What Are Some of the High Profile Bills Before Parliament in 2024?

Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada Arif Virani speaks during question period in Ottawa on Dec. 1, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Parliamentarians in 2024 will be faced with a number of pieces of high-profile proposed legislation ranging from increasing consumer privacy and pharmacare, to transitioning away from fossil fuels and  delaying the expansion of euthanasia to the mentally ill.

While the Opposition, especially the Conservatives, can be expected to vote against most of the Liberal government’s legislation, their votes may not be enough to kill the bills due to the Liberals’ confidence-and-supply partnership with the New Democrats.

Here is a look at some of the high-profile bills to watch out for in the new year.

Pharmacare for Canadians

Under the confidence-and-supply agreement signed by the Liberals and New Democrats in 2022, which included the NDP backing the minority government in key House of Commons votes, cabinet agreed to support the NDP’s bill on pharmacare and pass a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023. But it was recently announced by Health Minister Mark Holland’s spokesperson that pharmacare negotiations have been extended into 2024, with a new goal of introducing legislation by March 1.

Ever since a cabinet-appointed advisory council’s recommendation for a universal, single-payer public pharmacare system was released in 2019, the Liberal government has been under pressure to deliver on the program. The advisory council estimated that a system would cost $15 billion a year once fully implemented, while a Parliamentary Budget Office report from October 2023 found the program would cost $11.2 billion in the first year of 2024–25 and increasing to $14.4 billion in 2027.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Nov. 21, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

In November, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh refused to say if his party would pull out of the confidence-and-supply agreement if pharmacare was not introduced, saying the New Democrats had been “really clear what we want to see happen.”

Increased Consumer Privacy

Bill C-27, also known as the Digital Charter Implementation Act 2022, would create a Consumer Privacy Protection Act to increase the control Canadians have over their personal information, as well as how digital platforms handle it. That would include a requirement that companies use easy-to-understand language when asking for consent to share information.

The bill would also create rules on the responsible development of artificial intelligence systems, with companies being required to explain their rationale for developing such systems. A commissioner would have the authority to order independent audits of companies’ activities related to the technology.

Bill C-27 also includes a provision prohibiting “reckless and malicious uses of AI that cause serious harm to Canadians and their interests.” Companies that fail to comply with the new regulations could be handed fines by a tribunal totalling 5 percent of their global revenue, or $25 million.

The legislation is currently being studied by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology and  is likely to be voted on by the House in 2024. If the bill passes, it would make Canada one of the first countries in the world to establish a digital charter for its citizens.

Modernizing Investment Canada Act

Bill C-34, which would amend the Investment Canada Act to allow ministers more time and authority to decide if foreign investments might compromise national security, may also receive royal assent in 2024. The bill  would require notice of certain investments to be given prior to their implementation, and authorize the industry minister to impose “interim conditions in respect of investments in order to prevent injury to national security that could arise during the review.”

While the Investment Canada Act is designed to encourage investment and economic growth, it must be balanced with ensuring foreign investment protects Canada’s interests, according to a news release. Modernizing the act with Bill C-34 is meant to “strengthen the national security review process and better mitigate economic security threats arising from foreign investment,” it added.

The bill has passed the House of Commons and second reading in the Senate, and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy for further study.

Support Transition to ‘Low Carbon’ Economy

Two bills that are meant to support Canada’s move away from fossil fuels and which were introduced by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson on Nov. 22 will also be voted on in 2024. Bill C-49 is meant to encourage offshore wind energy projects in Atlantic Canada, while Bill C-50 will establish a new training centre for “sustainable” jobs and a new government advisory body.

Bill C-49 would update the offshore accords Ottawa has with the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, focusing on the development of offshore wind farms. The legislation does not address the compensation that would be given to fishermen who lose business because of the projects.

Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Sept. 21, 2023. The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle

Bill C-50, meanwhile, posits that Ottawa will develop and publish an action plan for sustainable jobs every five years beginning in 2025. When introducing the legislation, cabinet cited a Royal Bank of Canada report, which estimates that through its transition to a “net zero” economy, Canada could add up to 400,000 jobs where “enhanced green skills are critical.”

Both bills have passed a second reading in the House of Commons and may soon be moving to the Senate. But the federal Conservatives and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have said they oppose the pieces of legislation, and that the bills will harm the country’s oil and gas sector in favour of green energy.

Delaying MAID Expansion

While the federal government’s expansion for medical assistance in dying (MAID) for people with mental health conditions was already delayed by a year until March 17, 2024, cabinet may introduce another piece of legislation delaying it even further. Justice Minister Arif Virani said in December that cabinet would “evaluate [MAID expansion] comprehensively to make a decision whether we move ahead on March 17, or whether we pause.”

In March 2020, the House of Commons passed Bill C-7, amending the Criminal Code to allow MAID for Canadians whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable.” In February 2023, then-Justice Minister David Lametti announced that the government would delay MAID’s expansion to the mentally ill by one year to “ensure that we move forward on this sensitive and complex issue in a prudent and measured way.”

Cabinet then introduced Bill C-39, which passed the House in March and delayed MAID’s expansion. A private member’s bill that would have halted the expansion of MAID by amending the Canadian Criminal Code to state that a mental disorder “is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying” was narrowly defeated in October, with the majority of Liberals voting against it.

Relief for Farmers

The Conservative Bill C-234 passed the Senate in December, but not in the form they would have liked. While the legislation to remove the federal carbon tax from propane and natural gas used to heat or cool barns and dry grain passed the House with support from the NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and Greens, an amendment from a Liberal senator was added, removing everything except grain drying from the bill.

Sen. Pierre Dalphond, who tabled the amendment, said he did so based on “clear evidence that reducing emissions in barn heating is possible now, like with other buildings, and that a three-year exemption is more reasonable than eight years for grain drying, considering available efficiencies and emerging technology.”

Despite the Tories forcing an all-night voting session in Parliament to stall House proceedings unless the Liberal government agreed to axe parts of its carbon tax, they were not successful. It remains to be seen if the Tories will vote in favour of the now-weakened Bill C-234 when it returns to the House for the final vote before receiving royal assent.

Online Harms Bill

The Liberal government is also working on legislation focused on stopping “online harms,” something it first promised back in 2019.

While the Liberals introduced a “technical discussion paper” on the subject and rolled out a consultation process on a proposed online harms legislative framework in 2021, it died after a federal election was called. Concerns have been were on whether the legislation would lead to online censorship.

The Liberal Party’s platform says the proposed legislation is meant to address “hate speech.”

“Introduce legislation within its first 100 days to combat serious forms of harmful online content, specifically hate speech, terrorist content, content that incites violence, child sexual abuse material and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images,” reads the party’s 2021 platform.

Justice Minister Virani said in December he does not want the legislation to go down the path of telling people “what to think, or how to criticize people,” or trying to curb free speech. While he was short on details, he said the upcoming bill would focus on online harms involving women and children, such as the sharing of intimate images without consent.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.