The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-15, the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, with the central political argument revolving around the cost of living and grocery prices. Conservatives repeatedly cited a new food price report to argue that Liberal policies, particularly the industrial carbon tax and deficit spending, were driving up costs for families. The government countered by pointing to strong job creation numbers and listing affordability measures such as child care and dental care.
Bill C-15, the budget implementation bill, consumed the bulk of Government Orders. Conservatives opposed the bill, arguing it would worsen affordability by maintaining the industrial carbon tax, increasing regulatory burdens on resource development, and adding to bureaucracy. Conservative members Michael Chong and Michael Cooper highlighted rising deficits, a $78-billion deficit for the current year, and warned that debt servicing costs were exceeding health care spending. Bloc Québécois member Xavier Barsalou-Duval criticized the bill for including measures unrelated to the budget, such as extending carbon storage tax credits and granting ministers the power to exempt entities from federal laws, which he called an authoritarian direction. The Bloc confirmed it would not support the bill. The government defended the bill as containing investments in affordability, housing, and job creation, and accused the Conservatives of obstructing legislation.
Oral Questions were dominated by a single theme: the cost of groceries. Conservative members repeatedly cited a new food price report projecting a $1,000 increase in annual grocery costs for a family of four, and argued that the government’s industrial carbon tax and inflationary spending were to blame. The government’s parliamentary secretaries and ministers responded by citing Statistics Canada data showing 54,000 net new jobs in November, including 50,000 for youth, and pointed to programs such as the national school food program, child care fee reductions, and the Canada child benefit as measures that put money back in families’ pockets. A secondary theme was the forestry industry, with Bloc Québécois and Conservative members criticizing the government for failing to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement and for not supporting the industry against U.S. countervailing duties; the government replied that it was working to resolve the dispute and stood with affected communities.
In Routine Proceedings, the government tabled responses to seven petitions and the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration presented a report on supplementary estimates. Multiple petitions were presented on firearms, medical assistance in dying, Gaza, public safety, a safe consumption site, religious freedom, forced organ harvesting, Falun Gong, charitable organizations, Cyprus, and pornography. A Conservative member raised a point of order on quorum, and the count was taken. Under Private Members' Business, Tamara Jansen (CPC) moved second reading of Bill C-218, which would indefinitely exclude mental illness as the sole condition for medical assistance in dying. Jansen argued that irremediability in mental illness cannot be reliably predicted and that the expansion would contradict suicide prevention efforts. Liberal members Juanita Nathan and Aslam Rana spoke against the bill, noting that Parliament had already established a review process leading to a 2027 date, and raised concerns that the bill’s use of the term “mental disorder” could inadvertently exclude conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Claude DeBellefeuille (BQ) stated the Bloc would not support the bill, arguing the issue should be left to clinical and scientific consensus rather than political decision.