Orders of the Day - Bring on the F-35 Deputy Minister Parade!

At the very least, it makes for an impressive witness list: Senior Associate Deputy Minister Simon Kennedy (Industry), Francois Guimont (Public Works and Government Services), Michelle d'Auray (Treasury Board Secretariat) and Robert Fonberg (Defence). 

Elsewhere on the committee front, it's another long day for Citizenship and Immigration, which is scheduled to hold two meetings today -- from 8:45 to noon, and from 3-6:30 pm -- in order to squeeze in more than six hours of witness testimony on Jason Kenney's latest foray into refugee reform. At this rate, they'll be doing clause-by-clause by Wednesday.

Also this morning: Lobby Commissioner Karen Shepherd goes before Ethics to provide her thoughts on the latest round of estimates. According to the notice, the committee will also consider motions from NDP MPs Charmaine Borg and Alexandre Boulerice, although given past experience, that discussion will likely be forced behind closed doors. 

Canadian Heritage breaks from its seemingly interminable 150th anniversary party planning duties to review the national protocol procedure, a task with which members will be ably assisted by House of Commons clerk Audrey O'Brien and Parliamentary Protocol Chief Elizabeth Rody, as well as senior departmental officials. 

Over at Justice, Conservative MP Blake Richards will present his private members' bill to make it a crime to wear a mask at a riot -- yes, yes, it's already a crime to take part in a riot, period, but he wants to make doing so while concealing one's identity a separate offence -- with representatives from the Victoria Police Department and Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association also scheduled to share their views on the bill, which, given past events, will likely be positive.

Later today, another Conservative private members bill -- Guy Lauzon's proposal to increase "accountability for offenders" will undergo additional scrutiny at Public Safety, which will hear from the Correctional Service of Canada and Department of Justice, as well as Federal Victims Ombudsman Sue Sullivan. 

Finally, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights will resume its investigation of the persecution of the Copt Community in Egypt.

On the House agenda: The government's bid to modernize the citizens' arrest laws is set to wrap up final debate later today, as is the railway safety bill, thus clearing the legislative decks to allow the Commons to spend the rest of this week on the budget implementation bill, which Government House Leader Peter Van Loan hopes to send to committee by next Monday.

Outside the Chamber, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson will head to the Commons Foyer for "an announcement on criminal justice legislation." The minister will be accompanied by Brampton MP Parm Gill, whose private members' bill on gang recruitment is scheduled to be debated this evening. Given those limited facts in evidence, the most likely scenario would seem to be for the minister to give the Gill bill an official thumbs up on behalf of his government, but we'll have to wait for the press conference to find out for sure.

Also this morning: the Canadian Police Association kicks off its annual lobby day with a trip to the Charles Lynch Press Theatre, where CPA president Tom Stamatakis and VP Denis Cote will "discuss the key priority of finding a sustainable, efficient and fair system of financing for policing in Canada."

NDP MP Peter Stoffer will hit the same venue to raise a ruckus over the closure of nine district Veterans Affairs offices, and specifically, "how it will affect service to military and RCMP veterans and their families."

His caucus colleague Yvon Godin, meanwhile, will brief reporters on his latest private members' initiative, which would require all Officers of Parliament to be bilingual, and later this afternoon, a third New Democrat MP -- Mike Allen -- will host a panel discussion on "the economics of literacy."

Outside Centre Block, "newly formed coalition" Solidarity Against Austerity will rally students, environmental groups, community organizations, peace activists and others to "challenge the latest round of federal and provincial austerity measures" at a rally on the parliamentary lawn. 

Finally, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty heads outside the precinct to deliver the keynote speech at the 2012 Manufacturing Summit in Kitchener.  For up to the minute dispatches from the precinct and beyond, keep your eye on the Parliament Hill Ticker below -- or, alternatively, bookmark it and check back throughout the day.