House of Commons passed some key bills before breaking for the summer

After a flurry of activity late into the evening Wednesday, MPs cleared the legislative decks and passed some key government bills before a three-month summer recess.

Liberal Government House Leader Mark Holland got much of what he wanted passed through the House of Commons at third reading — or pushed off to committee for further study in the fall.

The opposition Conservatives have tried to stall some bills but the government, with the support of the NDP, introduced a parliamentary manoeuvre called "time allocation" on several occasions to shut down debate and move bills to votes.

"Despite the noise often that's in Parliament, Canadians can look at what their Parliament and government achieved and see enormous progress," Holland told reporters.

Government House Leader Mark Holland makes his way to a microphone to speak with reporters in the Foyer of the House of Commons. Holland got much of what he wanted either passed through the House of Commons at third reading or pushed off to committee for further study in the fall. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Beyond the legislative agenda, this sitting saw some bitter and very personal verbal brawls erupt in the Commons.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has hammered the government over its handling of Chinese meddling in Canada's elections. At one point he accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of working on behalf of Beijing. He's also attacked the government's management of a shaky economy during a time of high inflation.

Trudeau, meanwhile, has accused the Tories of being climate change deniers as wildfires rage.

The prime minister said Poilievre would implement deep cuts to public services and he blasted Tories for allegedly slandering former governor general David Johnston, the embattled former special rapporteur on foreign interference.

In a rare moment of levity in a fractious Commons, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis rose after shortly midnight to recite a humorous poem.

"It seems our debates just get dumber and dumber so let's get lost and go home and have a good summer," he said.

Before rising, the Commons dispensed with two government bills that have been targets of entrenched Conservative opposition: C-47, the budget bill, and C-18, legislation that forces tech giants like Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for posting their journalism on their platforms.

The Senate itself passed C-18 shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, issued a statement saying it will soon end access to Canadian news on their platforms now that the bill is law.

Google has said it's considering a similar approach.

The Senate had amended C-18 — making changes meant to quell opposition from social media companies that say the regime that requires payment for posting links is unfair.

Conservative Senate Leader Don Plett slammed the government's firearms legislation, C-21. (Chris Rands/CBC)

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said these two companies, which control the vast majority of digital advertising in Canada and elsewhere, are threatening the viability of news companies.

He accepted 10 of the Senate's 12 amendments — rejecting two that he said would have materially changed the legislation's intent.

The Red Chamber decided to roll over rather than insist on its amendments.

The budget bill is also expected to pass tonight, said a spokesperson for the government's representative in the Red Chamber Sen. Marc Gold.

Bill C-35, which entrenches the government's national child-care program into law, was passed by MPs but isn't expected to move through the Senate until Parliament resumes in late September.

The government's new Canada Disability Benefit, which creates a federal income supplement for low-income, working-age people with disabilities, will soon receive royal assent after clearing both chambers this week.

The upper house likely will rise for its own summer vacation after it passes C-51 — which will implement a self-government treaty with Saskatchewan's Whitecap Dakota Nation — and two "supply bills" that give the parliamentary stamp of approval on new government spending, Gold's spokesperson said.

What's not expected to pass Thursday is Bill C-21, the government's controversial firearms legislation. The bill would implement a national handgun ban and redefine prohibited firearms as part of a push to ban "assault-style" rifles.

In a lengthy speech Wednesday, Conservative Senate Leader Don Plett slammed what he called a "badly thought-out bill" that will have "very negative implications" for Canada's gun owners while doing little to suppress violence. The government has said weapons of war have no place in the hands of civilians.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez rejected two of the Senate's proposed amendments to C-18. (The Canadian Press)

Despite some Conservative opposition, the bill was sent off to committee for further study by an overwhelming vote of 52 to 18 in a Senate chamber now dominated by Liberal appointees. The fight will resume in the fall.

Poilievre threatened to filibuster the budget bill — and he did speak at length on the bill recently — but it appears C-47 will cross the finish line unscathed.

Like budget bills before it, the legislation has been criticized as an "omnibus" bill because so many non-financial matters — like a vague promise to demand parties respect privacy rights and changes to the Criminal Code — have been jammed into it.

The government has defended omnibus bills as a way to quickly move election promises through Parliament.

Critics say they are undemocratic because they treat MPs and senators like rubber stamps, giving them less of an opportunity to probe certain programs.

The budget bill, when passed, will launch major government initiatives like multi-billion-dollar tax credits to stimulate the clean energy sector and clean tech manufacturing.

It'll also launch a $13-billion expansion of a national dental care program, offering government-funded dentistry to families earning less than $90,000 a year.

Last week, Richard Wagner, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, implored Parliament to finally pass C-9, changes to the Judges Act that would overhaul the regime for investigating judges accused of wrongdoing.

The legislation has been before Parliament in some form for years.

The bill, once passed, will create a new process for the Canadian Judicial Council to review misconduct allegations that are not serious enough to warrant a judge's removal.

Wagner said the delays threaten public confidence in how the government and the judiciary probe wayward judges.

The Senate amended the bill to change how complaints can be dismissed, who sits on the panel deciding how discipline should be dealt with and how decisions can be appealed.

Justice Minister David Lametti rejected the more substantive changes, which prompted Conservative Sen. Denise Batters to complain that the government doesn't really want "sober second thought" from the Senate.

Batters had proposed including laypersons at every stage of the disciplinary process and reinstating a role for the Federal Court of Appeal.

"The Trudeau government is rejecting both common sense and the evidence. It's clear they see the Senate as nothing but a glorified rubber stamp," she said.