What’s on the order paper this fall sitting?

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Although plenty is going on as Parliament resumes, the federal government has a legislative agenda with fewer returning items than it often does coming into the fall sitting. 

That’s because, for the first time in years, a large volume of bills passed in ahead of the summer recess, thanks to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals now holding a working majority in the House of Commons. This allowed them to take control of committees and pass time-allocation motions more frequently, putting an end to years of procedural warfare that had slowed the legislative process to a crawl outside budget-cycle bills.

Despite the trade war with the U.S. now in full swing, Brady Gordon, a partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, and vice-chair of the CBA’s international law section, says existing legislation will likely remain the focus as Parliament returns. Despite the headlines, most of the counter-tariff action is being taken through regulation and executive action, with little need for legislative changes.

“Unless the U.S. does something else, I’m hoping the landscape remains stable,” he says.

That said, Bill C-35 is on the order paper, which proposes changes to the federal regime governing imported goods produced with forced labour, including the elimination of the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE).

Forced labour is one of the areas that the Trump administration is using to justify tariffs on Canada. Gordon says the Canadian Border Services Agency had a poor track record of stopping these kinds of shipments because it lacked sufficient investigative powers. CORE was intended to handle those investigations.

“It hasn’t been effective,” he says. “If you’re establishing a presumptive list of goods that are more likely to be made with forced labour, then you don’t need an ombudsman as much as you did before.”

The bill’s new regime would more closely mirror the American enforcement regime, in which the default list of entities or regions with reasonable grounds to suspect the use of forced labour is provided to CBSA, and the burden of proof is placed on importers to demonstrate that forced labour was not used. While the required documentation isn’t yet known, Gordon says that if Canada copies the U.S. approach, it will be extensive.

“Our clients that are importing to the U.S. have found it extremely onerous—so much so that they don’t try, so it’s a very effective ban.”

Protecting kids and privacy

This session will also be focused on digital governance, given the introduction of Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, and Bill C-36, the Protecting Privacy and Consumer Data Act, shortly before the Commons rose for the summer.

David Fraser, a partner at McInnes Cooper in Halifax, says organizations have a few months to consider these bills and prepare their presentations for when they go to committee. He’s mindful of the fact that both bills are re-dos of legislation that did not pass, but says the Safe Social Media Act has a lot of political traction. It’s been a “pretty en vogue” topic since it was raised a few years ago, and there’s now been a plethora of lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada against social media companies, alleging a range of harms. 

“Appearing to do something about it is pretty politically popular,” he says.

While that may be the case, he’s concerned about the proposed social media ban for youth under 16. He expects it will come into effect before the Digital Safety Commission (also proposed in Bill C-34) can be created and develop regulations on exemptions. He points to a recent ruling by France's top constitutional court, which found the government’s social media ban unconstitutional.

“The social media ban for kids under 16 would likely suffer the same fate when it ends up in front of a court [in Canada],” Fraser says. 

“But is that going to discourage the government? Probably not.”

With the privacy regime changes, he remains critical of the fact that the bulk of the federal privacy commissioner’s responsibilities will be shifted to a member of the Digital Safety Commission. The remainder of the Commission concerns itself with adjudication and enforcement, putting the prosecutor and judges in the same office.

“Online safety and protecting kids, and privacy, while they are in harmony in some places, they are in discord and cause tension in other places,” Fraser says. 

“The privacy regulator is going to be in an office of people yelling, ‘Think of the children!’ What’s that going to do?”

He's also keeping an eye on the lawful access legislation, which has made its way to the Senate. He’s curious to see how much time and space senators will give it at committee.

“If you look at all of the commentary about C-22, everybody who is not a cop (or with) the Canadian Centre for Child Protection says there are significant problems with this.”

Fraser notes that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police emerged from their summer meeting and made it very clear they want companies to break encryption. He says the way the bill is worded would give some latitude to try to force that in certain circumstances, which could, in turn, create targeted vulnerabilities.

An extinction agenda?

The government’s major project focus is of concern to environmental groups, which are waiting for new major project legislation to be tabled in Parliament within a week or two.

Julia Levin, associate director for national climate at Environmental Defence, anticipates the legislation will follow Ontario’s lead and include the ability to designate “special economic zones,” which grant sweeping powers to cabinet to bypass environmental laws to fast-track industrial and resource projects. She’s also looking to see whether it will amend the Canada Energy Regulator Act to pre-approve pipelines and other energy projects, allow early construction before a project is approved, change regulations around fish and wildlife habitats, and give ministers the authority to weaken project conditions after approvals.

“This could be a ‘no more nature bill’ if all of those proposed changes find their way into the bill,” Levin says.

“It would be the implementation of Prime Minister Carney’s so-called extinction agenda.”

The government has also announced changes to projects considered under the existing Impact Assessment Act without the usual regulatory consultation process, and has not explained the necessity for doing so.

“A pitch to investors is not a reason to erode democratic norms,” Levin says. 

“These are not small tweaks—they are fundamental changes.”

The government did, however, say it would preserve the Species at Risk Act after a public outcry over changes that would affect British Columbia’s southern resident killer whale population.

“If Carney is actually serious about protecting wildlife, he should immediately remove the Species at Risk Act from the Building Canada Act so that these projects don’t cause extinctions,” Levin says.

She expects a decision about whether the West Coast pipeline and the Roberts Bank Terminal Two project will be designated as projects of national interest by October 1. Both have the potential to affect many endangered species in the area, including the orcas.

Here is the status of government bills in the House of Commons and Senate:

Bill S-2: Seeks to redress exclusions under the Indian Act, particularly for women whose status was excluded under the legislation, in accordance with court decisions. Senators amended the bill to remove the second-generation cut-off, prompting the government to decide it needed further consultation before proceeding. It is currently under study by a House committee, but the minister has indicated that she wants further consultations.

Bill S-3: A technical bill to amend the Weights and Measures Act and the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act to clarify powers and definitions. It has passed the Senate and awaits debate in the House of Commons.

Bill S-4: Another technical bill aimed at amending the Energy Efficiency Act to strengthen and modernize its regulatory framework. It has passed the Senate and is awaiting second reading debate in the House.

Bill S-5: Seeks to create common interoperability standards for electronic health records across the country. It has passed the Senate and awaits debate in the House.

Bill S-6: Amends 51 separate federal statutes to ensure they are harmonized in each language version with common and civil law. Currently at third reading in the Senate.

Bill C-2: A massive omnibus bill that seeks to strengthen border controls and address concerns raised by the U.S. administration. Many of its provisions were split out in two separate bills (C-12 and C-22) to fast-track them. The government still intends for the remainder of Bill C-2 to proceed. It’s at second reading in the House.

Bill C-10: Creates a commissioner for modern treaty implementation to oversee the government’s activities in implementing modern treaties. It has completed the report stage in the House and awaits third reading.

Bill C-21: Would give effect to the Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty and amend any legislation affected by it. It has begun second reading debate in the House.

Bill C-22: The government’s amended lawful access bill, which remains highly controversial. It passed the House just before the summer and has been introduced in the Senate.

Bill C-27: Gives effect to the self-government agreement with the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę in the Northwest Territories and amends any affected statutes. It passed the House and has just been introduced in the Senate.

Bill C-28: Creates the legislative and regulatory framework for domestic space launch and re-entry activities in Canada. It has begun second reading debate in the House.

Bill C-29: Would see the creation of a new Financial Crimes Agency. It’s been referred to committee, but hasn’t yet been studied. 

Bill C-31: The government’s omnibus budget bill related to the spring economic update. It makes tax changes and amendments to about 15 other federal statutes. It has been referred to the House Finance committee, and the Senate has sent it to the National Finance committee for pre-study.

Bill C-34: The revised version of the former Online Harms Act. It has not yet begun debate.

Bill C-35: Reforms the government’s prohibitions against importing goods produced by forced labour, but eliminates the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise in the process. It has not yet begun debate.

Bill C-36: The government’s long-awaited reform of the federal privacy regime. It has not yet begun debate.

Bill C-37: The revival of the First Nations’ clean drinking water legislation, which has attracted criticism for not having been co-developed with First Nations. Unlike the original bill, it does not include clean drinking water as a human right. It has not yet been debated.