After powering down for a week-long pause to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the House of Commons is set to return to regular parliamentary programming on the same day that Quebec voters are poised to collectively decide the final outcome of a provincial election race that, as of Sunday, was still too close to call.

(A quick check of the latest coverage suggests that most pollsters are projecting a Parti Québécois win, although whether the party has sufficient support to cross the majority threshold is still very much an open question.)

At the top of the Liberals’ legislative to-do list: Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon’s proposal to further streamline — and accelerate — the assessment and review process for major projects, as well as overhaul the federal labour laws, as outlined in the Building Canada Strong Act, which made its chamber debut on the first day of the fall sitting and is now on track to go to a make-or-break second reading vote later this week.

Barring a last-minute caucus revolt, it’s all but guaranteed to secure preliminary House approval, at which point it will be referred to a special legislative committee for further examination — a rare but not unprecedented procedural maneuver that, as Process Nerd explained last week, will preemptively impose stringent restrictions on the scope of the review, although committee members can still put forward amendments.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have already served notice that they intend to use their first designated supply day of the season to challenge their Liberal colleagues to support their proposed “emergency fuel relief plan,” which “provides for emergency pre-permitting and tax relief for the construction of diesel infrastructure, such as refineries, pipelines, rail and storage, eliminates all taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day (and) permanently eliminates taxes on diesel production,” as outlined in a non-binding motion standing in the name of party leader Pierre Poilievre.

That debate is currently scheduled to get underway on Tuesday, with the vote likely to take place on Wednesday afternoon, and a second opposition day tentatively on deck for Thursday.

Also on the radar: Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s backbench bid to update the Criminal Code to explicitly state that “mental disorder is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying,” which is in the queue for a critical second-reading vote to determine whether the bill is dispatched to committee for further study or dropped from consideration entirely. (Wednesday p.m.)

Outside the chamber: Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree is booked in for back-to-back committee appearances on Monday, starting with a one-hour session with PUBLIC SAFETY AND NATIONAL SECURITY members, where, alongside senior departmental officials, as well as representatives of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Treasury Board Secretariat, he’ll field questions on Canada’s “security screening process” in the wake of the arrest of a “Canadian national and former employee of the Canadian federal government” recently arrested over alleged espionage at NATO headquarters in Belgium. (Monday a.m.)

Later that afternoon, he’ll join Justice Minister Sean Fraser at JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS as MPs review legislation to establish the Financial Crimes Agency, as outlined in Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s inaugural budget last fall. (Monday p.m.)

Champagne himself is slated to deliver an overview of his second omnibus pitch to roll out additional measures laid out in his last budget during an afternoon appearance at FINANCE, where he’ll also outline the rationale behind his government’s plan to further extend the temporary break in charging the federal fuel excise tax, which is on track to undergo a lightning-round one-day review before it will be reported back to the House of Common for final approval. (Monday p.m.)

PROCEUDRE AND HOUSE AFFAIRS members will get an update on the rollout of the Foreign Influence Transparency Registry, courtesy of its commissioner, Anton Boegman (Tuesday a.m.) before kicking off a self-initiated investigation into the “opportunities, risks and institutional implications arising from artificial intelligence (AI) for Canada’s democratic institutions,” including, as per the terms of reference,“its effects on the administration of Parliament, the work of individual MPs and their engagement with constituents, Parliament’s capacity to exercise oversight and hold the government to account and the conduct and integrity of federal elections,” with expert testimony from Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy senior fellows Jaxson Khan and Sean Mullin, among others. (Thursday p.m.)

Parliamentary Budget Officer Annette Ryan heads to NATIONAL DEFENCE to discuss her office’s recent reports on “planned capital spending” included in the updated defence policy, as well as the “fiscal implications of meeting NATO’s 5 per cent commitment.” (Monday p.m.)

FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT members circle back to their ongoing monitoring of the “bilateral relationship” between Canada and the U.S. with a contingent of senior departmental officials, as well as a panel of experts from the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Center for North American Prosperity and Security and Carleton University professor Meredith Lilly. (Monday a.m.)

Senior representatives of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Indigenous Clean Energy, Manitoba Hydro, Environmental Defence Canada and the Friends of Science Society will share their respective perspectives on “electrification, energy self-sufficiency and domestic energy security” with NATURAL RESOURCES members. (Monday a.m.)

Future of Sport in Canada lead commissioner Andrew Pipe will brief CANADIAN HERITAGE members on the final report, which was delivered to the government earlier this year (Tuesday a.m.), ahead of a one-hour back-and-forth with Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden later this week. (Thursday a.m.) 

Meanwhile, three separate backbench bills are also working their way through committee review, including Conservative MP Blaine Calkins’ revived pitch to exempt natural health products from the oversight and monitoring protocols that apply to other drugs at HEALTH (Monday a.m.), Liberal MP Marianne Dandurand’s proposal to establish a spectrum policy framework at INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY (Tuesday a.m.) and her fellow Liberal Parm Bains’ call for the government to develop a “national framework regarding skilled trades and labour mobility” at HUMAN RESOURCES.  (Tuesday a.m.)

On the Senate side, several committees are still conducting a preliminary review of Champagne’s budget bill, which, as noted above, is still before the House of Commons.

Later this week, FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE members will get a status update on the current cross-border trade tensions from representatives of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association and the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association. (Thursday a.m.)

Elsewhere on and around Parliament Hill:

• College of Family Physicians of Canada president Sarah Cook hits the West Block press theatre to urge the federal government to “treat family medicine as core infrastructure for a resilient, self-reliant Canada by directing existing and promised health investments toward cutting red tape,” as well as “launching a new-practice fund, training the next generation of physicians at home and building a secure, made-in-Canada digital health system,” according to the advisory. (Monday a.m.)
• Pallium Canada CEO Jeff Moat will promote the release of a new “evidence brief” that examines the “economic case for investing in palliative care workforce,” which “can improve care, reduce avoidable hospital use and strengthen health-system capacity,” and make the case for their call for the government to “invest $300 million over five years to develop and implement a National Palliative Care Training Standard for Long-Term Care.” (Monday a.m.)
• International Downtown Association Canada chair Paul MacKinnon, who also serves as CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, will brief reporters on the need for “stronger federal action and investments to address the pressures facing downtown communities.” (Tuesday a.m.)
• Senior representatives of “leading Canadian freshwater organizations,” including AquaAction, IISD Experimental Lakes Area, Oceans North and Fondation de Gaspé Beaubien, “unveil new national polling” that, as per the notice, “provides a timely look at what Canadians expect from the Strategy, including their priorities for freshwater protection and investment, perceptions of water’s importance to the economy, support for freshwater science and conservation, and significant gaps in Canadians’ knowledge about the
  water systems they depend on.” (Tuesday a.m.)
• Later this week, Official Languages Commissioner Kelly Burke will hold a “virtual press conference” to go through the findings of her latest annual report, which is due to be tabled in the House of Commons that same day. (Thursday a.m.)

On the ministerial circuit: Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand will “celebrate the opening of Canadian North’s new cargo facility” at the Ottawa International Airport during a morning appearance alongside senior airline representatives, “northern partners” and Defence Minister David McGuinty, who, as per the advisory, “will also be in attendance.” (Monday a.m.)

Later that morning, Alty will team up with Health Minister Marjorie Michel, along with Michel’s Northwest Territories counterpart, Lucy Kuptana, for what the advisory is framing as an “important health care announcement” at a downtown Ottawa hotel. (Monday a.m.)

Also making the rounds in the capital: Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald joins Housing and Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, as well as his own newly assigned parliamentary secretary Daniel Gobeil at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum to promote new “investments” in “stronger, more resilient and affordable food distribution systems” that, according to the notice, “will help lower food costs and provide more options for consumers.” (Monday a.m.)