After a long, cold winter, the snow in the nation’s capital is beginning to thaw, which means the push for the end of Congress’ spring session is upon us. return to their respective chambers for the first of five consecutive two-week conferences.
The top priority of liberal minority governments is to pass legislation. With 25 government bills in the House of Representatives and 6 government bills currently in the Senate, you must choose which bills take precedence.
CTVNews.ca looks at five bills to watch, either because they’re likely to be priorities or because of the controversy surrounding them.
Bill C-11, Online Streaming Act
Current stage: Senateconsideration of messages from the House of Commons
Of all the bills before Congress, Bill C-11 is the closest to passage, but it has taken a very long time to reach this stage.
All that’s left before this controversial pledge to force the web giant to comply with Canadian content requirements and regulations to rival traditional broadcasters reaches its goal is to: It’s up to the Senate to decide whether Canada’s Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez’s take-sum is up to the task and leaves some of the approaches to the series of amendments made in the Senate.
Stakeholders both for and against the bill are eagerly awaiting whether the Senate will push back on Bill C-11 or pass it as-is, as it is expected to be a priority bill on the Senate agenda next week. to
If you want to know more about this law, read this comprehensive explanation.
Bill C-21, a law amending a series of laws, re: Firearms
Current stage: Housebeing reviewed by the Commission on Public Safety and National Security
After this law, which was intended to strengthen gun laws to limit legal access to handguns, including a “red flag” clause, it sought to include a definition of “assault-type” weapons into the law. faced widespread resistance to the fix package, which was later withdrawn. Although it would have banned a long list of gun models, Bill C-21 took a bit of a legislative back seat.
Recently, the Commission has shifted its focus from examining the bill itself to hearing views from stakeholders on the impact of the bill. Amendments now withdrawn.
But the bill may be receiving renewed attention from the Liberal Party, bolstered by a series of calls contained in the recently released final report of the Nova Scotia Mass Casualties Commission.
Commissioner wants Ottawa to move forward with measures including: Revocation of firearms license For those convicted of intimate partner or family violence, gender-based. And they want the federal government to ban all semi-automatic pistols and all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
Bill C-22, Canada Disability Benefits Act
Current stage: Senateunder consideration by the Social Science and Technology Committee
Perhaps the bill was moving under the radar of most Hillwatchers, but for a bill with all-party support, it took two attempts to get here. Bill C- 22 proposes to create a federal income supplement for low-income working-age people with disabilities modeled after the guaranteed income supplement.
It is the second time this benefit has been caught in the legislative cycle after the first iteration died in the House of Representatives when the 2021 elections were called. or interim pressure to provide equivalent financial support until this benefit is realized.
It was the first bill to be debated at the start of Congress in the fall and has since been introduced to the Senate.
Since initiating the inquiry, the Senate committee has met twice a week and is expected to continue on that pace when it resumes next week.
Bill C-46, Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 3
Current stage: Housethe second read
It’s a bill you’ve likely missed in the post-budget political news storm, but one that’s likely to come to the forefront in the coming days.
Billed as liberals’ third “cost of living relief” bill, following the GST reimbursement and NDP-backed housing benefit initiatives that were unanimously endorsed last fall, the bill promises liberals to pass in the short term. It pulls out two specific elements of the 2023 federal budget we want.
Bill C-46 amends the Federal State Finance Agreements Act to allow states and territories to receive one-time cash injections into their healthcare systems. As part of the overall financing deal, this federal proposal would see the state “unconditionally” add her $2 billion immediately to Canada’s health care system (CHT). This funding is to meet the urgent pressure being experienced in children’s hospitals, emergency rooms and surgical centers.
We are also considering a temporary $2.5 billion “grocery rebate” for 11 million low- and middle-income Canadians. While not required to be spent at the grocery store, rebates are offered through his GST tax credit system, allowing eligible couples with two children to receive payments of up to $467. $225 for seniors and $234 for singles.
The government chose to cancel these two policy changes in hopes of swift passage of Bill C-46 with all-party support. The NDP is already on board and the Conservative Party has previously said it supported the healthcare financing deal and joined other parties in passing the GST rebate last time, so vote ‘yes’ this time. We will see if it becomes
Bill C-TBD, Next Budget Implementation Bill
Current stage: TBD
The bill has not yet been introduced or even notified, but as soon as it is passed it will become the first, if not the first, bill for liberals.
This would go beyond the two actions drawn out in Bill C-46 to enact a series of spending commitments in the 2023 Federal Budget that would require related legislative adjustments. because there is a need.
Although not yet presented, parsing the budget’s “Proposed Legislative Actions” annex reveals largely non-financial measures that the Liberals will be stuffed into the next Budget Implementation Bill, or BIA.
From pushing the e-citizenship program and changing natural health products to amending the law on royal titles and imposing new privacy requirements on political parties, here’s a rundown of some of the odds and ends of the 2023 budget. .
