The House of Commons has adjourned for the summer — what did it accomplish?

The House of Commons has risen for the summer, sending MPs back to their ridings to meet with constituents and point to their legislative accomplishments over the past year.

The Liberal government is hailing the recent sitting as a success. The Commons passed 15 government bills on such matters as medical assistance in dying, foreign interference, child care, pharmacare and cybersecurity.

“We worked very, very hard for Canadians and we secured results. We are proud of what the government was able to accomplish even in a minority context,” Steven MacKinnon, government House leader, said this week.

Recent polling suggests the Liberals are trailing the opposition Conservatives by a wide margin. MacKinnon said the government’s legislative accomplishments will form a key part of the Liberals’ argument for re-election.

“I think as we analyze the work that got done over this past winter and spring, Canadians will come to realize we have made significant progress on a lot of fronts,” he said.

Two priority pieces of government legislation did not become law during this sitting.

These two bills, now stuck at second reading stage in the House of Commons, will have to be taken up again in the fall when MPs return to Ottawa.

C-63, the Liberal government’s Online Harms Act, proposes to police seven categories of harmful content online. Those categories include content used to bully a child and content that encourages a child to harm themselves.

The bill proposes to police hate speech, content that incites violence or terrorism, content that sexualizes children or victims of sexual violence, and sexual content that is posted without consent.

C-71, which would amend the Citizenship Act, would allow Canadians to pass citizenship rights down to their children born outside the country.

In 2009, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government changed the law so that Canadian parents who were born abroad could not pass down their citizenship unless their child was born in Canada.

Last year, the Ontario Superior Court said Harper’s changes to citizenship law were unconstitutional and gave the federal government until June 19 to return citizenship to so-called “lost Canadians.”

The government asked the court for an extension on that deadline. This week, Justice Jasmine Akbarali pushed that deadline to August 9 and said she’ll hold a two-hour hearing on Aug. 1 to consider “whether a further extension of time to December 19, 2024, or some earlier date, is warranted.”

Not all of the 15 government bills that passed the House of Commons during this sitting have received royal assent. The bills that have yet to become law are either awaiting royal assent or are still in consideration in the Senate.

Still in the Senate

There are six government bills still working their way through the Red Chamber. Because the Senate hasn’t adjourned for the summer yet, there is still time for senators to pass some or all of these bills this week. They include:

• C-20 — The Public Complaints and Review Commission Act would replace the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission with the Public Complaints and Review Commission, which would take on complaints against the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency workers (currently at committee stage in the Senate).
• C-26 — The government’s cyber security legislation would compel companies in the finance, telecommunications, energy and transportation sectors to either shore up their cyber systems against attacks or face expensive penalties (currently at second reading in the Senate).
• C-40 — The Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission Act, otherwise known as David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law, creates a commission independent of government tasked with reviewing miscarriage of justice claims (currently at second reading in the Senate).
• C-49 —  The Atlantic Accord amends offshore agreements between Canada and Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador allowing joint provincial-federal offshore petroleum boards to oversee development of offshore wind projects (currently at committee stage in the Senate).
• C-64 — The Pharmacare Act starts off with a promise to provide diabetes treatments and contraception. The final price tag will be determined after negotiations with the provinces and territories. The intention of the bill is to eventually expand coverage to other medications (currently at committee stage in the Senate).

Bills that have received royal assent

• C-29 — The legislation creates a National Council for Reconciliation to advance reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. The legislation requires the council to monitor efforts toward reconciliation made by all levels of government and to ensure those efforts protect and promote the rights of Indigenous peoples.
• C-34 — These amendments to the Investment Canada Act permit the cabinet to order a net benefit review of any investment by a state-affiliated investor whose country of origin has not signed a trade agreement with Canada. The bill passed third reading in the House but did not pass the Senate until March 22 this year, the same day it received royal assent. 
• C-35 — The Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act sets out the government’s commitment to provide the long-term child care funding for provinces and Indigenous peoples announced in the 2021 federal budget.
• S-209 — This private member’s bill, introduced by Sen. Marie-Françoise Mégie, established March 11 as Pandemic Observance Day.
• C-50 — The Sustainable Jobs Act requires the government to establish five-year plans and an advisory council to help workers in industries affected by the clean-tech transition to retrain for new jobs. The legislation is also meant to ensure that new green jobs are union positions with matching pay and benefits.
• C-57 — The update to the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement became a political flashpoint after Conservatives accused the Liberal government of forcing carbon pricing provisions into the bill. Ukraine has had a carbon price in place since 2011 and is actively seeking membership in the European Union, which has had an emissions trading system since 2005. The trade deal only requires the two countries to work together to promote carbon pricing.
• C-58 — The government’s anti replacement worker legislation bans federally regulated workplaces from bringing in replacement workers during a legal strike. The legislation was a key element of the Liberals’ supply and confidence agreement with the New Democrats.
• C-59 — The Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act removes the GST/HST from psychotherapy and counselling services, denies income tax deductions for short-term rentals that do not comply with local laws and removes the GST from the construction of new co-op rental housing, among other housing and economic measures. It also includes a digital services tax.
• C-62 — This update to the Liberal government’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) legislation postpones access to MAID for those suffering solely from mental illness until at least 2027. 
• C-69 — The 2024 federal Budget Implementation Act.
• C-70 — The Liberal government’s Countering Foreign Interference Act introduces new criminal measures against deceptive or surreptitious acts, allows for the broader sharing of sensitive information and establishes a foreign influence transparency registry.
• S-9 — An Act to amend the Chemical Weapons Convention Implementation Act updates technical aspects of this legislation.

Private member’s bills 

Members of Parliament and senators are able to propose legislation of their own. While many of these bills fail to become law, some do, including S-209.

These three private member’s bills have all now received royal assent and become law:  

• Bill S-202 — This private member’s bill, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Patricia Bovey, amends the Parliament of Canada act to create a Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate.
• Bill C-226 — Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s private member’s bill to combat environmental racism seeks to ensure marginalized and Indigenous communities are protected from disproportionate environmental impacts.
• Bill C-288 — This private member’s bill, introduced by Conservative MP Dan Mazier, requires that internet service providers provide more clarity when promising the level of service their customers will receive.