The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-8, the government’s cybersecurity legislation, and by Conservative attacks on the Minister of Public Safety over a leaked recording in which he privately questioned the value of the Liberal gun buyback program. The central political argument was whether the government was wasting money on law-abiding gun owners while violent crime rose, or whether the Conservatives were blocking sensible measures to keep assault-style weapons off the streets.
Bill C-8, an act respecting cyber security, would amend the Telecommunications Act to let the government direct telecom providers to secure their systems and would create a new critical cyber systems protection act requiring designated operators in finance, telecom, energy and transportation to adopt cybersecurity programs and report incidents. The Liberals argued the bill was urgent to protect critical infrastructure from rising cyber-threats and that it had already been thoroughly studied in the previous Parliament as Bill C-26. The Conservatives said they would support sending the bill to committee but raised concerns about sweeping ministerial powers, secrecy provisions, the lack of compensation for companies forced to comply, and the exclusion of hospitals, municipalities and schools from the scope. The Bloc Québécois said it would vote for second reading but wanted amendments to protect Quebec’s jurisdiction, particularly over Hydro-Québec, and to strengthen privacy protections. The NDP raised similar concerns about privacy, the concentration of power in cabinet, and the absence of independent oversight, and said it would seek amendments at committee. The Green Party also pressed for privacy amendments. The government indicated openness to amendments at committee stage.
Oral Questions was dominated by two themes. The first was the economy and food prices: Conservatives repeatedly cited a Parliamentary Budget Officer’s description of federal finances as “shocking” and “unsustainable,” and argued that Liberal spending and taxes had driven grocery prices up 40% since 2015, forcing millions to use food banks. Government ministers replied that they had cut taxes for 22 million Canadians, removed the consumer carbon tax, and pointed to GDP growth in July and falling interest rates as signs the economy was improving. The second theme was the gun buyback program: Conservatives quoted a leaked recording in which the Minister of Public Safety reportedly said the program was not worth the money and was designed to score political points, and called for his resignation. Government ministers defended the program as a promise kept to remove assault-style weapons from streets and accused the Conservatives of opposing all gun control and refusing to offer any alternative measures. A brief exchange on Canada Post saw the Bloc Québécois and the NDP criticize the government’s announcement of reforms, which they said triggered a general strike and threatened rural mail service; the government replied that Canada Post’s billion-dollar deficits were unsustainable and that reform was necessary.