion according to the government, 16.3 billion according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer). “A historic investment,” welcomed Minister François-Philippe Champagne about the agreement, which Pierre Poilievre did not say clearly if he endorsed it.

Legislative report

After a difficult start last winter and a spring monopolized by Chinese interference, the government managed to pass bills that it was keen on. Some, including C-11 (modernization of Broadcasting Act), C-13 (overhaul of the Official Languages ​​Act), and C-18 (web giants), had been on the soap opera for more than a year; their journey has been difficult. Among the disappointments is Bill C-21 on gun control. The Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, shot himself in the foot by filing a list of weapons to be banned, which he had to withdraw. The House approved C-21, but Conservatives in the Senate refused to ensure its speedy passage.