Inside Politics

Orders of the Day - Who wants to talk Canada-Panama free trade?

Despite growing grumpiness amongst opposition parties over the blink-and-you'll-miss-it pace the government has set for the line-by-line parliamentary review of the omnibudget, not a single one of the committees tasked with studying specific sections of the bill are scheduled to meet today.

Instead, MPs -- or, at least, those still toiling away in Ottawa as the week draws to a close -- will devote the remains of the parliamentary work week to the Canada-Panama free trade agreement, now at report stage, which will almost certainly find itself the object of whatever delaying tactics the NDP can muster. 

Outside the precinct, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair treks to Quebec City to meet with members of Moisson Quebec, "an organization dedicated to eradicating food insecurity and improving quality of life" while elsewhere in the province, the "Quebec Section of the NDP" holds its biennial conference in Montreal.

Meanwhile, Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae makes his way to Gander to kick off the provincial Liberal party's annual general meeting.

On the ministerial circuit:

  • Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney holds court on the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and, according to the advisory, "the move towards a 'just in time' immigration system' at the IBM Centre for Solution Innovation.
  • Elsewhere in Toronto, Minister of State for Sport Bal Gosal continues his practice of holding a separate event to reveal each and every venue for the 2015 Pan Am Propan Am Games with an appearance at University of Toronto's Hart House.
  • On the east coast, New Brunswick Conservative MP Tilly O'Neill Gordon attends the "official opening" of the Arbec Forest Products mill in Miramichi while Nova Scotia caucus colleague Greg Kerr hands out money  for "recreational infrastructure" in Meteghan and Yarmouth.
  • Making the rounds in Quebec, Veterans Affairs Minister Steve Blaney heads to Saint-Romauld to show his government's support for the homeless, after which he'll make his way to the Levis Arena to take part in a puck drop as part of a "ceremonial ... lead-up to Remembrance Day" being organized by the Quebec Junior Hockey League, the Midget 3A League and the North American Hockey League.
  • Moving west, Conservative MP David Wilkes delivers federal cash for three Revelstoke-area recreational facilities.
  • Finally, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq takes questions from Whitehorse reporters on the "engagement round tables" she intends to hold to "establish [her] Arctic Council chairmanship priorities." 
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. 

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NOTE: Updates added in reverse chronological (newer to older) order.

Tags: blackberry jungle, orders of the day