In the news today: Liberals, NDP pass GST bill in House of Commons

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Liberals, NDP pass GST bill in House of Commons

The Liberals’ GST holiday bill is one step closer to becoming law after it was passed by a majority of the House of Commons late Thursday night.

Read More:

• Freeland says the two-month GST holiday is meant to tackle the ‘vibecession’
• Which items will be tax-free under the Liberals’ promised GST/HST break?
• Taxpayers Federation calls Trudeau’s GST break a ‘sorry excuse for a tax cut’

The two-month tax break covers dozens of items, including children’s clothes and toys, video games and consoles, Christmas trees, restaurant and catered meals, wine, beer, candy and snacks. It would take effect on Dec. 14 and run until Feb. 15, 2025.

The government announced the plan as a way to ease affordability concerns during the holiday period. At the time, they also pledged to send $250 rebates to working Canadians in the spring, but that particular measure was not included in the bill.

The legislation to enact the tax break was the first bill passed through the House of Commons since late September, and required some procedural wrangling from the Liberals and the NDP to curtail the usual debate.

The Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voted against the legislation.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

StatCan to release Q3 GDP report today

Statistics Canada is set to release third quarter gross domestic product figures this morning.

The agency’s preliminary estimate pointed to one per cent annualized growth over the three-month period.

That would be below the Bank of Canada’s October forecast of 1.5 per cent.

RBC says although the economy likely continued to grow in the third quarter, real GDP per capita is expected to have declined.

The GDP report comes ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest rate announcement on Dec. 11.

RCMP review body calls for complaint policy revamp

A federal oversight body is calling for changes to how Nunavut RCMP handle complaints from the public, starting with fixing investigation turnaround times that should take months but sometimes stretch into years.

The Civilian Review and Complaints Commission also recommended in a report published Thursday that the RCMP make the process more culturally appropriate and accessible to those in the sprawling northern territory.

The report also called for Mounties in Nunavut’s V Division to make public-complaints training mandatory and provide cultural training to officers before they arrive in Nunavut.

The Nunavut report made 14 findings and nine recommendations on how the complaint process could be improved.

Among the findings, it determined V Division didn’t have a formal process to ensure public complaint investigations complied with national RCMP guidelines. It found documentation and reasons for delays in those investigations were often inadequate.

Surrey Police Service in charge after 6-year saga

The Surrey Police Service took over from the RCMP and became the city’s force of jurisdiction Friday, after a six-year saga set in motion by former mayor Doug McCallum.

Along the way, there were court challenges, a change of municipal government and accusations of bullying, but McCallum says he has no regrets about the troubled transition for the community southeast of Vancouver.

Surrey Police Service officers have been working alongside the RCMP since 2021. Now, the municipal force will have the leadership role, with the Mounties offering support until the transition is complete.

McCallum proposed a municipal force in 2018, during the first council meeting of his second stint as mayor of the city of about 600,000 people.

But in 2022, after the first officers had already been deployed, McCallum lost re-election to Brenda Locke, who promised to reverse the transition, landing her in very public conflicts with former public safety minister Mike Farnworth, who was in favour of the transfer.

Locke accused Farnworth of bullying and misogyny.

Quebec watching Australian social media ban

As Australia moves to ban social media for children under 16, Quebec is debating whether to follow suit.

The provincial government decided last spring to study the possibility of setting a minimum age for social media accounts, following a push from the youth wing of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec.

But a committee examining the issue has been hearing mixed opinions on the idea, with some experts suggesting a ban would be difficult to enforce and could do more harm than good.

The Australian Senate passed a social media ban for children under 16 on Thursday, which is set to become a world-first law. The ban could be a model for other jurisdictions looking to combat the mental health impacts of social media use among young people.

Quebec Premier François Legault initially ridiculed the idea of a minimum age for social media when it was proposed by the opposition Parti Québécois in May. But he changed his tune after Diep published an open letter calling for a ban on social media accounts for children younger than 16.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2024.

The Canadian Press