Four things to watch for as Parliament resumes

Let the politicking begin.

Members of Parliament have returned to our nation's capital, after a six-week winter break.

While it's very cold outside, things will heat-up inside Parliament with debates and discussions on what Canada should do about the Ukraine, prostitution laws, mandatory minimum sentences and the oil pipelines.

[ Related: Canada makes Keystone XL ad blitz in metro stations near White House ]

Here are four topics, however, we believe will form a significant part of the narrative over the next couple of months on the Hill.

Once again, it's about the economy:

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, that the Tories' number one priority in this session of parliament will be the economy.

"Overwhelmingly, our focus continues to be on job creation, economic growth, long term prosperity. That means the cornerstone of the session coming up ahead will be the budget," Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan to CTV News on Sunday.

"I'm hoping in that budget that we'll see that we're on track...to balance the budget in 2015 which will help us to keep taxes down and to encourage the job creation that we have."

Jim Flaherty will announce the date of the budget in Parliament on Monday afternoon. It's expected to be released in February.

The continuing battle for the middle class:

Expect all three parties to spend a lot of time, this session, focusing on pocketbook policies that purport to help Canada's middle class.

As explained by CBC News, the Harper government is expected to introduce legislation to require cable companies to unbundle their channels. They'll also introduce a bill to cap domestic roaming rates in the cell-phone industry.

Meanwhile, the New Democrats will continue their fight to keep door-to-door Canada Post service. On Tuesday, they're expected to introduce this non-binding motion in the House:

Senate scandal to heat-up again:

Over the holidays, the Tories were pretty successful in changing the channel on the Senate expense scandal.

That channel will quickly be turned back, this week.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair scored some political points through the last couple parliamentary sessions, interrogating the prime minister about his office's involvement in the $90,000 cheque from Nigel Wright to Sen. Mike Duffy. Expect that to continue.

The opposition parties will also wait for more information on the RCMP investigations into the expense claims of Senators Duffy, Brazeau, Wallin and Harb.

[ Related: Preston Manning launches new Senate reform initiative ]

Moreover, according to Postmedia News, Auditor General Michael Ferguson is poised to release an interim report on the expenses of some of the senators

Will the Liberals finally unveil some detailed policies?:

The common refrain has been that Justin Trudeau's Liberals have been void of policy. If the polls are any indication, that strategy is working for them.

Nevertheless, expect the Liberals to start identifying some specific policies as they ramp-up for the 2015 election. The party will hold a national convention, in Montreal, in late February, where some of those policies will be developed and unveiled.

Moreover, expect newly-elected MP Chrystia Freeland to become a 'go-to' salesperson — both in Parliament and on the television talk show circuit — of the new Liberal plan.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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