Shannon Stubbs

Now that TMX is complete, the question of who should bear the brunt of the project’s cost overruns is making the rounds on Parliament Hill.

Canadian MPs are back in the capital and kicked off day one by digging into the climate and financial impacts of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX).

The federal government’s Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act finally passed third reading after spending just shy of a year in the House of Commons, including 20 hours in committee and a 12-hour voting period due to Conservative efforts to delay the bill.

During a chaotic, eight-hour-long natural resources committee meeting, the sustainable jobs act was amended and sent back to the House of Commons for debate.

The Liberal government is trying to get its sustainable jobs legislation through a month-long Conservative filibuster as frustration mounts among MPs and labour unions.

Conservative MPs' efforts to stall discussion on the sustainable jobs act have attracted the ire of prominent labour leaders, who made it clear they will take action if the Conservatives continue with their delay tactics in committee. 

The Conservative Party of Canada will wait until Sept. 10 to pick a new leader, providing more time for prospective candidates to mount their campaigns, including former Quebec premier Jean Charest.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has asked the House of Commons to probe allegations that one of his MPs, Shannon Stubbs, created a toxic work environment for her staff.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says he's confident his 118 elected MPs have his back, despite voting to give themselves the power to review his leadership and potentially give him the boot.

An NDP MP also wants to see a national strategy on fresh water, while a Liberal MP wants another national strategy to redress environmental racism.

“Teck pulled out of a project that was a bad decision economically given their business case...and it was an even worse environmental decision," said NDP MP Laurel Collins.

A Liberal-dominated parliamentary committee's report on rural crime is "an insult to all Canadians," Conservative MPs say in a dissenting statement that decries waits of hours or even days for police to respond to calls in remote areas.

"The Liberals are failing Canadians by destroying investment confidence in the energy sector in Canada… The reality is this: that under the Liberals more energy investment has been lost than any other time frame in 70 years, $100 billion of energy projects cancelled."

Federal MPs on the natural resources committee will meet for an emergency session to discuss last week's game-changing court decision to tear up federal approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

The gathering coincided with a Canadian Chamber of Commerce "day of support" for the pipeline, consisting of a delegation of business, Indigenous and labour leaders who said they would meet with parliamentarians.