A day before Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to deliver his first-ever midyear fiscal update, Prime Minister Mark Carney is poised to announce what his office is billing as “a new measure to build Canada strong for all” during a mid-morning appearance somewhere in the National Capital Region. (9:15 a.m.)

For his part, Champagne will start the day in Montreal, where, according to his office, he will “unveil a landmark new initiative” in his government’s “plan to build Canada strong for all,” although neither advisory provides any additional details on the reveal. (10 a.m.)

Meanwhile, a “senior government official” says the government “will show an improved bottom line in the coming spring economic statement, posting a lower projected deficit for the current fiscal year and future years,” according to The Globe and Mail.

“Several private-sector economists have recently reported federal revenues are likely to be stronger than projected in the November budget,” the paper notes.

“While this would allow Ottawa to show smaller projected deficits, the economists said they expected new spending announcements will use up most of that fiscal room.”

In an open letter to the prime minister released over the weekend, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney and his team of relying on “credit card budgeting,” and called on him to “cap the deficit for this year at $31 billion,” which, he notes, was the listed target in the final fiscal update provided under his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.

“Let me be clear, we should have no deficit, and if I were prime minister right now, we would be on track to achieving,” Poilievre notes.

“Cutting bureaucracy, consultants, corporate welfare, foreign aid, handouts to fake refugees and tax havens can bring down debt, taxes and inflation. Bring affordable government, so Canadians have affordable lives.”

Back in the precinct, Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon has filed the necessary procedural paperwork to force a vote on his pitch to reconfigure House committee lineups to more accurately reflect the razor-thin majority that the Liberals have managed to secure, at least for now, which, as reported by iPolitics last week, “would increase the number of members on committees where Liberal MPs act as chairs to 12, with seven of those seats reserved for Liberals,” while committees traditionally chaired by a member of the opposition “would be fixed at 10, with Liberal MPs to take up five seats.”

After launching the opening round of debate on the motion last week, MacKinnon served notice on Friday that he is prepared to invoke closure as early as this afternoon, when MPs are expected to circle back to the proposal, as well as a Conservative-initiated subamendment that, if successful, would effectively exempt the three opposition-chaired ‘oversight’ committees, PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATES and ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PRIVACY AND ETHICS, from the proposed change.

Depending on how quickly the Liberals are aiming to have the restructured committees in place, the vote could take place as early as tonight, although it’s not clear how long it could take to compile the revised membership lists.

Also on the radar: As flagged by Canadian Press, five-term New Democrat MP Alexandre Boulerice is widely expected to announce that he will be resigning his Montreal-area seat to hit the provincial hustings under the Québec solidaire banner later this year.

“In the very brief invitation sent to the media on Sunday morning, the only remaining elected official from the ‘orange wave’ that swept Quebec in the 2011 federal election makes no mention of either the New Democratic Party or Québec solidaire,” a move that “comes less than a month after the NDP elected a new leader in Avi Lewis, who said in March he had encouraged Boulerice to stay on in Parliament,” and “will leave the NDP with just five seats in the House of Commons, seven shy of the number needed for official party status,” the wire service notes.

Later this morning, Conservative health critic Dan Mazier teams up with his caucus colleagues Matt Strauss, Helena Konanz and Burton Bailey to share what a Facebook preview from Mazier describes as “big news” on what the party-issued advisory describes as the “PrescribeIT scandal,” which, as Mazier contends in his post, “promised to replace fax machines,” but “instead, burned through $300+ MILLION of your money on a failed software program that’s shutting down.” (9:30 a.m.)

On the committee circuit: SCIENCE AND RESEARCH members continue to examine the “implications” of the “preliminary joint agreement” that could open the Canadian market to a limited number of Chinese-made electric vehicles, with a panel of academic experts, including Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology associate dean Nadja Johnson Bressan, as well as senior representatives of General Motors of Canada, Pacific Manufacturing Association of Canada and The Transition Accelerator, on the witness list. (3:30 p.m.)

Earlier in the day, NATIONAL DEFENCE members will get the chance to quiz Doug Guzman about his role as CEO of the newly created Defence Investment Agency, while VETERANS AFFAIRS members are set to go over the expenditures outlined in the main and supplementary estimates with Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight. (11 a.m.)

On the Senate side: Defence Minister David McGuinty will participate in what is likely to be a wide-ranging back and forth with NATIONAL SECURITY, DEFENCE AND VETERANS AFFAIRS members (4 p.m.) while Canadian Heritage Minister Marc Miller will field questions from OFFICIAL LANGUAGES members (5 p.m.).

ON AND AROUND THE HILL

Senior B’nai Brith Canada officials, including CEO Simon Wolle, hit the West Block press theatre to “provide an important update on its Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in Canada, which, as per the notice, “recorded a record number of antisemitic incidents in Canada for the third year in a row.” (9 a.m.)

Children First Canada supporters, including “children and youth from across Canada,” along with “parents, teachers and allies,” descend on Parliament Hill for a midday rally to call on the government to “immediately table and pass the Online Safety Act, with key measures including a duty-of-care requiring platforms to prevent foreseeable harm, safety by design (and) a strong, independent regulator with enforcement powers,” as well as “coverage across the full digital ecosystem, including social media, gaming and Artificial Intelligence.” (11 a.m.)

IN THE CHAMBER

Conservative MP Frank Caputo will wrap up the final round of debate on his backbench proposal to strengthen protections against intimate partner violence and coercive or controlling conduct before the draft bill is added to the queue for a third-reading vote later this week. (11 a.m.)

OUTSIDE THE PRECINCT

Health Minister Marjorie Michel teams up with Pan American Health Organization director Jarbas Barbosa to launch Vaccination Week in the Americas, which, according to the advisory, “convenes countries and partners from across the Americas to promote awareness of, and access to, vaccination throughout the region,” during a midday event in Ottawa. (11 a.m.)

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