The sitting was dominated by debate on the budget implementation bill, Bill C-15, and a lengthy procedural battle over Bill C-9, the combatting hate act. The central political argument was a Conservative motion to instruct the justice committee to travel across Canada to hear testimony on Bill C-9, which the Conservatives said was needed to scrutinize a secret Liberal-Bloc deal to remove religious defences from hate-speech laws, while the government accused the Conservatives of filibustering to block both Bill C-9 and bail reform legislation.
The main Government Orders business was second reading of Bill C-15, the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1. Conservatives and Bloc Québécois members opposed the bill, arguing it would entrench a record $78-billion deficit, drive up food costs through hidden taxes on farmers and fuel, and fail to address affordability for seniors and families. They cited a new food price report predicting a $1,000 increase in annual grocery costs for a family of four. Liberal speakers defended the bill as a capital investment in Canada’s economy, highlighting programs such as the national school food program, dental care, and child care, and argued the deficit was manageable given Canada’s low debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. No amendments were debated on the floor.
Oral Questions focused overwhelmingly on food prices and the economy, with the Conservatives repeatedly citing the Prime Minister’s promise to be judged by grocery costs and pointing to a new report showing a doubling of weekly food bills since 2015. Liberal ministers responded by arguing that the industrial carbon tax does not apply to farmers, that climate change is the main driver of food inflation, and that the government’s social programs—child care, dental care, and school food—put money back in Canadians’ pockets. Other themes included the Bloc Québécois’s demand that the Liberals confirm their support for removing the religious exemption from the Criminal Code, and questions on Stellantis’s investment in the U.S. after receiving Canadian subsidies. The government’s answers often pivoted to listing its affordability measures.
During Routine Proceedings, the House observed the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, with the Minister of Women and Gender Equality and opposition members delivering tributes to the 14 women murdered at École Polytechnique in 1989. Two committee reports were presented, on supplementary estimates for Fisheries and Oceans and for Government Operations and Estimates. The main procedural action was the Conservative motion to instruct the justice committee to travel for Bill C-9; after 148 speeches, the debate was still ongoing at the end of the sitting, with no vote taken. In Private Members’ Business, the House began second reading of Bill C-246, a Conservative bill to mandate consecutive sentences for sexual offences, with the sponsor arguing it would end sentencing discounts for predators.