Top news
- Today Natural Resources Minister Wilkinson released Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy. The strategy identifies the government’s priorities for the critical minerals sector and how it intends to support its development including a review of the environmental assessment process which will look at ways to speed up the approval process.
- The Auditor General tabled her reports on the government COVID relief programs and vaccine rollout. She found that while the benefits were delivered quickly a lack of verification meant at least $4.6B in payments were made to ineligible individuals with an additional $27.4B in questionable relief payments flagged as needing more investigation.
- The RCMP has suspended a procurement contract after a Radio Canada investigation raised concerns about the Chinese telecommunications company Hytera which owns part of the RCMP contractor. As Hytera has been blacklisted by the United States as a security risk it raised questions about the security assessment of the contract before it was awarded.
- The government continues to face controversy over proposed amendments to its gun control bill C-21. The amendments seek to provide a legislative definition of which type of guns will be banned by the bill, but many concerns have been raised that as written it will capture will include many firearms commonly used for hunting. With all opposition parties and some Liberal backbenchers raising questions it is unclear whether the gove
Government Announcements
- Prime Minister Trudeau announced the federal government is committing $800M to Indigenous-led conservation initiatives which will help expand protect to 1 million square kilometers
- Minister LeBlanc announced the new Federal Action Plan to Strengthen Internal Trade.
- Minister Wilkinson released new guidelines on federal funding for international fossil fuel projects which will see Canada cease any public funding for international unabated fossil fuel projects by the end of 2022.
- Minister Anand announced Canada is now allowing permanent residents to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces.
- Today, Health Canada announced that amendments to the Cannabis Act and its regulations concerning cannabis research and testing, and cannabis beverages have been approved and are now in force as of December 2, 2022.
- The government has issued a call for proposals for long-term partners interested in being a part of the 2 billion trees program.
In the House Of Commons
- Bill C-11: The Senate Committee studying Bill C-11 has made several amendments to the proposed bill to regulate streaming services. These include requiring all sites that host explicit content to have age verification processes and adding exemptions for user generated content.
- Bill C-32: This bill that implements provisions of the Fall Economic Statement passed 3rd reading in the House and move on to the Senate.
- Bill C-34: This bill to update the Investment Canada Act was introduced in the House this week. The bill seeks to strengthen the national security review process by creating new filing requirements for foreign businesses seeking to invest in key sectors and expanding the power of the Minister to order reviews and impose conditions or undertakings on those takeovers.
- Bill C-35: This bill to create a legislative framework for Canada’s early learning and child-care program was introduced in the House.
- Bill C-235: MP Jim Carr’s bill An Act respecting the building of a green economy in the Prairies passed 3rd reading in the House.
Economic Numbers of The Week
- 4.25%: The Bank of Canada announced 50 basis point rate hike brining the rate up to 4.25%. The Bank indicated it will evaluate the impact of recent rate cuts before proceeding with any further increases.