Canada Minute: Issue 50

Canada Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Canadian politics.

📅 This Week In Canada: 📅

• A second Conservative MP has crossed the floor, bringing the governing Liberals within one seat of a majority. Ontario MP Michael Ma announced he is leaving the Conservative caucus to sit with the Liberals, saying his constituents want unity and decisive action, and that Prime Minister Mark Carney offers the practical approach they expect. Ma, first elected in April in Markham-Unionville, follows former Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont, who defected earlier this fall. His departure triggered sharp criticism from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said Ma abandoned the commitments he made during the campaign. Rumours had circulated about additional defections, though none materialized until now. With the House headed on a six-week break, the Liberals now need just one more MP to secure a majority, giving the lone Green MP, Elizabeth May, potentially greater leverage on upcoming legislation.
  
  
• Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, will step down in the new year after eight years in Washington, including six as Ambassador. Hillman said the decision was hers and that she informed Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this year, noting she stayed on to help with the government transition and the shift to the new Trump administration. She said it is the right moment to bring in a team that will lead Canada through the upcoming 2026 review of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). A career diplomat and the first woman to hold the role, Hillman previously served as Deputy Ambassador and helped negotiate both NAFTA’s renegotiation and the current CUSMA. Carney and former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised her leadership, citing her work on trade, pandemic border issues, and efforts to secure the release of Canadians detained in China. It is speculated that financier Mark Wiseman is to be named as her successor.
  
  
• The Liberal government defeated a Conservative motion that sought to affirm support for a new West Coast pipeline, despite Ottawa insisting it still backs the project outlined in last month’s Alberta-Ottawa memorandum of understanding. Conservatives used language from the MOU - particularly the commitment to “enable” a pipeline and potentially adjust the northern BC tanker ban - but Liberals argued the motion was a political stunt that failed to reflect the full agreement, including climate provisions and requirements for Indigenous consultation. Amendments adding further MOU language were also rejected. The NDP, Bloc, and Greens also voted against the motion, reiterating their opposition to new pipelines. Liberal Ministers said voting “no” does not signal opposition to a future pipeline, emphasizing that the MOU remains the government’s position. 
  
  
• For the first time since the US trade war began, Canada recorded a trade surplus in September, with exports exceeding imports by $153 million. Exports to countries outside the US rose 11%, while shipments to the US also increased 4.6%, and imports from the US fell 1.7%, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. Growth was driven by metals like gold, silver, and platinum, as well as crude oil and aircraft, with major markets including Switzerland, Germany, the UK, and Singapore. While Canadian aluminum exports to the US declined due to tariffs, shipments to European countries rose. Economists say the shift reflects both diversification away from the US and consumer preferences for Canadian-made products. Overall, Statistics Canada reports exports increased 6.3% from August, while imports dropped 4.1%, signalling stabilization in Canada’s trade flows.
  
  
• The federal government has introduced the Protecting Victims Act, described as one of the most significant Criminal Code overhauls in decades. The bill targets intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and child exploitation. Key measures include classifying murders motivated by hate, coercive control, or sexual exploitation as first-degree murder, and creating a new offence for coercive control to intervene earlier in dangerous relationships. The legislation strengthens penalties for sexual assault, non-consensual intimate images, and sexual deepfakes. For child protection, the bill restores and expands mandatory minimum sentences for child-sexual offences, criminalizes threats to distribute child abuse material, and tightens rules around sextortion and child luring. Online platforms would be required to preserve data for one year. The legislation also creates a new offence targeting the recruitment of youth into organized crime. Additional reforms aim to reduce re-traumatization for victims, improve court processes, and maintain mandatory minimum penalties.
  
  

🚨 This Week’s Action Item: 🚨