Sitting 30 — September 26, 2025

The sitting opened with second reading debate on Bill C-8, the Cyber Security Act, introduced by Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree. The bill would empower the government to direct critical infrastructure operators in telecommunications, finance, energy, and transportation to strengthen their cyber defences. The minister emphasized the growing threat landscape and noted that the bill was a revised version of former Bill C-26, incorporating improvements from the previous Parliament. The Bloc Québécois supported the bill in principle while flagging concerns about privacy, Quebec's jurisdictional authority over Hydro-Québec, and the need for amendments. Conservative members questioned whether the bill would adequately protect small businesses and pressed for stronger privacy safeguards.

Question period was dominated by a controversy over leaked audio in which the Minister of Public Safety appeared to question the logic of the Liberal government's firearms compensation program. Conservatives seized on the recording, calling the $750-million buyback a politically motivated scam, while government ministers defended the program as fulfilling an election promise to remove assault-style weapons from circulation. The firearms debate intersected with broader public safety concerns, as opposition members cited rising violent crime statistics and called for greater focus on illegal firearms rather than law-abiding gun owners.

Economic questions featured prominently, with Conservatives linking food price increases of 40% over a decade to government taxes and deficit spending. The government pointed to the Canada-Indonesia free trade agreement signed that week as evidence of successful trade diversification, and cited GDP growth in July and falling interest rates. The Canada Post labour crisis also emerged, with opposition members accusing the government of triggering a general strike through its reform announcement while failing to consult workers or maintain delivery services. Other topics included the Governor General's French language training costs, Highway 97 infrastructure in British Columbia, and concerns about Canadian Blood Services plasma agreements with foreign pharmaceutical companies.