With just 13 sitting days left on the clock before the current supply cycle winds down, the Conservatives are set to use their sixth designated opposition day to trigger a day-long debate on a non-binding call for the government to “review federal benefits provided to asylum claimants in order to find savings for taxpayers,” as well as “restrict federal benefits received by rejected asylum claimants to emergency lifesaving healthcare only.” (10 a.m.)

The motion, which is set to be presented by Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner and will go to a vote tomorrow afternoon, cites a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Office on the projected cost of the Interim Federal Health Program, which, it notes, is “projected to rise to $1.5 billion by 2029-30.”

If adopted, it would also urge the government to “provide transparency on federal spending on the IFHP by providing an annual report to Parliament,” as well as “pass policies to immediately expel foreign nationals convicted of serious crime in Canada.”

For his part, Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to be back in his front-and-centre seat in the chamber for question period this afternoon, according to his itinerary.

As yet, there’s no word from his office on whether he’ll also take part in the planned “moment of silence for Ukraine and the victims of Russian aggression,” which, as per the motion adopted unanimously yesterday afternoon, will be followed by a round of statements from party representatives. (3 p.m.)

Earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will “mark four years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine” during a “fireside chat” co-hosted by University of Ottawa president Marie-Eve Sylvestre and Roland Paris, who served as a senior advisor to former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and is now the director of the University of Ottawa Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. (12:30 p.m.)

Also on the radar: Speaking with reporters yesterday, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon served notice that he has “summoned the senior safety team” from U.S.-based OpenAI to Ottawa for what he described as a “sit-down meeting” to go over the company’s “safety protocols,” and particularly, the “thresholds of escalation to police,” in the wake of media reports on the Tumbler Ridge, B.C. shooter’s interactions with the AI platform ChatGPT.

As Canadian Press notes: “The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Jesse Van Rootselaar’s account was banned last June after it was flagged for troubling posts, including some that included scenarios of gun violence. While the report says employees considered alerting authorities, OpenAI says the posts did not meet the threshold required to inform police because they didn’t include credible or imminent plans.”

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

Senior Canadian Union of Public Employees officials Mark Hancock and Candace Rennick hit the West Block press theatre alongside New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice to kick off a one-day lobby blitz that, as per the notice, will bring “hundreds of workers from across Canada” to Parliament Hill to share “concerns about the future of public services like health care” with MPs and senators. (9 a.m.)

Representatives of the Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice join Conservative MP Jamie Schmale and Sen. Yvonne Boyer to urge the government to back a Senate-initiated proposal to criminalize “forced and coerced sterilization,” which is on track to make its second-reading debut in the House of Commons later this week. (9 a.m.)

Sen. Marty Deacon teams up with Conservative MP Gabriel Hardy to co-host the seventh annual Ski Day on the Hill, which aims to “promote cross-country skiing and snowshoeing as an excellent form of physical activity,” as well as “showcase the potential to enjoy physical activity through the winter months,” which, according to the advisory, will “bring together parliamentarians and the public” to try out a “5-metre-wide cross-country ski classic and skate ski track” on the parliamentary lawn. (12:30 p.m.)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Defence Minister David McGuinty will launch what the advisory describes as the “next phase” of a department-run program to “expand military housing for CAF members and their families across Canada” during a morning press conference at an unnamed location somewhere in Ottawa, the details of which will be “shared with registered media,” according to the notice. (8:30 a.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Later this afternoon, Conservative MP James Bezan will get his second — and final — chance to make the case for his backbench proposal to expand the current sanctions regime by adding new measures that would explicitly recognize “transnational repression,” as well as require the foreign affairs minister to “respond to a report submitted by a parliamentary committee that recommends that sanctions be imposed … against a foreign national,” which is expected to secure all-party support when it goes to a make-or-break second-reading vote tomorrow afternoon.

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