Undaunted, it seems, by Team Trudeau’s steadfast refusal to heed their call to remove an avowed anti-Conservative labour group from the panel charged with deciding how to divvy up nearly $600 million in direct and indirect federal support for the news media sector, the Conservatives are set to turn the full force of the Commons spotlight onto what they contend is an attempt by the government to “stack the deck for the election” with a motion that would, if adopted, have the House formally “condemn” Unifor’s involvement, citing the fact that it “has taken and continues to take partisan political positions.”

The motion — which stands in the name of Conservative MP Gérard Deltell — would also “take note of the importance of a free and independent press to a healthy democracy,” and urge the Liberals to scrap the proposed “media bailout” in favour of a strategy “that does not allow government to pick winners and losers.”

Under the newly adopted extended hours, the debate will kick off this morning and continue until 6:30 PM, at which point control of the Chamber agenda will revert back to the government until midnight.

MPs assigned to the late shift can expect to spend the rest of the evening going over the changes made by committee to the proposed new framework for First Nations, Inuit and Metis family and children support services.

Also on today’s to-do list: The first round of debate on Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen’s pitch to encourage “cruelty-free cosmetics” by banning the use of animal testing, which is being shepherded through the House by Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu.

ON & AROUND THE HILL

Representatives from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers team up with the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to launch a joint push for the Senate to sign off on the changes made at committee to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna’s bid to overhaul the federal environmental assessment regime, the amended version of which is currently before the Upper House. (9:30 AM)

At a separate event later this morning, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers will reveal the details of its “federal energy program,” which, as per the advisory, “will clearly outline opportunities for all of Canada’s federal political parties to address issues facing the oil and natural gas industry,” with “key tenets” to include “market access, Indigenous prosperity, regulatory policy, climate and innovation and fiscal and tax policy.” (11 AM)

Finally, the annual parliamentary memorial service, which pays tribute to former MPs and senators who have passed away over the previous year, will be held in the Senate Chamber this morning, courtesy of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. (10 AM)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Employment Minister Patty Hajdu drops by Toronto’s Covenant House, which bills itself as Canada’s “largest homeless youth agency,” to launch what the notice is billing as a “new strategy to help young Canadians” — particularly those “facing barriers to employment” — to find and keep good-quality jobs.”

Meanwhile, Infrastructure Minister François-Philippe Champagne joins Quebec transport minister Chantal Rouleau, for an “important infrastructure event” in Montreal, while elsewhere in the province, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau offers new federal support to “help bring youth into the agriculture sector” at Beauharnois’ Centre des Moissons.

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