Late last night, with a vote of 158 yeahs to 152 nays, the Conservatives' contentious budget bill passed the House of Commons. Now, the massive bill, which runs more than 420 pages and makes sweeping changes to dozens of laws, sits in the docket of the Upper Chamber, where Senators have been pre-studying the legislation in an effort to fast-track its trip through the legislative process.
The Senate will also find copyright legislation waiting in its files, after Bill C-11, too, passed the House last night with the same division. Once that bill passes the Senate and gets the stamp of approval from the Governor General, it will become illegal to break the digital lock on a legitimately-purchased CD in order to upload it to a computer or iPod.
This morning, the Senate will keep the ball rolling on the budget bill when members of the national finance committee hear from the chairs of seven other committees that studied the bill while the House was debating.
And even though the bill is out of the MPs' hands, Green leader Elizabeth May, who led the charge in the around-the-clock voting marathon last week, still wants to challenge Conservative members who, she says, didn't vote their conscience on the hundreds of amendments. For two hours this morning, May will be administering an open-book, multiple-choice test on the content of the bill, C-38, to any Tory MP who shows up. A passing grade will earn a tree planted in the location of the MP's choice.
After fewer than 12 hours away from the Commons, members will find themselves back in the chamber facing a long list of bills up for debate.
On the agenda today:
- C-24, the proposed Canada-Panama free trade agreement, which is second reading.
- C-15, the bill to reform military justice, also at second reading.
- C-36, the government's bid to protect seniors, also at second reading.
- C-28, the finance minister's bid to bolster financial literacy in Canada.
Off the Hill and over in Toronto, the prospect of a snap election in Ontario is less pressing, but still on the table after the opposition parties voted more changes to Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty's budget. The province's finance committee will meet again today, under the same warning McGuinty issued over the weekend -- for the opposition to stop making major changes to the minority government's budget, lest he call an election.
Back in Ottawa, the fate of Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro is set to remain a top topic today. A Liberal MP is trying to get Del Mastro, who acts as the prime minister's spokesman in the Commons when the boss is away, to appear at the House ethics committee. Although the committee meets today, the item isn't on the agenda. Instead, the committee will continue today with its look at privacy and social media, while expected to turn its attention on Thursday to have Del Mastro appear.
Elsewhere on the committee front:
- The filibuster continues in public accounts, where members have been meeting behind closed doors, discussing whether to continue the study of the government's botched F-35 procurement.
- Science and technology continues its review of the intellectual property regime in Canada.
- Natural resources hears from representatives of the Nunavut and Northwest Territories governments regarding resource development in the North.
- Members at the international trade committee will have officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs on hand for its review of the proposed trade agreement with the European Union, then representatives of the Manitoba Beef Producers and Pulse Canada to take questions on the proposed Japan-Canada trade agreement.
- Citizenship and immigration has several witnesses on hand, including two from CSIS, for its study to find way of ensuring Canada's immigration system is secure.
And finally, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty off in Mexico at the G20 summit, his minister of state, Ted Menzies, will be on hand at the Senate trade and commerce committee, which is looking into the government's proposal to launch a Pooled Registered Pension Plan, after the legislation passed the Commons last week.
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