Capital Dispatch: Layoff pressure

Your guide to what happened on the Hill this week and why it matters.

December 5, 2025

Carney's cabinet faces trade turmoil,  layoff and consultation pressures The countdown is now fully on to the end of the sitting, and the federal Liberals are under pressure on a few fronts.   Prime Minister Mark Carney is back down in D.C., after a week of facing questions over tariff-related layoffs. And Cabinet continued to walk the tightrope of repairing relations with First Nations while pipeline plans swirl.     The week that was This week started with a small shuffle at Rideau Hall, in light of Steven Guilbeault's resignation last week. Marc Miller, who last served as the minister of immigration under Justin Trudeau, was appointed as minister of Canadian identity and culture and minister responsible for official languages. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Miller said it "feels great" to be back. "I am a guy that likes to be busy, and I was a little restless." Asked if he's worried about caucus unity following Guilbeault's resignation, Miller said "frank and honest conversations" can be had with the prime minister. Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement Joel Lightbound is also taking on a larger portfolio, assuming the role as Quebec lieutenant, while Environment and Climate Change Minister Julie Dabrusin has inherited the nature file.   This week the Assembly of First Nations gathered in Ottawa, and the federal government's contentious memorandum of understanding with Alberta loomed large. Carney addressed the AFN on Tuesday, telling the crowd how consultation will be required before a project can be designated in Canada's national interest, "and none have been, so far."   During a brief question and answer session, Carney said that his office has requested a meeting with B.C. coastal First Nations, and he looks forward to that talk "at the earliest opportunity."   Then, over the last two days a series of cabinet ministers attended the AFN. On Thursday there was some confusion over Energy Minister Tim Hodgson's degree of participation after he was taken off the agenda. His office attributed the change to his department, adding he would have been happy to participate in the panel. Ultimately, he ended up just meeting with B.C. chiefs on the sidelines. Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty did address the chiefs.   The other big storyline on the Hill this week was generated by an admission colleague Vassy Kapelos got out of Algoma Steel's CEO Michael Garcia during an interview on CTV's Power Play. Garcia said that both the federal and provincial governments knew that the company's business plan included a re-tooling of its Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., plant that would result in layoffs, before agreeing to giving the major steelmaker half a billion dollars in loans to weather the tariff storm. "It knows the pivot that we had to make. It knew very well the extreme pressure the company was under. I don't think anybody would loan the company half a billion dollars without asking very detailed questions about what our business plan was," Garcia said. Algoma, which is Canada's last remaining independent steel producer, issued layoff notices to about 1,000 workers on Monday, effective in March. The company employs 2,700 people in northern Ontario. As this news was breaking, colleague Heather Wright was reporting from both sides of the border on how the job losses are hitting the two Saults. For more on how both levels of governments defended their loans in light of this, colleague Stephanie Ha has you covered here.   Lastly, the file we'll all be following all day: Whether Carney shoots and scores any attempt to revive trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. This day trip to D.C. is for the FIFA World Cup draw at noon EST, but after brushing off recent questions about any prospect of Canada getting lucky on the tariff front while there, Carney's office has confirmed a brief meeting with the big guy. The two will talk at the Kennedy Centre, and Carney will also meet separately with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who also has plans for a one-on-one with the U.S. president. The prime minister's itinerary has him rounding out his day in Washington speaking at the Canadian Embassy's World Cup celebration and tree lighting ceremony. He'll be back in Ottawa well before midnight.

Not to be missed 'The math doesn't add up' Guilbeault says it will now be "impossible" for the federal government to reach its 2030 emissions targets in the wake of the energy deal with Alberta. "I think that my government needs to be honest with Canadians," Guilbeault said in an interview with CTV Power Play with Vassy Kapelos on Wednesday. "With the rollbacks that we've seen over the past few months on different climate change measures that have been adopted over the years by me and some of my predecessors, it is impossible to see how we achieve our 2030 targets." Leaders' debate scrums scrapped The commission responsible for organizing the official leaders' debates during federal elections no longer wants the responsibly of arranging the post-debate press conferences after the acrimony that unfolded during the 2025 campaign. Michel Cormier, executive director of the last round of federal election leaders' debates, shared the commission's position with MPs, during Thursday testimony before the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. Cormier said that while the commission recommends it continue providing on-site accreditation and press room resources, it should no longer be responsible for organizing or providing a venue for the post-debate scrums, leaving that up to each party to plan their own, if they so choose. The commission is also suggesting changes to the decision-making process around which leaders are eligible and invited to participate in future debates, to align with Elections Canad's final list of confirmed candidates. Early retirement info sent to public servants And, the federal government is sending out letters with information about early retirement incentives to nearly 70,000 public servants. The government is using a voluntary early retirement program and a promise to not incur pension penalties to try and increase the rate of attrition, as the Liberals look to reduce the size of the public service. As The Canadian Press reports, the letter promises further information about the program, timelines and how employees can express interest in taking the offer.

Quote of the week "The work starts now. It should have started yesterday. We need to engage with Indigenous communities in a respectful, thoughtful way. Be willing to step outside the box, think outside the box and actually listen to some of the demands that a number of communities have been making for years and listen to them. There are communities that have very, very strong views on that. Getting to 'yes' is a difficult and complex process, but it can't be done from a desktop. It has to actually be done face to face in a respectful way with the people responsible and in charge, showing a personal commitment to making sure they are improving lives of communities and getting benefits into communities, if and when a pipeline is to be approved." -  Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, on his way into his first cabinet meeting back as a member of Carney's front bench, when asked about what the federal government needs to do to address the pipeline pushback from Indigenous leaders.

The week ahead Next week is the final sitting week of the year for the House of Commons, so you know what that means: peak silly season. Watch for the final push to advance legislation before a six-week hiatus, and the last chance for quippy question period exchanges. Off Parliament Hill, the Bank of Canada will be issuing its latest interest rate announcement. And, G7 industry, digital and technology ministers will meet in Montreal, Canada's final summit of its yearlong Group of Seven presidency.

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