The 2024 federal budget submitted Tuesday includes dozens of new laws and amendments, covering everything from reforming the criminal code to how civil servants take breaks.
Here’s a closer look at some of the proposed legislation.
Establishing the “right to disconnect”
Do you receive calls or emails from your boss outside of working hours? Do you hate it?
The federal government is trying to draw a clearer line between work and personal time by proposing what it calls the “right to hang up.” The budget includes several updates to the Canada Labor Code that “require employers in federally regulated sectors to establish the right to discontinue policies that restrict work-related communications outside of regular working hours.” A million dollars is promised.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said she has working Generation Z in mind.
“One of the realities of life for all Canadians, especially young Canadians, is the experience of always being turned on and always available. That’s not healthy. That’s not a good way to live,” she said Tuesday. Told.
Industries subject to federal regulation include the federal public sector, railroads, airlines, airports, banks, the postal service, most federal government enterprises, radio and television broadcasting, and the telecommunications sector.
As with many legislative adjustments to bills and budgets, it is unclear when this amendment will be introduced.
No more switching fees?
“Canadians continue to pay too much and there is too little competition” for mobile phone services, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said earlier this year.
The government has announced that it will introduce amendments to the Telecommunications Act that will prohibit carriers from charging fees for home internet, home phone and mobile phone plan renewals or changes.
The 2024 federal budget includes nearly $53 billion in new spending and tax hikes on Canada’s wealthiest citizens, but the government won’t get the provincial and territorial buy-in it needs to make good on its big promises. I wonder if it’s possible.
The yet-to-be-announced bill would also require mobile phone carriers to help consumers identify alternative plans, including lower-cost plans, before their contracts end, and provide customers with some form of self-help service, such as an online portal, to give them peace of mind. It also requires the provision of service options. You can switch plans more easily.
The government has not yet released details of the bill, and it remains to be seen whether it will actually reduce the cost of mobile phone service.
Crackdown on usury
I was reprimanded. “Criminal” and “Looter”” The payday loan industry was one of the targets of Budget 2024 by some anti-poverty activists.
These high-interest installment loans can trap low-income Canadians, newcomers and those with poor credit histories in a cycle of debt.
Last year in Ottawa Proposed regulatory changes it will lower criminal interest Equivalent to an annual percentage rate (APR) of 47% to 35%.
The latest budget promises to advance that reform, while amending the Criminal Code to ban the provision and advertising of credit at criminal interest rates.
The proposed changes would also allow illegal and predatory lenders to be prosecuted without approval from the federal attorney general, which Ottawa says would strengthen enforcement.
Possibilities of realizing open banking
The federal government has long considered implementing open banking, a system that allows consumers to easily access their financial data across multiple institutions, apps, and services.
Tuesday’s budget moves the government closer to that goal. Commit to introducing legislation to establish a consumer-led banking framework and commission the Financial Consumer Affairs Agency of Canada to oversee and enforce the system.
car theft crime
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a national summit earlier this year, the federal government plans to toughen penalties for auto theft.
The Budget includes promises to reform the Criminal Code to introduce new offenses related to: Auto theft involving the use of force or association with organized crime. Possession or distribution of electronic or digital devices for the purpose of motor vehicle theft. Laundering the proceeds of crime for the benefit of a criminal organization.
According to the Budget, these amendments will also create new aggravating factors to be applied to sentences where offenders use or involve young people in crimes under the Criminal Code.
The 2024 budget also states that the government will amend the Wireless Communications Act to regulate the sale, possession, distribution and importation of equipment used in motor vehicle theft. This will allow law enforcement to remove devices believed to have been used to steal vehicles from the Canadian market.
judicial vacancy
In what appears to be a dig at the Alberta government, the budget proposal proposes reallocating funds to unused judicial positions.
“Canada’s court system plays an important role in ensuring the safety, well-being and justice of Canadians. However, Alberta has been allocated benches that they have chosen not to create, and As a result, 17 judge seats remain unused for the Unified Family Court,” the budget document states.
“The federal government should ensure that funding for Canada’s judicial system is not wasted by reallocating jobs to courts in jurisdictions where they are utilized, as some provinces have chosen to do. ”
Asked for comment Tuesday, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said the government was still working out the details.
The federal government is also held accountable for its role in appointing judges. Earlier this year, a federal court ruling said the Liberal government had “failed” Canadians’ demands for timely justice by pushing judicial vacancies to a crisis point. Ottawa is fascinating.
Last year, Chief Justice Richard Wagner sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau warning of “intolerable” conditions in Canada’s courts.
build a house on public land
One of the main pillars of the government’s budget was more than $8 billion aimed at alleviating Canada’s housing crisis. The government has developed what it calls the Canada Housing Plan, a commitment to “free up” about 3.9 million homes by 2031.
The Liberals say they believe thousands of these homes could be obtained by unloading unused or underutilized federal property, including 50 per cent of federal office portfolios. There is. The government is proposing to build housing on the Canada Post site and redevelop defense land.
The government says this will require introducing legislation to encourage the acquisition and use of public land for housing, and will require buy-in from other levels of government.
Ottawa considering halal mortgage loan
The federal government said it plans to consider new measures to expand access to “alternative financial products such as halal mortgages.”
For many Muslims, religious beliefs include restrictions on paying and receiving interest. Halal mortgages can be structured differently.
There are no commitments yet for new funding, legal changes or regulatory updates, but the government announced last month that it would “understand how federal policy can better support the needs of all Canadians aspiring to become homeowners.” It said it had begun discussions with financial service providers and local communities.
“This could include changes to the tax treatment of these products and a new regulatory sandbox for financial services providers, while ensuring appropriate consumer protection,” the budget states. Are listed.
The federal government has promised further details in its autumn economic statement.
Not very useful for Swifties
It’s perhaps no surprise that Taylor Swift’s name was removed from a bill aimed at young people.
The budget bill devoted two and a half pages to denouncing the soaring ticket prices for concerts and sporting events. The stress of buying tickets can be made even worse by resellers, including overzealous Swifties, who use bots to snatch tickets in front of fans.
The budget says the federal government will work with states and territories to adopt ticket sales best practices to reduce unexpected charges during the purchase process and crack down on fraudulent sellers.
However, the budget does not outline any plans to introduce enforceable measures.
