Bloc MPs brought up C-282 at their first opportunity
The second set of questions during Nov. 4’s question period had the Bloc Québécois asking the government when it would get Bill C-282 passed.
“Will the Prime Minister finally ask (Senators Peter Boehm and Peter Harder) to stop threatening Quebec farmers?” Bloc MP Alain Therrien asked.
Ag Minister Lawrence MacAulay responded by reaffirming the government’s support for supply management and reminding the House it was a Liberal government that instituted supply management in the first place.
In response to Therrien’s follow-up question, where he outlined that a Trump or Harris presidency could have negative effects on the Canadian dairy industry, National Revenue Minister and former minister of agriculture Marie-Claude Bibeau told the House that regardless of who is in the White House, a Liberal government will protect supply management.
The NDP asked a question about a labour situation in B.C.
NDP MP Matthew Green asked if the government would reject any intervention to end the dispute between the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and 700 ILWU Local 514 workers.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told the House he spoke to both sides “and reminded them that it is their responsibility to their members, to each other, to Canadians, to farmers, to workers and to businesses to make a deal.”
The Bloc kept up the pressure about C-282 on Nov. 5.
Bloc MP Yves Perron told the House leaving this bill unpassed would hurt Canada in upcoming CUSMA renegotiations, scheduled for 2026.
Minister Bibeau responded telling MPs she, as well as the prime minister, Trade Minister Mary Ng and Minister MacAulay are urging Senators to send the bill back to the House.
On Nov. 6, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet asked the prime minister to put pressure on senators to get C-282 back to the House of Commons.
Prime Minister Trudeau said the government needs “to take a firm stand when it comes to supply management.”
The Bloc brought up C-282 again on Nov. 7.
After senators introduced amendments to the bill that only protects supply management in new trade agreements, the Bloc is concerned.
Canadian senators are “giving Donald Trump carte blanche to attack supply management during the next round of CUSMA talks in 2026,” Alain Therrian said.
Government House Leader Karina Gould responded, voicing the government’s disappointment with these amendments.
“I would ask senators to respect the will of the House,” she said. “I am asking all senators to vote against this amendment and support our farmers, who feed Canadians and contribute so much to our economy.”
In a follow-up question, Minister Bibeau put the pressure back on the Conservatives, asking if Pierre Poilievre will encourage Conservative senators to support C-282 in its original form.
On Nov. 8., and in response to questions about C-282 from Bloc MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Francis Drouin, the parliamentary secretary to Minister MacAulay, told the House the government is in regular contact with the Senate about the bill.