The sitting was dominated by debate and votes on Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, which the Liberal government framed as a mandate to unify Canada’s internal market and fast-track major projects in response to U.S. tariffs. The central political argument pitted the government and Conservatives, who supported the bill after securing amendments, against the Bloc Québécois, NDP, and Greens, who condemned the use of time allocation and what they called an unprecedented executive power grab.
Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, was the sole Government Orders item. It has two parts: part 1 would create the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, removing federal barriers to interprovincial trade and labour mobility; part 2 would create the Building Canada Act, allowing cabinet to designate projects of “national interest” and accelerate their federal approvals, including by order-in-council exemptions from other federal laws. The Liberals argued the bill fulfilled their election promise to build one Canadian economy and was an urgent response to the tariff war with the United States. The Conservatives supported the bill after amendments they moved were adopted at committee and report stage, including requirements for a public project registry, mandatory national security reviews for foreign state-owned proponents, and removal of the Indian Act and Official Languages Act from the list of laws that could be overridden. The Bloc Québécois opposed part 2, arguing it gave the executive power to bypass Parliament, override environmental and labour laws, and impose projects on Quebec without its consent. The NDP opposed part 2 on similar grounds, stressing violations of indigenous constitutional rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Green Party opposed both parts, citing risks to health and environmental standards from the mutual-recognition provisions in part 1 and the lack of binding criteria in part 2. The Speaker ruled that the bill could be divided for voting, so the House held separate votes on part 1 and part 2. Part 1 passed with Liberal, Conservative, Bloc, NDP, and Green support; part 2 passed with Liberal and Conservative support, opposed by the Bloc, NDP, and Greens. The government also moved and obtained unanimous consent for two late amendments: one correcting a date reference in clause 4, and another requiring the minister to obtain a province’s written consent for projects falling within exclusive provincial jurisdiction.
Oral Questions ran for over an hour, dominated by two themes. The first was the government’s tax cut: Conservatives repeatedly cited the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s estimate that the average taxpayer would save only $90 this year, not the $800 the Liberals had promised during the election, and asked whether the Prime Minister had misled Canadians. The government replied that 22 million taxpayers would see their rate drop from 15% to 14% on July 1, saving families up to $840, and accused Conservatives of voting against affordability measures. The second theme was Bill C-5 itself: the Bloc and NDP criticized the use of closure and the bill’s scope, while the government defended it as an urgent response to the tariff war and noted support from Quebec Premier François Legault and some unions. Other recurring topics included public safety and bail reform, housing starts, and the government’s failure to table a spring budget.