Sitting 66 — December 3, 2025

The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-13, which would bring the United Kingdom into the CPTPP trade bloc, and by a lengthy take-note debate on the crisis in Canada’s auto industry. The central political argument pitted the government’s insistence that U.S. tariffs are the sole cause of job losses against the opposition’s charge that the government’s own electric-vehicle mandate, industrial carbon tax and failure to read subsidy contracts are compounding the damage.

Bill C-13, to implement the United Kingdom’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, was supported in principle by all parties. Liberal speakers argued the bill would diversify trade away from the U.S. and strengthen a rules-based order. Conservatives supported the bill but used the debate to attack the government’s trade record, citing frozen U.K. state pensions for British Canadians and non-tariff barriers blocking Canadian beef and pork exports. The Bloc Québécois said it would vote in favour but would oppose investor-state dispute settlement at committee, and complained that the government had violated its own 21-day policy on tabling treaties by introducing the bill after only 15 days. The NDP raised the issue of an excess-profits tax. No amendments were moved on the floor.

The take-note debate on Canada’s auto industry consumed the final portion of the sitting. The government moved a motion for the House to take note, and ministers and Liberal backbenchers stressed that the U.S. tariffs of up to 25% on vehicles and parts are the root cause of layoffs at Stellantis, GM and other plants. They pointed to the $5-billion strategic response fund in Budget 2025, expanded EI and a pause on the 2026 EV mandate as support measures. Conservatives replied that the government had failed to deliver a promised trade deal by July 21, that the EV mandate creates uncertainty and that ministers signed multi-billion-dollar contracts with Stellantis and Algoma Steel without reading them and without enforceable job guarantees. The Bloc Québécois argued that 90% of federal EV subsidies went to Ontario while Quebec’s forestry and aerospace sectors were neglected, and that the government should have invested in domestic critical-mineral processing rather than trying to outbid the U.S. for battery plants. The NDP did not speak in this debate.

Oral Questions was dominated by the economy, steel and aluminum, the automotive industry, forestry and natural resources. The opposition repeatedly accused the Prime Minister of indifference, quoting his reported remark “Who cares?” about trade talks, and demanded the release of the Stellantis contract. The government replied that Canada has the strongest GDP growth in the G7, that wages are outpacing inflation and that it is fighting for workers through loans and tariff mitigation. On the Algoma Steel loan, ministers said the $400-million loan saved two-thirds of the jobs and that the Ontario premier supported it. On the Stellantis contract, the industry minister said she had read it and that committee members would see all documents. On forestry, ministers said they were working on retooling and fibre solutions for the Crofton mill closure. On the EV mandate, the Prime Minister signalled a delay. The Bloc Québécois pressed the government on climate backsliding and the resignation of the former environment minister.