Sitting 64 — December 1, 2025

The sitting opened with second-reading debate on Bill C-225, a private member's bill on intimate partner violence sponsored by Conservative MP Frank Caputo, which would require courts to consider intimate partner violence as an aggravating factor in sentencing. Members from all parties spoke in support, with the Bloc's status of women critic noting the bill was being debated during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. The debate was deeply personal, with MPs sharing stories from their constituencies and Caputo himself reflecting on the moment of introducing his first private member's bill.

Government orders focused on Bill C-4, the making life more affordable for Canadians act, which would enact the middle-class tax cut, eliminate the consumer carbon tax, and provide GST relief for first-time homebuyers. Conservative speakers argued the tax cut was inadequate—one member calculated it at roughly 38 cents per day—while Liberal members emphasized that combined with the Canada child benefit, dental care, and the national school food program, the measures represented significant support for families. The Bloc Québécois opposed the bill, arguing that eliminating the carbon tax would cost Quebec taxpayers more in lost rebates than they would gain from the income tax cut, and criticizing the government's accounting methods as deceptive. Question Period featured sustained Conservative attacks on the Prime Minister over food bank usage statistics—Feed Ontario reported one million Ontarians accessing food banks for 8.7 million visits—and the Algoma Steel layoffs. Conservative Leader Poilievre pressed the government on the industrial carbon tax's impact on food prices, while Liberal ministers pointed to tax cuts, the Canada child benefit, and climate-driven factors as the real drivers of food cost increases.

The B.C. Liberal caucus's reported discontent over the pipeline MOU with Alberta featured prominently, with Conservative MPs citing media reports of Liberal MPs being "seething" and "angry" while Liberal ministers maintained that the MOU was a positive step that included B.C.'s consent requirement. Housing affordability, the Cowichan court ruling on indigenous land claims affecting property titles in Richmond, and the government's $528 million contribution to the European Space Agency also drew questioning. Adjournment proceedings covered border security and repeated CBSA system outages.