FIRST READING: All the hidden extras buried in the Liberals' fast-tracked omnibus bills

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What Bill C-4 would do is give political parties an exemption from all such guidelines, either federally or at the provincial level. What's more, it backtracks that exemption all the way to the year 2000.
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The measures really have nothing to do with the rest of the bill, and they've notably showed up before in prior Liberal bills that dealt more specifically with elections law.
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In addition to its ban on $10,000 cash payments, the Strong Borders Act would allow police to demand businesses turn over client info upon request, and without a warrant.
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This is referred to as 'lawful access,' and it's something that police have been trying to get encoded into federal law since at least 2012. That was the year when a Conservative attempt to introduce the same fell apart following overwhelming public opposition.
Lawful access is usually framed as something that would apply to internet companies, allowing police to demand the identities of anonymous web users that they deem to be up to no good. But the Strong Borders Act would extend to everyone from doctors to car rental companies to hotels. All police would need is 'reasonable grounds to suspect' that an offence 'has been or will be committed,' and then they'd be able to compel any of these businesses to clandestinely turn over private information on their clients.
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The bill that's gotten the most attention in the current session of Parliament is Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act. This is the one that would give cabinet the power to earmark 'national interest projects' that could be exempt from select federal laws, including the Indian Act, the Impact Assessment Act and even the Migratory Birds Convention Act. It is also the only bill on this list that passed before the summer break; it passed third reading late on Friday night.
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The bill is being pitched as a way to speed through approvals for mines, highways, pipelines, ports and all the other 'nation-building projects' being promised by the Carney government. This is part of why it's received broad support from the Conservative caucus.
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But if Bill C-5 is intended to slash red tape, it only extends it to businesses in the good graces of the prime minister. Bill C-5, in its unamended form, gives the prime minister unilateral control over which companies would be spared the odyssey of the typical Canadian approvals process, and which wouldn't. It's for this reason that Liberal MP Karina Gould has called it the 'King Carney' bill.
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Bill C-3 is easily the most straight-forward piece of legislation on this list, but it's also the one that could end up having the most far-reaching impacts. It's a package of amendments to the Citizenship Act that would extend citizenship to the foreign-born children of Canadian expats.
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One scenario cited by defenders of the bill could be the case of a Canadian Armed Forces soldier who has a child while deployed overseas. But Bill C-3 is broad enough that it would allow citizenship to be claimed by anyone born overseas whose parent is a Canadian and has spent at least 1,095 days in the country. So, in extreme cases, the child of someone who left Canada as a toddler could be eligible for Canadian citizenship. The standard is loose enough that it's not actually known how many instant Canadians this would create.
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The Liberals could claim that none of this is their idea, and that they're simply fulfilling the terms of an Ontario Superior Court decision which found that it violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to place a 'first-generation limit' on citizenship. However, the federal government acknowledged that it never bothered to appeal the ruling, explaining in a backgrounder that 'we agree that the current law has unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country.'

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Globe and Mail

32 minutes ago

• Globe and Mail

Is Cameco Stock a Buy Now?

Shares of Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) have been on a rocket ride over the past three months or so, gaining a massive 50%-plus in a very short period of time. Is that a warning sign that Wall Street is baking in overly optimistic expectations or is the miner set to see a material improvement in its business over the coming years? There's a lot to unpack before you run out and buy Cameco stock right now. What does Cameco do? At its core, Cameco is a miner. Mining is a very capital-intensive business, given the cost of finding good places to build a mine, getting the approval to build a mine, building and operating a mine, and then, ultimately, returning the mine site back to its original state once the mine is closed. Complicating things a great deal is the fact that most miners produce commodity products, so their revenue and earnings are heavily impacted by often volatile commodity prices. Cameco is no different from other miners in this regard. But the uranium it mines does set it apart from the pack in some important ways. For starters, uranium is the fuel that powers nuclear power plants. So Cameco's fortunes are tightly tied to the nuclear power industry's ups and downs. Given the high-profile nature of nuclear plant disasters, that can be a very negative thing at times. And the bad times tend to linger until the fear over the risks of nuclear power disasters subsides. That said, nuclear power happens to produce energy without producing greenhouse gases. In other words, it is a source of clean energy. Nuclear power is also capable of running at full nameplate capacity on an ongoing basis, making it a great complement to intermittent power sources like solar and wind. Given the ongoing shift in the world toward cleaner power options, nuclear power is seeing something of a renaissance. (The fact that the last nuclear power plant meltdown happened in 2011, quite some time ago at this point, is also a big help.) Cameco tries hard to be reliable At the same time, Cameco can't avoid the fact that the price of the commodity it sells has a major impact on the way Wall Street views its business. With nuclear power seen as an increasingly important power source, uranium prices have benefited. And so, too, has Cameco's stock price. The tie between uranium prices and Cameco's stock price will likely never change, so a significant drop in uranium prices would lead to a big drop in Cameco's stock price, too. If you buy Cameco stock today you need to believe that the nuclear power industry is set to expand over the long term. And, thus, demand for uranium will remain strong over the long term and keep uranium prices high. If you don't go in with that belief you could be let down over the short term as commodity prices wax and wane, just like any other commodity, over shorter periods of time. CCJ data by YCharts However, there is something important about Cameco's business model that is worth highlighting. It doesn't sell uranium at the spot price, it signs long-term supply contracts. This helps to soften the blow from uranium price declines, though it can also limit the upside when uranium prices rise. And Cameco recently bought a non-controlling stake in Westinghouse, a service provider to the nuclear power industry. The revenues this business generates should be more consistent over time than uranium prices. In other words, Cameco is doing what it can to ensure its business is resilient to the typical ups and downs of a commodity business. Think carefully before buying Cameco The truth is, Cameco probably won't be a great fit for most investors. You can get indirect exposure to nuclear power via an investment in a reliable dividend-paying utility like Southern that will expose you to much less risk. However, if you think nuclear power is set to grow in the years ahead, Cameco is a solid "pick-and-shovel" play on the sector. Just go in knowing that volatility is the norm, with 50% price increases coming along with the risk of similar price drawdowns. Should you invest $1,000 in Cameco right now? Before you buy stock in Cameco, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Cameco wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $664,089!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $881,731!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is994% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to172%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

CTV News

34 minutes ago

• CTV News

Man on Canada-wide driving prohibition facing charges after numerous hit-and-runs

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Toronto Sun

36 minutes ago

• Toronto Sun

Prime Minister Mark Carney visits military cemetery in Brussels ahead of EU-Canada summit

Published Jun 23, 2025 • 3 minute read Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R) and his wife Diana Fox Carney (2nd R) attend a wreath laying during a visit to the Schoonselhof cemetery, on the sidelines of an EU-Canada summit, in Antwerp, on June 23, 2025. Photo by JASPER JACOBS / AFP BRUSSELS — Prime Minister Mark Carney began official events for his four-day trip to Europe Monday by visiting a military cemetery in Belgium before a meeting with European counterparts at the EU-Canada summit. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Carney said on social media Sunday he was in Brussels to launch 'a new era of partnership' between Canada and the European Union to benefit workers, businesses and security 'on both sides of the Atlantic.' Carney started the day with a visit to the Antwerp Schoonselhof Military Cemetery, where 348 Canadian soldiers are buried. Carney toured the cemetery alongside his wife, Diana Fox Carney, and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever. Carney also took part in a wreath-laying ceremony with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and National Defence Minister David McGuinty. Stephane Dion, special envoy to the European Union and Europe, also attended. Carney is expected to meet later Monday with De Wever, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the EU-Canada summit, Anand and McGuinty are expected to sign a security and defence agreement with the European bloc — an agreement one European official described last week as one of the most ambitious deals the continent's powers have ever signed with a third country. The security and defence agreement opens the door to joint purchases of weapons with European countries and participation in the ReArm Europe initiative — which will allow Canada to access a 150-billion-euro program for defence procurement called Security Action for Europe. Canada will need to sign a second agreement with the European Commission before it can take part in the program. A government official briefing reporters on the trip said the partnership is expected to make procurement easier and more affordable, while also allowing Canada to diversify its sources of equipment. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the EU-Canada summit, leaders are also expected to issue a joint statement pressing Russia to end its war on Ukraine through measures like further sanctions, and calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The joint statement is also expected to touch on climate change, trade and digital and tech policy. De Wever said Canada's partnership with the EU is critical now because 'we've woken up in a world that doesn't look that friendly anymore.' 'We're living in a world where we have an imperialist power in the east who uses military force, we have a peculiar figure in the White House who is choosing the road of protectionism and even isolationism. So those who like a rules-based world, a multilateral world, should find each other's company now,' the Belgian prime minister said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. De Wever said allies will need to spend more on defence and should do so wisely by developing their industrial defence bases together. 'Those countries who still like multilateralism are the countries that have to look up each other's company and make good agreements,' he said. Carney posted on social media early Monday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump overnight. He said the conversation addressed the need to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East. Carney said he and Trump also spoke about trade and their shared commitment to a stronger NATO. Carney has called for a 'diplomatic solution' in the wake of U.S. strikes on three key nuclear facilities in Iran. In a statement Sunday, Carney called Iran's nuclear program a 'grave threat' to international security and said Canada has been 'consistently clear' that Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Speaking to reporters Monday, De Wever said he had no sympathy for the 'evil' Iranian regime and called the country a 'big sponsor of terrorism.' De Wever said that while there should be regime change in Iran, it would be preferable if it came through a democratic process and not one that 'starts with bombing.' Leaders at the EU-Canada summit are also expected to discuss global trade and commit to working toward ratifying and implementing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, the Canada-Europe free trade deal known as CETA. The pact took effect provisionally in 2017, and most of its contents now apply. But all EU countries need to approve CETA before it can take full effect; 10 members still haven't ratified the deal. Carney, Costa and von der Leyen are scheduled to hold a joint press conference Monday evening. On Tuesday, Carney travels to The Hague for the NATO summit. The international meetings come as Canada looks to reduce its defence procurement reliance on the United States due to strained relations over tariffs and Trump's repeated talk about Canada becoming a U.S. state. Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls MLB