SIX THINGS TO WATCH AS PARLIAMENT RETURNS
OTTAWA • On Monday, MPs and senators return to Parliament Hill after a not-very-restful summer break.
With just a year left until the next federal election, Liberals say they are feeling good about their legislative agenda. Bills ratifying a new trade agreement, changing firearms rules and adjusting elections law will all be debated in the Commons. A dozen others are making their way through the Senate.
But a senior government official recently pointed out that most of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s biggest battles this fall won’t be focused on legislation.
Here are six issues expected to dominate question period and keep Trudeau on his toes.
TRUMP AND TRADE
A new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement is still being written, although Congress has been notified of a United States-Mexico deal that would include Canada if all can agree by the end of September. Saving the pact, successfully dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump and getting steel tariffs dropped is widely seen as the government’s biggest challenge.
Meanwhile, a bill to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-country trade pact that includes Japan and Australia, will be a top priority. The deal originally included the U.S., but Trump withdrew. Now the CPTPP is seen as a counter-weight to trade uncertainty in North America.
TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE
Last month, a Federal Court of Appeal decision overturned the government’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would parallel an existing pipeline route to transport more oil from Alberta to the British Columbia coast. Judges unanimously ruled the project’s National Energy Board assessment was too flawed to go ahead right away. The government, after buying the project for billions and setting it up as a Crown corporation, will have to respond. It is unclear whether they can break ground before the election.
ASYLUM SEEKERS
In the past couple of years, more asylum-seekers have been crossing the Canada-U.S. border between official points of entry. The government will face questions from all sides: about the long waits for decisions once people are in the system; and about the Safe Third Country agreement with the U.S., which stipulates that asylum-seekers who come in at the border can be sent back south since Canada considers the U.S. to be a “safe” country. Conservatives say it should be renegotiated to apply not just at official points of entry, but between them.
CLIMATE PLAN … AND ITS OPPONENTS
Saskatchewan and Ontario have filed legal challenges against a federal climate plan that includes carbon taxation. Alberta’s NDP government, which already implemented such a tax, has said it will not increase taxation in line with the federal plan until it sees progress on Trans Mountain. Trudeau has appointed a new minister responsible for interprovincial conflicts, Dominic LeBlanc. His plate will be full this fall.
LEGAL CANNABIS
On Oct. 17, recreational cannabis will become legal for purchase. But a patchwork of regulations means the weed market will look pretty different from one province to another. With some police forces still saying they are not ready, the Liberals will have to get ready to defend their approach.
HANDGUN BAN
A new minister, Bill Blair, is studying whether there should be a federal ban on handguns and assault weapons. The city councils of Toronto and Montreal have already asked for one, following high-profile incidents of gun violence including a July shooting rampage along the Danforth in Toronto.