Photo: Rally on Parliament Hill against Bill C-5, July 2025
CBC News reports: “The House [of Commons] only passed four bills this fall sitting — that includes the supplementary estimates, which need to pass every sitting to keep the government operating. [Members of Parliament] quickly got two bills through the third reading shortly after question period on Thursday [December 11]: C-12, the government’s border security bill, and C-4, which primarily would bring the Liberals’ income tax cut officially into law. Both will now head to the Senate. The government was able to pass the ‘Lost Canadians’ legislation last month.”
The Migrant Rights Network opposes C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act. They highlighted: “This bill would allow mass deportations, deny refugees protection, and share sensitive info with foreign governments.” They had also noted: “[This bill] threatens migrant and refugee rights and expands government surveillance.”
It does not appear that Bill C-9, the Combatting Hate Act, passed. Today, The Canadian Labour Congress stated: “Parliament should not pass this Bill without considerable amendment. As drafted, the Bill threatens labour rights, fundamental freedoms, the right to protest, and public accountability.”
Prior to this fall sitting, Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act, passed the House of Commons in June 2025. We continue to watch C-5 as well as the yet-to-be-passed Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act.
Ecojustice has commented: “Bill C-5 sets a dangerous precedent. It gives sweeping and potentially unconstitutional powers to the federal Cabinet to bypass environmental laws and legal safeguards. The Bill allows decisions to be made about ‘national interest’ projects with little public participation, without robust environmental impact assessments, and without the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.”
Greenpeace Canada has also explained: “Bill C5 (the Building Canada Act) is likely going to result in a new round of grassroots opposition from Indigenous land defenders and environmental activists to resource extraction projects fast-tracked under the new legislation.”
And they noted: “Bill C2 (the Strong Borders Act) grants the federal government new warrant-less surveillance powers that are not restricted to border-related issues, but can be used any time there is even a suspicion that any Act of Parliament might be contravened.”
Greenpeace further highlights: “The history of RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] surveillance and repression of land defenders (particularly but not exclusively Indigenous) suggest that these powers will be misused.”
We are also watching MP Jenny Kwan’s Bill C-233.
The Canadian Press has reported: “Her private member’s bill C-233, which she’s calling the “No More Loopholes Act,” would add new oversight requirements to exports of parts and components, end permit-free access to the United States for military goods and require companies to obtain end-use certificates from foreign governments. …Debate on the bill is expected to resume in the new year, likely in February.”
PBI-Canada has commented that Bill C-233 would complement the Berta Cáceres Human Rights in Honduras Act in the protection of defenders that is backed by the PBI-Honduras accompanied Lenca organization COPINH.
Members of Parliament are scheduled to be back in Ottawa to resume sitting in the House of Commons on January 26, 2026.
Additional reading: Here’s all the legislation CFSC is tracking right now (Canadian Friends Service Committee, October 21, 2025).
