Good morning!

With the political firestorm that followed the latest leak of offshore banking records — and specifically, the Toronto Star – CBC News joint investigation into the thousands of Canadian names to appear in the Paradise Papers, including that of longtime Liberal fundraiser Stephen Bronfman —the New Democrats are ready to put forward a motion to conduct a full parliamentary inquiry into the issue, which will be presented by newly installed leader Jagmeet Singh and his handpicked Commons representative, Guy Caron, at a noon-hour press briefing in the House Foyer.

The exact details of that motion remain, at least for the moment, tantalizingly unspecified, but it’s a good bet that the proposal will involve assigning a committee to peruse the details.

It’s an even better bet, though, that, whatever the precise nature of the motion, it will likely mean another day on the defensive for Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who, it’s fair to say, was already dealing with a jam-packed agenda.

Already on his to-to (or, in this case, to-survive) list: An afternoon appearance before the House finance committee, where he’ll field questions on his latest bid to implement his most recent budget plan, as well as whatever other matters the assembled MPs want to discuss, which will almost certainly involve his government’s seemingly leisurely approach to cracking down on tropical tax shelters.

He will almost certainly also be taken to task, yet again, on the potential consequences of his proposal to crack down on corporate tax loopholes, which is also the subject of an ongoing examination by the Senate NATIONAL FINANCE committee, which is currently criss-crossing country surveying the overall reaction to Morneau’s “tax fairness” plan.

One person who won’t have to face the increasingly emboldened opposition forces across the aisle today is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

According to the schedule provided by his office, he’ll arrive in Hanoi later this morning, where his itinerary includes a series of “roundtable discussions” with civil society groups, as well as one-on-one chats with his prime ministerial counterpart, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as well as president Tran Dai Quang, while Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne journey on to Da Nang for the start of the APEC leaders’ summit.

Also hitting the international circuit today: Government House Leader and Small Business Minister Bardish Chagger, who will focus on her non-parliamentary responsibilities during a three-day trip to Boston, during which she intends to “emphasize” her government’s “commitment to supporting clean technologies and an integrated North American supply chain,” starting with a tour of a Somerville-based lab, after which she’ll meet with Canadian exhibitors at the Greenbuild International Expo and end her first day with a roundtable on “women in business and innovation.”

Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly leads a delegation to Mexico for the International Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, where she will “highlight women’s leadership and promote Canadian culture on the international stage.”

Finally, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan heads to Belgium to meet with both his NATO counterparts and ministerial representatives from other members of the Defeat-ISIS coalition, as well as take part in Remembrance Day events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele, and Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr has booked a call-back for media to “make announcements” and recap the latest developments at the nternational Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial mini-summit, which ends later today.

ON THE PARLIAMENTARY AGENDA

After devoting the afternoon to another round of debate on the latest budget implementation package, the House will hand down its collective verdict on four backbencher-driven initiatives, including Liberal MP-sponsored motions on Portuguese Heritage Month and the need for federally funded health research, as well as a New Democrat pitch to make affordable housing a Charter right and a Conservative initiative on firearms licences.

After those votes wrap up, they’ll move on to a Senate-passed proposal to recognize Sickle Cell Awareness Day.

ON & AROUND THE HILL

Representatives from the Tamil Canadian Congress descend on the Centre Block press theatre to share their “disappointment” in the involvement of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the UN Peacekeeping Conference slated to take place in Vancouver next week, given what they will contend is a “record of gross human rights violations and war crimes.”

Also making the media rounds this morning: Conservative MPs Alupa Clarke and Phil McColeman, who are teaming up with the Armed Forces Pensioners’ Association of Canada, the National Association of Federal Retirees, and the Union of National Defence Employees to raise awareness of what they see as a “public service pension discrepancies for veterans.”

Later this morning, the Senate Liberals and the Independent Senators Group will co-host an “open caucus” session on the “economic and social impacts” of artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, which will include a panel discussion with University of Windsor law professor Kristen Thomas, Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship founding director Sean Mullin, Element AI chief science officer Nicolas Chapados and Canada Research Chair Goldie Nejat.

AT COMMITTEE

Treasury Board President Scott Brison offers his thoughts on bilingualism within the federal government during an appearance before the SENATE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES COMMITTEE, which has been reviewing the state of the policy throughout the fall sitting.

Over at AGRICULTRE AND FORESTRY, senators will have the opportunity to quiz Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Frechette on the potential impact of climate change on both sectors.

On the Commons side, ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PRIVACY AND ETHICS members continue to go through the fine print of the government’s much-criticized bid to update Canada’s access to information laws, which is now midway through clause-by-clause review, which is also underway at JUSTICE, where MPs have been looking at potential tweaks to an omnibus proposal to clean up the Criminal Code by removing provisions deemed unconstitutional or otherwise redundant.

Committee highlights courtesy of our friends at the Alpheus Group.

Don’t miss today’s complete legislative brief in GovGuide.ca!

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Just a few blocks from Parliament Hill, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains is slated to hit the stage at the Canadian Aerospace Summit, where he will, as per the advisory, discuss the “importance” of the industry in a midday address.

Elsewhere in the capital, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is slated to give the keynote speech at the first annual Innovation Jam: Ottawa Sustainability Challenge, during which students are “encouraged to work collaboratively to develop solutions to climate change and sustainability related issues,” with $5,000 in development money to be provided to implement the “best proposal.”

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