The sitting was dominated by third-reading debate on Bill C-15, the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, a 600-page omnibus bill that consumed most of the day. The central political argument pitted the government’s claim that the budget’s large deficit was a necessary investment in Canada’s economic sovereignty against Conservative charges of reckless spending, broken fiscal promises, and hidden tax increases that were driving up the cost of living for Canadians.
Bill C-15, the budget implementation bill, would enact the government’s fall 2025 budget, projecting a $78.3-billion deficit. The government argued the spending was needed to build infrastructure, support housing through the new Build Canada Homes agency, and respond to global trade uncertainty, citing Canada’s AAA credit rating and praise from the IMF. The Conservatives opposed the bill, arguing the deficit had doubled from the previous government’s forecast, that the new “operating versus capital” budget framework was a shell game to hide debt, and that the bill contained a “regulatory sandbox” provision that would have allowed ministers to exempt entities from any act of Parliament except the Criminal Code. The Bloc Québécois criticized the omnibus nature of the bill and the expropriation powers granted to the high-speed rail project, Alto, arguing they stripped property owners of the right to a hearing. The NDP focused on cuts to the bureau of pensions advocates and the government’s attempt to retroactively change a 1998 law to avoid compensating veterans for overpayments. The government accepted Conservative amendments that added a 30-day public consultation period and dual-minister approval for the exemption powers, and the bill passed third reading on division.
Oral Questions was dominated by the cost of living and the government’s fiscal record. Conservatives repeatedly cited an RBC poll showing 64% of millennials were financially anxious and TransUnion data showing household debt at a record $2.6 trillion, blaming Liberal inflationary deficits and the industrial carbon tax for making Canada the G7 leader in food inflation. The government answered by listing affordability measures it had passed—dental care, pharmacare, child care, and the groceries and essentials benefit—and accusing Conservatives of voting against them. A second major theme was the Cúram benefits software project, with Conservatives citing a $5-billion cost overrun and a backlog of 85,000 applications, while ministers defended it as a necessary modernization of a 60-year-old system that had already migrated 7.7 million seniors. A third theme was forced sterilization, with all parties expressing support for Bill S-228, which would clarify that non-consensual sterilization constitutes aggravated assault.
In Routine Proceedings, the President of the Treasury Board tabled the Main Estimates for 2026-27 and the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. Several petitions were presented, including calls for a national brain injury strategy, a foreign influence registry, the removal of HST on massage therapy, and the creation of a national registry of animal cruelty convictions. The government House leader asked that all questions on the Order Paper stand, which was agreed to. During Private Members’ Business, Bill S-228, which would amend the Criminal Code to explicitly treat non-consensual sterilization as aggravated assault, received second reading and was referred to committee by unanimous consent, with all parties speaking in support and acknowledging the advocacy of indigenous survivors.