With hours left on the clock before the House of Commons would vote on Bill C-5, per the terms of the Closure motion passed earlier in the week, the Speaker agreed with an NDP motion that yes, the bill was indeed abusive omnibus legislation and agreed to split it into two parts to separate it for the final vote. It was a bit late to do so, because there was no ability to only advance one half and not the other, and it wasn’t going to matter much either considering that the Conservatives were going to vote in favour of it (because they absolutely want this Henry VIII clause on the books if they should form government in the next five years). And so, the first half of the bill, on the federal trade barriers, got near-unanimous support with only Elizabeht May voting against it, and the second half on major projects—and that Henry VIII clause—had the Bloc, the NDP, Elizabeth May and Liberal Nathaniel Erskine-Smith vote against it, not that those numbers made any kind of difference.

After the bill passed, Carney called a press conference in the Foyer, and had every Indigenous MP in the caucus as his backdrop (with a few others dropping in), and he insisted that it simply wasn’t communicated effectively how much Indigenous participation would be required for these projects, and that they would respect UNDRIP, and yes they would hold consultations with rights-holders over the summer to ensure that implementation of this legislation would be done “the right way.” Oh, and he totally swears that he’s not going to put a Henry VIII clause in any other bills—really! But all of those assurances left a sour taste.

It very much seems that Carney has taken the route of asking for forgiveness rather than permission, which is a really strange way to go about building trust with those rights-holders, especially when your MPs refused to let them speak at committee or have any participation in the legislative process. And you will forgive me if I don’t believe that they won’t ever use that Henry VIII clause to bulldoze over UNDRIP obligations on a project, because they gave themselves those powers for a reason. And if they think that they got away with asking for forgiveness rather than permission worked this time, who’s to say they won’t try that again when they do use those powers? Let’s not kid ourselves.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-06-20T22:56:10.284Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Drone attacks from Russia in the early hours of Thursday hit apartment buildings in Kharkiv and Odesa. There was another POW swap, and again, numbers were not disclosed. President Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is developing interceptor drones to deal with the Russian drones, whose numbers have increased in the past weeks.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney is due to sign a defence and security pact with the EU in Brussels on Monday, which will also include aspects like marine security and cyber.
• Anita Anand talks to The Canadian Press about her plans as foreign minister, including how to reform such a large department.
• Chrystia Freeland is “dismayed” that BC Ferries is buying new ships from China, but she doesn’t have the levers to do more than send a letter about mitigating risks.
• Applications for the (wholly inadequate) Canada Disability Benefit are now open, and Alberta won’t promise not to claw the payments back. (Try to look surprised!)
• In advance of CSIS’ internal ombuds office starting up, we have learned that over the last year, 33 out of 34 misconduct cases were deemed to be founded.
• Spotify thinks they don’t need the CRTC to regulate them like radio, because apparently they’re special (as they rob artists from royalties owed).
• Governor General Mary Simon is calling on Hudson’s Bay to return any Indigenous artifacts in their collections to their original nations.
• As chair of the finance committee, Karina Gould is hoping to look into why the CPPIB only invests 12 percent of its holdings in Canadian companies.
• The Conservatives have formally set their convention (and leadership review) for January 29 to 31 in Calgary.
• Quebec is downgrading their emissions reductions plans because of uncertainty in the carbon market that they use for cap-and-trade driving down prices.
• Mike Pemberton is the new Yukon Liberal leader and soon to be the next premier.
• Supriya Dwivedi gives context to the criticism that Carney has capitulated to Modi in trying to “reset” relations with no acknowledgment from India of their actions.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I delved into Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision that clarified family law rules when there is an international child custody case.

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