Tom Mulcair unveils economic policy while NDP MPs call for fiscal update

As the second day of the winter sitting days, the New Democratic Party will devote the first opposition day of the year to a motion that calls on the government to update the House on the state of Canada's finances in the wake of plummeting oil prices, job losses and — perhaps most ominously, at least from the opposition perspective — the unexpected decision by Finance Minister Joe Oliver to put off the tabling of the annual federal budget until April.

• Tom Mulcair to propose tax relief targeting small biz, manufacturers
• Joe Oliver should provide 'reality check' on nation's finances, NDP says

That debate will begin shortly after 10am ET, and will continue throughout the day.

Before that discussion gets underway, however, Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette will release a new report that will almost certainly come up in the Commons: an analysis of the "fiscal impact of lower oil prices," which will be posted to the parliamentary website this morning, with the PBO himself expected to make himself available to reporters to discuss his findings shortly thereafter.

• Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer

Meanwhile, New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair delivers a noon-hour speech to the Economic Club of Canada, during which he will, according to the advisory, highlight his party's plan to "stimulate the economy and the creation of quality jobs for middle-class Canadians"

On the committee front:

• Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney takes questions on his government's proposal to further tighten federal sentencing rules during an appearance at Public Safety, which will also hear from Correctional Service of Canada commissioner Don Head and Parole Board of Canada chair Harvey Cenaiko.
• Over at Foreign Affairs, Religious Freedom Ambassador Andrew Bennett will give his perspective as the committee resumes its study of what the terms of reference characterize as "Canada's response to the "violence, religious persecution and dislocation caused by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant," also referred to as ISIS.
• At the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, Montreal Gazette journalist Sue Montgomery shares her thoughts on the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, and specifically "the crisis of children born of rape."
• Later this morning, Status of Women members will hear about "promising practices to prevent violence against women" during a video appearance by Jackson Katz, whose bio describes him as "one of the leading anti-sexist male activists and speakers in the United States."
• This afternoon, New Democrat MP Rosane Dore Lefebvre will present her private members' bill to create a National Day of the Midwife to her colleagues on the Health committee.
• Finally, Procedure and House Affairs goes behind closed doors to work on its draft report on NDP MP Kennedy Stewart's efforts to move to a system of electronic petitions

Outside the precinct, Employment Minister Jason Kenney joins Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and local dignitaries at Ottawa City Hall, where they will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The solemn anniversary that will also be observed in Krakow, with Minister of State for Multiculturalism Tim Uppal slated to lead the Canadian delegation.

In Toronto, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander teams up with Canada Post president Deepak Chopra to unveil "a very special commemorative stamp" at Nelson Mandela Park Public School in Toronto.

Finally, former Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro and his legal team head back to court for a sentencing hearing, during which both the Crown and the defence will offer arguments to support their respective recommendations.

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