With just five sitting days on the clock before the House of Commons shuts down for another week-long hiatus, MPs will be back in their assigned seats in the chamber today — or, in the case of the latest addition to the Liberal ranks, his newly reassigned seat on the government side of the aisle, although as yet, there’s no word on whether Matt Jeneroux will be making an appearance alongside his new caucus colleagues this morning.

Opposition members will also have to wait at least one more day to question Prime Minister Mark Carney directly, as he’s not expected to be in his front-and-centre spot for the opening round of question period this afternoon, according to his office.

He will, however, likely be keeping a close eye on what Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand described as the “serious and rapidly evolving security situation in Mexico, including in and around Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta,” where “many Canadians were forced to take shelter to stay safe, while others … were left stranded as airports shut down and flights were cancelled,” as per the latest bulletin from Canadian Press.

“Global Affairs Canada issued a warning to people in the area that criminal groups had set up roadblocks with burning vehicles throughout the state,” the wire service reported Sunday.

“The agency says there are just under 19,000 Canadians in Mexico at the moment, including nearly 5,000 in Jalisco State. However, they note those numbers are estimates, as they come from a voluntary registry of Canadians abroad. WestJet, Air Canada, Flair Airlines, Air Transat and Porter Airlines all cancelled or diverted flights that were headed to the area.”

Back in the chamber, the first item of government business on the docket is Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson’s pitch to formally establish Build Canada Homes as a public agency with a stated mission to “promote, support and develop the supply of affordable housing in Canada and to promote innovative and efficient building techniques in the housing construction sector in Canada.”

The bill was initially slated to make its second-reading debut before the week-long hiatus, but was delayed due to scheduling changes made in response to the tragic mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Outside the chamber, the FINANCE committee is poised to complete its review Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s omnibus bid to roll out measures outlined in his inaugural budget speech last year, which is now under a House-imposed deadline to wrap up clause-by-clause review later today, which will put the bill on track to be reported back to the chamber no later than Wednesday.  (11 a.m.)

Elsewhere on the committee circuit: JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS members are set to circle back to Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s controversial pitch to expand the current laws against hate crimes to include new measures to prohibit the public display of swastikas and other hate symbols, as well as provide additional protections for houses of worship and cultural centres. (11 a.m.)

As chronicled by iPolitics, the bill — which was initially referred to committee in October — has been unable to proceed through clause-by-clause review due to a coordinated push by the Conservatives to block its progress over concerns that it “removes important safeguards, like requiring Attorney General approval for hate speech charges (and) lowers the legal standard for ‘hatred,’ threatening free speech and targeting legitimate expression,” as noted in a party-initiated petition against the changes.

“Last month, the Liberals reached a detente with the Conservatives, agreeing to pause study of Bill C-9 and shift focus to quickly passing government legislation overhauling bail and sentencing laws,” which secured third-reading approval on division and is now before the Senate, iPolitics notes.

The committee had been slated to return to clause-by-clause review of the hate crimes bill earlier this month, although the Conservatives had “signalled they were prepared to restart their filibuster,” and the meeting “was ultimately cancelled.”

Also on the radar: The Parliamentary Budget Office releases its initial assessment of the latest supplementary estimates, which were tabled earlier this month, and include $5.4 billion in new spending proposals, including $2.2 billion for “defence investments and operations,” $1 billion of which would be set aside to “cover urgent and unforeseen defence requirements,” according to the summary provided by Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali.

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

• Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval teams up with consumers’ rights groups to highlight concerns over the state of airline passenger protection laws in Canada, as well as what the advisory frames as the slow pace of rolling out a system to handle passenger complaints and requests for compensation. (9:30 a.m.)
• Ukrainian Canadian Congress CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn joins Canada-Ukraine Foundation executive director Valeriy Kostyuk and two “displaced” Ukrainian students currently in Canada to “mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” and kick off a new campaign “focused on supporting Ukraine’s long-term sustainability and recovery.” (10 a.m.)
• Professional Institute of the Public Service president Sean O’Reilly hits the West Block press theatre alongside a full contingent of PIPSC officials to promote the release of a new report, ‘Phoenix: 10 Years of Failure,’ which, as per the notice, examines “why the system failed, why serious problems persist, and what the experience reveals about how complex government systems are delivered by private consultants.” (11 a.m.)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Health Minister Marjorie Michel will share the details of a new initiative related to her government’s ongoing efforts to develop a national strategy on “men’s and boys’ health,” which, as per Canadian Press, will include the launch of a “national online survey” that will let Canadians to “weigh in” on the plan, which is expected to be released later this year. (11:30 a.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Before the opening round of debate on the proposed new housing agency gets underway, Conservative MP Jonathan Rowe will have one more chance to make the case for his backbench proposal to bring in new measures to improve the management of the Atlantic groundfish fisheries throughout the region, which will be in the queue for a make-or-break second reading vote on Wednesday afternoon. (11 a.m.)

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