Parliament returns today with a familiar seat map but a new set of challenges

The House of Commons will reconvene today after a hiatus of nearly five months — a period punctuated by an election campaign that returned a seat map that looks very much like the one from the last session of Parliament.

The first order of business today is electing a Speaker to preside over the chamber's proceedings. Government House Leader Mark Holland told CBC News that after that vote, the next priorities are reconstituting the hybrid model that allows MPs to dial in from outside Ottawa and enforcing a new vaccine mandate for parliamentarians.

The vaccine mandate is contentious already. After weeks of non-answers and threats of a challenge to the new vaccination rules, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole confirmed to Radio-Canada over the weekend that all Conservative MPs are now either vaccinated or have secured a medical exemption to the requirement.

O'Toole refused to say just how many of his caucus colleagues have been able to bypass the vaccine mandate by claiming an exemption. According to the Board of Internal Economy (BOIE), the committee of MPs that essentially governs the House, an MP can be exempted if they have proof of "a medical contraindication to full vaccination."

"All of our MPs will be there," O'Toole said in French. "For me, it is not appropriate to speak about the specific health issues of another MP."

O'Toole, who is facing an organized challenge to his leadership in the form of a petition from a now former caucus colleague, said he convinced the holdouts to get a shot or produce papers to show why they can't.

"I said we had to follow the rules and it's important for leaders to set an example. And I am satisfied with the approach of our team after the election," he said in an interview with Les coulisses du pouvoir.

Holland said the Conservatives are usually sticklers for Commons rules and he expects it to be no different with vaccination.

"I harken back to how many times I've seen Conservative members stand up and demand the Speaker not allow a member to speak because they're not wearing a tie. They're very adherent to the rules inside the chamber so I'm hoping they're equally respectful of this," he said.

"This is not a matter of conscience. It's demonstrated by science that it's not safe to have unvaccinated members in the parliamentary precinct."

Holland is also insisting on a hybrid Parliament where some MPs are physically present in the Commons while others speak and vote remotely. When the House was dissolved before the September election, the last hybrid agreement ended. Holland wants the dual format to continue until at least June 2022.

"It's absolutely imperative we continue with this and the flexibility it provides," he said. "I don't want to be coming back in March re-litigating all of this, wasting precious House time."

CBC News will have live coverage of Tuesday's Speech from the Throne delivered by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon. Here's how to follow:

He said it would be unconscionable for the Conservatives to endorse a plan that allows all MPs to fly in and congregate in a relatively confined space, sometimes for hours on end.