Good evening, readers.
Canadians may be gaining a new partner for their savings account.
Ottawa is calling on everyday Canadians to put their savings to work alongside a new $25 billion public fund designed to bankroll major projects.
More information on the seed capital is expected to be released in Tuesday’s economic update, but Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne suggested it will involve borrowing.
“[Canada] is one of the only two countries in the G7 with a AAA credit rating,” he said. “Canada can borrow on the international market at some of the lowest rates that you could see.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the new sovereign wealth fund will be professionally managed and will operate as a Crown corporation at arm’s length from the government.
It is the fourth major public investment vehicle to be created by the Liberals, with the Trudeau government launching the $35B Canada Infrastructure Bank, the $15B Clean Growth Fund or the $10B Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program in the past decade.
Aya Dufour has more.
Some more heat charging at the Upper Chamber.
Government legislation overhauling bail and sentencing laws that passed on division in the House has spent over a month at committee in the Senate and may not pass until late May or early June.
The pace of handling the legislation has drawn criticism from the governing Liberals, who argue that senators are pushing back against requests to change the calendar to get the bill past the finish line.
The issue came to a head when members of the Senate legal committee rejected a move from the bill’s sponsor — Sen. Pierre J. Dalphond — to have clause-by-clause on Bill C-14 wrap up on May 6, allowing it to return to the Senate before the start of a two-week break.
Instead, clause-by-clause will conclude on the May 7, meaning the bill likely won’t return to the Senate until May 26.
Defenders of the decision in the Senate noted that they were respecting the original schedule agreed to by the steering committee.
Marco Vigliotti has more.
NDP Leader Avi Lewis says he’s not “phased” amid MP Alexandre Boulerice’s move to run provincially for Québec Solidaire on Monday.
“This is a decision he has been mulling for many months,” Lewis told reporters at a press conference outside the House of Commons. “He’s taken a decision to continue the fight for all the causes that he’s championed here.”
Boulerice, who was Quebec’s only remaining federal NDP MP, will run provincially for Québec Solidaire in the Gouin riding.
At the press conference, Lewis showered Boulerice with praise, calling him a “beloved figure” and a “comrade” who supported other caucus members.
Sydney Ko has this one.
Also, the three Liberals who won the byelections that secured a majority government for Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this month took their seats in the House of Commons on Monday.
The government moved quickly to make use of its new majority powers by introducing a motion to limit debate on a change to the House rules that would enable the Liberals to take control of committees.
The Liberals are looking to change the structure of committees to ensure they have a majority of members. Committees study legislation and other government business and have the power to call witnesses and require the production of documents.
Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said the changes reflect the “long tradition” in Parliament that majority governments also hold a majority of seats on committees — though he acknowledged the situation is unusual.
The Canadian Press has more.