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What’s in the House

At the nascent second-reading stage are 19 government bills, all but one of which (Bill S-2, on motor vehicle safety) also need to make their way through the upper chamber.

One of those is the budget implementation bill, C-44, which was being debated last week and will likely take precedence over others. Another is the bill that proposes to legalize marijuana.

Two bills are being studied in committee: one that makes changes to Statistics Canada and one that facilitates pre-clearance for goods and people across the Canada-United States border.

A law that would force corporations to explain themselves if they don’t have enough diversity on their boards of directors, among other things, is the only government bill at report stage, having completed committee study but awaiting third reading. None is imminently about to pass.

What’s back from the Senate

Four different bills have been amended by the Senate and are to be looked at by the House of Commons. If the House rejects amendments, the bills have to go back to the Senate before they can become law.

Almost a year ago, last June, the Senate sent Bill C-7, which changes RCMP union rules, back to the House. But the matter hasn’t come back up yet.

On Friday, the Liberals indicated they’ll reject amendments brought forward on one of their first law projects, Bill C-4, which reverses Conservative labour laws. Labour Minister Patty Hajdu said a Senate change that requires secret ballots rather than signed union cards would be bad for labour relations.