OTTAWA – Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea will figure prominently in Ottawa today as parliamentarians get back to work after a two-week break.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Ukraine over the weekend before heading to meetings with his G7 counterparts in The Hague, where an emergency meeting on Russia will take place on the periphery of a two-day nuclear arms summit.
The Commons foreign affairs committee will also discuss the crisis with Michael Druckman, the resident country director on Ukraine for the International Republican Institute.
Other events and happenings around Ottawa today include:
— The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada will present oral arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Loyola High School case in Quebec that revolves around an exemption from teaching ethics and religious culture.
— Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Libby Davies will speak about what they say is the Harper government’s failure to act on the expiry of the federal-provincial health accord.
— The Senate national security and defence committee will hear witnesses testify about how the Canada Border Services Agency determines admissibility to Canada, and how it removes people deemed inadmissible.
— The Conference Board of Canada is to release a report examining economic conditions in Canada and the country’s housing markets, focusing on the larger centres of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.
— And Gov. Gen. David Johnston and his wife are to meet with members of the Canadian Armed Forces at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.