The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would give police new digital investigative tools, and by Conservative attacks on the government’s economic record, accusing it of driving up the cost of living. The central political argument was whether the bill strikes the right balance between equipping law enforcement and protecting privacy, and whether the government’s affordability measures are adequate.
Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, would require telecommunications and internet service providers to build and maintain surveillance capabilities, retain metadata for up to one year, and provide basic subscriber information to police on a lower legal threshold of “reasonable grounds to suspect” rather than “reasonable grounds to believe”. Conservatives supported sending the bill to committee for study, arguing it is a significant improvement over the earlier Bill C-2, which they successfully blocked for overreaching on privacy. The Bloc Québécois questioned why the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency has a smaller role than its Australian counterpart and why key definitions would be set by regulation rather than legislation. The Green Party member for Saanich—Gulf Islands said she cannot support the bill as drafted, citing the unprecedented “reasonable grounds to suspect” threshold and concerns that part 2 would require permanent spyware in platforms. The government argued the bill fills a gap that makes Canada the only Five Eyes country without a lawful access regime, and that the alternative is not privacy but impunity.
Oral Questions focused overwhelmingly on affordability and taxation, with Conservatives repeatedly demanding the government cut all federal fuel taxes by 25¢ per litre, accusing the Liberals of giving only a partial, temporary break. Government members countered that their removal of the excise tax on fuel, combined with earlier carbon tax cancellation, saves 28¢ per litre, and pointed to the groceries and essentials benefit, child care and school food programs as real support. A second major theme was the Minister of Justice’s announcement that he would act to constrain the notwithstanding clause regardless of the Supreme Court’s pending ruling, which the Bloc Québécois denounced as an attack on Quebec’s democratic choices. Other recurring topics included the Canada Revenue Agency paying millions to fraudsters, the Alto high-speed rail project, the Cowichan land claim decision in British Columbia, and the government’s firearms buyback program.
In Routine Proceedings, several petitions were presented, including one calling for Bill C-218 to exclude mental illness from medical assistance in dying, one opposing removal of the religious exemption from Bill C-9, one for improved public transit in Montreal’s east end, one for mandatory Canadian autopsies in suspicious deaths abroad (“Kiara’s law”), and one on protecting southern resident killer whales. A point of order was raised by the member for London West, who challenged the admissibility of six committee amendments to Bill C-11, arguing they exceed the bill’s scope or infringe the parent act rule; the member for Grande Prairie reserved the right to reply. The Minister of National Defence announced that the opposition day scheduled for April 23 has been undesignated and that the House will instead debate Bill C-11 that day.