With the Liberals having managed to secure a narrow but viable working majority in the House of Commons, at least for now, the prospect of a snap spring — or, for that matter, summer or even fall — is effectively off the table, but Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon’s pitch to overhaul the federal voting laws is apparently still near the top of his legislative to-do list.

As flagged in What We’re Watching, MacKinnon is expected to kick off the opening round of debate on the legislation — which the minister has dubbed the Strong and Free Elections Act, and includes new measures aimed at preventing foreign interference, impose new restrictions on donations made via cryptocurrency, money orders or prepaid credit cards and establish new privacy protocols for political parties — this morning. (10 a.m.)

Outside the chamber, Procurement Ombud Alexander Jeglic will brief GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATES members on his review of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses, which, as Global News reports, found that the government “repeatedly ignored key safeguards meant to ensure that legitimate Indigenous businesses would benefit from a multi-billion-dollar procurement program.” (11 a.m.)

Meanwhile, three separate committees will be taking a closer look at Canada’s electric vehicle sector this morning, starting with SCIENCE AND RESEARCH, where members are set to examine the “implications” of Canada’s “preliminary joint arrangement” with China during back-to-back one-hour sessions with Canada’s former ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques, Global Network for Strategic Effects founder Michael Kovrig, Clean Energy Canada policy director Joanna Kyriazis and Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne. (11 a.m.)

Over at INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY, MPs will explore the government’s current policies on e-vehicles with representatives from Electric Autonomy Canada, Transition Accelerator and the Global Intelligence Knowledge Network, as well as Andrew McKinnon, the interim CEO of Canada’s ZEV Supply Chain Alliance. (11 a.m.)

Rounding out the roster, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT members get an update on the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard from a trio of senior officials with the Industry, Environment and Natural Resources departments. (11 a.m.)

Also on the radar:

• Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon teams up with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and provincial transport minister Prabmeet Sarkaria for an infrastructure reveal somewhere in the Greater Toronto Area. (9 a.m.)
• Moving west, Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight will drop by the Delta, B.C. headquarters of Mangrove Lithium, where, according to her office, she’ll attend a “ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the commissioning of North America’s first electrochemical lithium refining facility.” (10 a.m.)
• Industry Minister Mélanie Joly makes the rounds at Réseau Capital’s yearly one-day meet-up in Montreal, where, according to her office, she’ll deliver a keynote speech on her government’s ongoing efforts to support the “venture capital industry.” (5:30 p.m.)

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

Representatives of the Canadian Vaping Association hit the West Block press theatre to highlight what the advisory describes as the “real-world impact of
Canada’s current vaping excise tax rate,” which, it contends, “is fuelling the illicit vaping market and adversely impacts government tax revenue,” and call on the government to “modernize the coordinated framework to protect the legal market, curb the influence of organized crime and safeguard government revenue.”(11 a.m.)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand mingles with Liberal supporters at an evening reception at Toronto’s iconic Omni King Edward Hotel, with all proceeds from $1,000 – $1,775 “give what you want” entry fee earmarked for the party’s central coffers. (6 p.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Later this afternoon, Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe will wind down the first round of debate on her backbench bid to allow courts to “order restitution directly to a community organization that provides frontline services, and can show that it incurred measurable expenses” in cases involving drugs or human trafficking, as she explained in her opening speech last fall.

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