At committee: Immigration spending, shark fin ban and Northern BC tanker ban

Opposition — and, for that matter, Liberal — MPs will get the chance to quiz Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen over just how the department and agencies under his aegis have been spending, and intend to spend the billions of dollars allotted to their operations in the latest budget when he hits the spring estimates circuit at CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION this afternoon.

Over at FISHERIES, Sen. Michael MacDonald’s proposal to tighten the current ban on shark fin imports and exports heads into clause-by-clause review, which suggests that it may  well make it back to the House for a final vote before the June recess.

Meanwhile, the Senate TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS committee is still trying to figure out what to do with their putative report on the government’s bid to ban tanker traffic off the northern coast of British Columbia, which would, if adopted by the Upper House as a whole, result in a substantial rewrite of the original text to address concerns brought up by opponents of the ban during witness testimony.

Over at ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS, senators hear from Indigenous law experts as they continue to delve into the fine print of New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash’s proposal — which is officially backed by the government — to harmonize Canada’s laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The now-traditional multi-committee pre-study of the latest budget implementation bill is also underway, with Justice Minister David Lametti and Border Security Minister Bill Blair set to field questions on the contents pertaining to their ministries at JUSTICE and SOCIAL AFFAIRS, respectively, as well as a full slate of witnesses on deck at NATIONAL FINANCE and BANKING, TRADE AND COMMERCE.

Finally, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien will outline his concerns over the Passenger Protect Program at HUMAN RIGHTS, which will also hear from Westjet aviation security advisory Jared Mikoch-Gerke, Chicago Theological Seminary Muslim Studies Fellow Uzma Jamil and Western University medical sciences student Rayyan Syed Kamal.

Committee highlights courtesy of our friends at iPoliticsINTEL.

Don’t miss today’s complete legislative brief in GovGuide.ca!