First session The first session of the 43rd Parliament opened on December 5, 2019, with the
speech from the throne delivered by Governor General
Julie Payette. Although several bills were introduced, the agenda was overtaken by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Before Parliament implemented a five-week closure on March 13, 2020, the
Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act was given all three Senate readings and royal assent in one day, the only non-
appropriation bill adopted before the closure. However, Parliament reconvened for one day, on March 24, 2020, to introduce and adopt the
COVID-19 Emergency Response Act (Bill C-13) with unanimous consent. Among other provisions, the bill doubled the GST/HST credit for the 2019 tax year, added $300 to the May 2020 Canada Child Benefit, paused (for 6 months) repayments of Canada Student Loans, immediately transferred $500 million to the provinces, amended the
Patent Act to allow government to use a patented invention without the permission until September 30 to respond to a public health emergency, and enacted the
Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act and the
Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. They again reconvened for one day, on April 11, for the
COVID-19 Emergency Response Act, No. 2 (Bill C-14) which replaced the previous bill's temporary wage subsidies with the expanded
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program and extended it to September 30. Similarly, the House of Commons reconvened on April 29 and the Senate on May 1 for the
Canada Emergency Student Benefit Act (Bill C-15) to create the
Canada Emergency Student Benefit and the Canada Student Service Grant. After a failed attempt in June, Parliament met again between July 20–22 for
An Act respecting further COVID-19 measures (Bill C-20) which further extended and amended the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, provided a one-time $600 payment to persons with disabilities, and enacted the
Time Limits and Other Periods Act (COVID-19). During that time, in spring and summer 2020, the Liberal Party had three Members of Parliament resign and the Conservative Party elected a new leader. Initiated after
Andrew Scheer's December 2019 announcement of his impending resignation as leader, the
Conservative Party leadership election resulted in
Durham MP
Erin O'Toole becoming the new party leader as of August 24.
Marwan Tabbara of
Kitchener South-Hespeler changed his affiliation to Independent in June upon the news release that the
Guelph Police Service had charged him with counts of
assault,
criminal harassment,
breaking and entering and committing an indictable offence relating to an incident that occurred in April. Effective September 1,
York Centre MP
Michael Levitt resigned to become President and CEO of the Canadian Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies. The next day, upon naming
Chrystia Freeland to replace Morneau as Finance Minister, the Prime Minister
prorogued Parliament, ending the first session. On September 18, 2020, Minister of Health
Patty Hajdu accepted the resignation of Tina Namiesniowski, who was up until then president of the PHAC. Namiesniowski resigned 17 months into her five-year tenure, which had begun on May 6, 2019. Her resignation followed the resignation of Sally Thornton, Vice-president of the Health Security Infrastructure Branch who had been in charge of the pandemic early warning system and emergency stockpile, and who had resigned earlier in the week. Namiesniowski, who had been appointed as a "senior official" in the
Privy Council Office, was replaced three days later by Iain Stewart, who was formerly at the
NRC.
Second session On September 23, 2020, Parliament resumed with a new
throne speech read by Governor General Payette. During this second session, Payette would resign following a
workplace review of
Rideau Hall. The throne speech was followed by a separate televised address (at 6:30 p.m.
EDT) from Prime Minister Trudeau. At the time of the speech, both the Leader of the Opposition O'Toole and
Bloc Québécois leader
Yves-François Blanchet were in quarantine after being infected with COVID earlier in the month. The first two bills adopted (Bills C-4 and C-9), as well as Bill C-14 and C-24, provided further
federal aid related to COVID-19. With the Canada Emergency Response Benefit ending, the bills created the Canada Recovery Benefit as an income support for those not eligible for
employment insurance, in addition to the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, and the bills extended the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to June 2021. Bill C-14 directly transferred funds for Covid-related measures. Bill C-30 implemented the legislative items from the
2021 budget, including additional
COVID-19 aid in the form of creating the Canada Recovery Hiring Program, extending both the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy to the end of September, extending the Canada Recovery Benefit at a reduced rate, transferring $1 billion to provinces to help implement their immunization plans, and pausing the applicability of interest on federal student and apprentice loans to March 2023;
Old Age Security was increased by 10% with a one-time payment of $500; the federal minimum wage was increased to $15.00 per hour; face masks and shields were added to the list of products exempted from
GST/
HST; GST/HST was made applicable to payments to foreign digital products or services such as streaming subscriptions or short-term accommodations; the
Canada Health Transfer was increased by $4 billion. In addition, the same bill provided $2.2 billion in additional payments for infrastructure projects funded through the Gas Tax Fund while renaming it the Canada Community-Building Fund, provided $3 billion to the
Hibernia project, increased the number of judges on federal courts, and reduced the number of hours (or the amount of earnings from self-employment) required to qualify for unemployment benefits. It also enacted the new
Retail Payment Activities Act to regulate
payment service providers. Addressing the
federal government's relationship with Indigenous peoples, Bill C-15 adopted the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, while Bills C-5 and C-8 enacted call to actions 80 and 94 of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission making September 30 a
public holiday titled National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and amended the
Oath of Citizenship to state "...I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen." Other legislation adopted during the second session included Bills C-7 and C-12, both adopted with NDP and Bloc support, to address court findings on the
previous parliament's legalization of
medical assistance in dying and to fulfil Canada's commitment to
Nationally Determined Contributions under the
Paris Agreement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Bills C-18 and C-29, both adopted with Conservative support, addressed the
Brexit's impact on
CETA and ended the
Port of Montreal strike. Six private member bills and one senate public bill received royal assent: •
Larry Maguire's
An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (transfer of small business or family farm or fishing corporation) (Bill C-208) applies the
capital gains tax instead of the
dividend tax to inter-generational transfers, •
Len Webber's
An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act (organ and tissue donors) (Bill C-210) allows Canadians to indicate their intent to sign up as a donor through their annual income tax return, •
Kevin Waugh's
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sports betting) (Bill C-218) allows a province's lottery corporation to offer
betting on single sport events, athletic contests, races and fights, •
Matt Jeneroux's
An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (bereavement leave) (Bill C-220) extends bereavement leave from 5 to 10 days and entitles employees already on compassionate care leave to also claim bereavement leave, •
Sonia Sidhu's
An Act to establish a national framework for diabetes (Bill C-237) requires the
Minister of Health, within one year, to develop a framework to improve access to information on
diabetes prevention and treatment, •
Jim Munson's
An Act respecting Kindness Week (Bill S-223) designates the third week of February in each and every year as "Kindness Week". == Parliamentarians ==