Sitting 11 — June 9, 2025

A Conservative opposition day motion on food inflation and budgetary policy opened the sitting, with the official opposition demanding the government table a spring budget, citing an $800 increase in annual food costs for the average Canadian family and rising food bank usage across the country. Conservative finance critic Jasraj Hallan noted specific price increases of 34% for beef, 19% for apples, and 14% for rice since January 2025. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirmed a budget would be delivered in the fall of 2025 and pointed to the government's recently tabled affordability legislation as immediate action. Liberal members countered by listing social programs the Conservatives had voted against, including the Canada child benefit, dental care, and the national school food program.

Question Period saw a major defence policy announcement as the Prime Minister unveiled a $9.3 billion investment in the Canadian Armed Forces, achieving NATO's 2% of GDP spending target in the current fiscal year. Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight characterized it as the largest defence investment since the Second World War. While the Bloc Québécois expressed support for rearming, members questioned how the new spending would be financed without a budget and demanded Quebec's aerospace and shipbuilding industries benefit proportionally from procurement. Housing exchanges grew contentious, with the new Housing Minister facing questions about his record as Vancouver mayor and facing accusations of conflicts of interest related to his real estate portfolio.

Bill C-5's environmental implications drew significant attention, with the Green Party's Elizabeth May warning that no environmental law association in Canada supported the legislation in its current form and that the Assembly of First Nations had raised alarms. Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland emphasized that internal trade barriers effectively imposed a 7% tariff on the Canadian economy. The day's committee of the whole on main estimates extended over 600 speeches, with the Environment Minister facing detailed questions on pipeline approvals, environmental assessment streamlining, and indigenous consultation requirements under the proposed one Canadian economy framework.