Sitting 101 — April 13, 2026

The sitting was dominated by debate on the Lawful Access Act, Bill C-22, a government bill to modernize how law enforcement and national security agencies obtain digital evidence from telecommunications providers. The central political argument was whether the bill strikes the right balance between giving police new tools and protecting Canadians' privacy, with the government accusing Conservatives of obstructing public safety legislation and Conservatives arguing the government had squandered trust through past overreach.

Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, would allow police to ask telecom providers to confirm whether they serve a specific account, create a judicial order for basic subscriber information, and require providers to maintain technical capabilities to respond to lawful requests. The government argued Canada is the only Five Eyes country without a modern lawful access framework and that delays in obtaining evidence are hampering investigations into extortion, child exploitation and organized crime. Conservatives said they support the principle but raised concerns about part 2, which allows ministerial orders to require providers to build surveillance capabilities, and about the lack of a formal role for the Privacy Commissioner in oversight. The Bloc Québécois said it was still deciding its position, citing concerns about the lowered threshold from "reasonable grounds to believe" to "reasonable grounds to suspect" and about cuts to the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency's budget. The Green Party noted the bill was an improvement over the original Bill C-2 but called for more safeguards.

Earlier in the day, Private Members' Business saw third-reading debate on Bill C-225, known as Bailey's Law, which would amend the Criminal Code to treat the murder of an intimate partner as first-degree murder when committed in a context of coercive and controlling behaviour. The bill's sponsor, Frank Caputo (CPC), described it as a response to the killing of Bailey McCourt by her former partner hours after he was convicted of assaulting her. The bill was amended at committee to include a safeguard ensuring it would not apply to victims acting in self-defence. All parties expressed support, and the government indicated it would pass.

Oral Questions was dominated by Conservative attacks on rising gas prices, with the party demanding the government suspend the federal excise tax, GST on fuel, the clean fuel standard and the industrial carbon tax, arguing this would save Canadians 25 cents per litre. The government replied by listing other affordability measures it had enacted, such as tax cuts for 22 million Canadians, the Canada child benefit, dental care and the groceries and essentials benefit, and accused Conservatives of having voted against those measures. A second theme was the Bloc Québécois's questioning of the Minister of Finance over his personal ties to Alto's senior management, given that Bill C-15, which he introduced, contained provisions to facilitate expropriations for the high-speed rail project. The government denied any conflict of interest and said it would build the rail line. A third theme was Conservative questions about the Cowichan land claim case and whether the government would defend fee simple private property rights; the government said it had appealed the decision and would continue to defend those rights in court.