A day after accompanying Nunavut’s newly minted Liberal MP Lori Idlout to her first caucus meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney will reveal what his office is billing as a “new plan to defend and transform Canada’s Northern and Arctic region” during a whirlwind one-day visit to Yellowknife. (2:30 p.m.)

As per his itinerary, Carney is also booked in for a tête-à-tête with Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson and a visit to “local infrastructure” before it’s wheels up for Norway, where he’s set to spend the next few days in high-level meetings with Canada’s “Nordic partners.”

Back in the capital, MPs are set to collectively consider the government’s proposed response to a Senate-initiated amendment to the omnibus legislation introduced by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne last spring, which, in addition to a suite of affordability measures, includes a controversial provision to exempt federal political parties from provincial and territorial privacy laws.

As iPolitics reported last week, after an extended — and highly-charged — debate, the Upper House voted to add a three-year sunset clause to the proposed exemption, which, as per standard parliamentary protocols, must be approved by the House of Commons before the bill can proceed to the legislative finish line.

Last night, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon formally served notice of its recommended response to the rewrite, which, if adopted, would advise senators that the House “respectfully disagrees with the amendment,” and contends that “Parliament should be the body that decides the rules that govern communication by federal parties with Canadians,” and the proposed change “constitutes a substantive reversal of the principle” underlying the original provision.

It also notes that the government “intends to bring forward additional privacy provisions in legislative changes to the Canada Elections Act within this parliamentary session,” and concludes by pointing out that, as MacKinnon told iPolitics earlier this week, “there is a long tradition of the Senate deferring to the House of Commons on amendments to the Canada Elections Act, particularly those which have unanimous support of all recognized parties in the House and which govern the operations of candidates representing political parties seeking election to the House of Commons.”

If adopted, the proposed reply will be dispatched to the Senate, which will have to decide whether to defer to the opinion of the House of Commons, or, alternately, advise MPs that it must “insist” on the proposed amendment, which could trigger an open-ended exchange of messages between the two chambers.

Also on the radar: Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree teams up with Justice Minister Sean Fraser to announce a fresh bid by their government to overhaul the current lawful access regime — or, as the advisory puts it, to provide “law enforcement agencies,” as well as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, with “new tools to investigate serious threats, disrupt organized crime, and protect our communities” — which is set to be introduced in the House of Commons this morning. (12:30 p.m.)

Joining the ministers for the press conference, which will be held at the Cartier Square Drill Hall in downtown Ottawa: Secretary of State (Combatting Crime) Ruby Sahota, Ottawa Police Service chief Eric Stubbs, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique and RCMP Senior Deputy Commissioner Bryan Larkin.

Elsewhere in the precinct: Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin and Health Minister Marjorie Michel will field questions on the spending proposals outlined in the latest batch of supplementary estimates during separate appearances before the ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT and HEALTH committees. (11 a.m.)

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Secretary of State (International Development) Randeep Sarai hold an on-camera briefing outside the House of Commons to share the details of new federal funding “relating to the situation in the Middle East.” (1 p.m.)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet hits the byelection hustings in Terrebonne, Que., where, according to his office, he’ll outline the party’s priorities during a mid-morning media availability with former — and potentially future — Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné. (11 a.m.)

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc headlines a $500-per ticket reception in support of the the Federal Liberal Association of Sherbrooke, with local Liberal MP Élisabeth Brière also expected to make an appearance. (5 p.m.)

Also on the Quebec fundraising circuit: Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who will mingle with local supporters at Montreal’s Hôtel Le Germain, with all proceeds from the $1,000 ticket price earmarked for her local riding association in Ahuntsic — Cartierville, Que. (6 p.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Later this afternoon, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner will wrap up the opening round of debate on her backbench pitch to prohibit courts from taking the immigration status of a non-citizen into account during the sentencing process, which will be added to the queue to go to a critical second-reading vote when regular parliamentary programming resumes later this month. .

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