The sitting was dominated by a Conservative opposition motion on a pipeline to the British Columbia coast, which occupied most of the day and set the central political argument: whether the government would support its own memorandum of understanding with Alberta. The motion and the debate around it consumed the Government Orders time, with the Supplementary Estimates and a private member’s bill on Ukrainian Heritage Month receiving only brief consideration at the end.
The main item of Government Orders business was the Conservative opposition motion, moved by Tim Uppal (CPC), calling on the House to note the November 27, 2025, Canada-Alberta memorandum of understanding and to support the construction of one or more pipelines to export at least one million barrels a day of low-emission Alberta bitumen from a deepwater port on the British Columbia coast to Asian markets, including through an appropriate adjustment to the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, while respecting the duty to consult Indigenous peoples. The Conservatives argued the motion used the government’s own wording from the MOU and that a vote against it would show the government was not serious about building a pipeline. The Liberals opposed the motion, saying it cherry-picked one element of the MOU and ignored the rest, including commitments to strengthen industrial carbon pricing, reduce methane emissions, achieve net-zero by 2050, and work with British Columbia and Indigenous communities. The Bloc Québécois and the NDP also opposed the motion, with the Bloc arguing the project was not commercially viable and the NDP insisting on free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous nations. The Green Party opposed as well. The government moved to apply the result of a previous vote, with Liberal members voting nay; the Conservatives voted in favour, and the Bloc, NDP and Green Party also applied the previous result, voting against. The motion was defeated.
Oral Questions focused overwhelmingly on two themes: the pipeline MOU and the cost of groceries. On the pipeline, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly challenged the Prime Minister to vote for the motion, accusing him of saying one thing in Alberta and another in Ottawa. The Prime Minister replied that the MOU was a complete package that included industrial carbon pricing, methane reductions and net-zero commitments, and that the Conservatives had cherry-picked only the parts they liked. Other Conservative MPs pressed the government on whether it would assert federal jurisdiction over the pipeline; Liberal ministers replied that the MOU required collaboration with British Columbia and Indigenous communities. On grocery prices, Conservatives cited a food price report predicting a $1,000 increase for a family of four and demanded the government scrap the industrial carbon tax. Liberal ministers responded that there is no tax on food, that the industrial carbon price does not apply to farms, and that the government had delivered programs such as the Canada child benefit, school food programs and dental care, which the Conservatives had voted against. The Speaker delivered a ruling on a point of order about the relevance of answers during question period, reiterating that the Chair is not responsible for the content of answers and urging all members to raise the quality of both questions and answers.