With parliament only scheduled to sit for another two weeks, MPs are busy wrapping things up before they head home for the holiday break. The House of Commons is scheduled to sit until Dec. 12 and the Senate until Dec. 19, but both could rise early.
Monday
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is set to present former British foreign secretary (and current MP) William Hague with a “special award” at the Canadian High Commission in London Monday. Baird will present the award as part of an event focusing on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, a campaign to prevent the use of sexual violence in armed conflicts. The minister will also take questions from the media.
While overseas, Baird is also expected to attend the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs meetings in Brussels, and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Ministerial Council meeting in Basel, Switzerland.
Back in Canada, Minister of Finance Joe Oliver will hold a media availability in Quebec City Monday morning, prior to pre-budget consultations.
MPs are set to vote Monday night on the NDP motion calling on Canada to provide support to Thalidomide survivors. The party expects unanimous support for the motion. Health Minister Rona Ambrose will also meet with Thalidomide survivors in Ottawa Monday to discuss their compensation after years of neglect.
And Governor General David Johnston and his wife Sharon continue a state visit to Chile Monday. The couple heads to Colombia from Wednesday to Saturday.
Tuesday
The Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs will meet Tuesday, when it is expected to go behind closed doors to discuss the work of a subcommittee set to study the issue of harassment on the Hill. The issue was referred to the committee after the secretive Board of Internal Economy concluded that it has no mandate to deal with harassment allegations made by two female NDP MPs against fellow MPs Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti, who were suspended from the Liberal caucus last month.
Wednesday
The government is expected to table new security legislation Wednesday that would give security agencies and police new powers. Talk of the new legislation comes more than a month after two separate shooting incidents in Ottawa and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., that left two Canadian soldiers dead. The Conservative government described both incidents as acts of terrorism.
Thursday
Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault will appear before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics Thursday, where she will take questions from MPs on matters pertaining to her office.
