The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-15, the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, which consumed the vast majority of Government Orders. The central political argument was the government’s claim that the budget makes necessary generational investments in productivity, housing, defence and infrastructure, countered by Conservative and Bloc Québécois accusations that it is a reckless, inflationary spending plan that will load future generations with debt. Oral Questions focused almost entirely on the Prime Minister’s reported comment “Who cares?” when asked about the state of U.S. trade talks.
The main item of Government Orders business was Bill C-15, the budget implementation act. The government argued the bill would implement a “Canada Strong” budget that makes historic investments in productivity, housing, defence and infrastructure, including a new Build Canada Homes agency, a $5-billion health infrastructure fund, and a suite of clean-economy investment tax credits. The Conservatives opposed the bill, arguing it would add a record $78-billion deficit outside of pandemic years, drive up inflation and the cost of living, and load $321 billion in new debt over five years onto future generations. They also criticized the government’s new accounting framework that separates operating from capital spending, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer said was “overly expansive.” The Bloc Québécois voted against the bill, citing insufficient new infrastructure funding, the absence of a health transfer increase for seniors aged 65-74, and a provision they said would allow a minister to suspend any federal law or regulation except the Criminal Code. The NDP did not speak in this debate. No amendments were adopted during the sitting.
Oral Questions were dominated by a single theme: the Prime Minister’s reported weekend remark that he did not have a “burning issue” to discuss with U.S. President Trump and that “Who cares?” about the state of trade talks. The Conservatives pressed repeatedly on the impact on auto, steel, aluminum and forestry workers, accusing the Prime Minister of abandoning his campaign promise to secure a deal by July 21. The government’s answers, led by the Minister of Transport and the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, argued that the U.S. had suspended negotiations, that the government was actively supporting affected sectors with funds and a buy-Canadian policy, and that the Prime Minister was focused on diversifying trade with other partners. A secondary theme was the Bloc Québécois’s concern that the government had abandoned its feminist foreign policy; the government denied this. Several Conservative MPs also raised the Prime Minister’s past ties to Brookfield Asset Management, suggesting the budget and trade policy favoured his former employer.