Today is the day that the children are back in Parliament, and I wonder about just what horrors await us. Pierre Poilievre will take his seat just before the start of Question Period, where prime minister Mark Carney will be in attendance, and it will be their first face-off since the election debates, not that those debates have anything in common with QP. I have little doubt that there will be no taking of high roads, that Poilievre will denounce the Major Projects Office, the choice of those five projects, the lack of a pipeline amongst them (even though there is no project proposal on anyone’s table), and the usual bluster about crime rates and housing that doesn’t miraculously get built with the snap of a finger. Oh, and of course, the fact that there is no trade deal with Trump (even though there is no deal to be had).

The PM will be at Question Period tomorrow. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T00:00:30.816Z

I fully expect Carney and the Liberals to pat themselves on the back for the Office being launched and those five projects being chose, and for the Build Canada Homes launch, and the summer spent trying to find savings in government departments in advance of the budget. They’ll pat themselves on the back for the legislation they passed before the summer, and for the bills they are introducing, and generally for what a good job they think they’re doing. And sure, they’ll say that there’s more work to be done, but it will nevertheless be couched in a whole lot of self-congratulations. Count on it.

Meanwhile, we’re waiting on that budget in October, but there are still a lot of bad bills on the Order Paper. The Border bill is a mass of privacy violations and data-sharing with American authorities who can’t be trusted, to say nothing about the loss of due process for refugee claimants. The cyber-security bill has a great many problems with it that should have been corrected but weren’t. We’re going to get a bail bill that is likely going to start infringing on Charter rights, to be paired with more legislation on “bubble zones” around churches and cultural community centres. And they’re running out of time on passing bills about citizenship for “lost Canadians” and for those unfairly excluded from Indian Act status, so they need to get a move on those too. There is a lot that needs to get accomplished this fall, and we’ll see how much of it actually happens, or if the Bloc will side with the Conservatives at committee and grind everything to a halt once again.

Ukraine Dispatch

President Zelenskyy says that Ukrainian forces have pushed the Russian advance back further in Sumy region, and that they have caused significant losses to Russian forces in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. Ukrainian drones have also struck the Kirishi oil refinery.

Good reads:

• Carney announced the launch of Build Canada Homes, and said the initial goal is to build 4000 housing units on six pieces of federally-owned land.
• Tim Hodgson claims the five selected projects were chosen because they still have regulatory challenges to be completed.
• Here is why the federal government is making copper mining one of their major project priorities.
• Here is an overdue fact-check on the EV mandate, which is now “paused.”
• People trying to qualify for the (meagre, insufficient) Disability Benefit are finding that qualifying is incredibly difficult, especially without a family doctor.
• The RCMP have released certain files pertaining to Cold War spy Kim Philby, and the connections his defection had to Canadian cases.
• There are concerns that one of the most recent appointments to the Quebec Superior Court doesn’t actually meet the requirements.
• Here’s a look at what happened at the NDP’s much-diminished caucus retreat.
• Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie will step down once her replacement is chosen, after receiving only 57 percent support on a leadership review.
• Kevin Carmichael lays out the bind that the Bank of Canada finds itself in, trying to stave off a recession while trying not to stoke inflation with core measures still hot.
• Althia Raj points out the various contradictions between what Carney has said and done, and why that will be a major test of his party’s character in the weeks to come.
• Shannon Proudfoot notes that both Carney and Poilievre seem to be fighting to recapture a particular political moment that has since passed them by.
• My weekend column wonders about Carney’s commitment to Charter rights, since he keeps promising ways to violate them in defiance of long-held positions.

Odds and ends:

New episodes released early for all paid subscribers. This week I talk to @clareblackwood.bsky.social about making Canadian political comedy in the current moment. #cdnpoli

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-09-14T22:11:29.045Z

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.