Today on the Hill: Canada and European Union officials talk trade, Iraq

OTTAWA - Centre stage for Stephen Harper on the Iraq file returns to Ottawa today as the prime minister meets leaders from the European Union.

Harper will hold discussions with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on the unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The EU leaders are in Ottawa taking part in a day-long meeting focused largely on the Canada-EU trade deal, known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.

The prime minister is pondering whether to extend Canada's role in the fight against Islamist militants in northern Iraq, with the Opposition demanding a debate and vote in the House of Commons on any planned deployment.

Here are some other events taking place today around Parliament Hill:

— Unions and so-called progressive civil society groups will march through the streets of Ottawa and hold a rally to coincide with Harper’s hosting of the Canada-EU Summit. They're calling the gathering little more than a face-saving exercise as opposition to CETA grows in Europe.

— Information commissioner Suzanne Legault will be in what's called the Google Hangout as she spends the day discussing the major challenges for reforming Canada's information access laws and why Canada has lagged so far behind other countries on the access front;

— The Supreme Court of Canada will release its judgement in Dax Richard Mack's appeal of his first-degree murder conviction in the killing of Robert Levoir;

— And parliamentary secretary Lois Brown delivers remarks at an international networking event on "Women in International Trade" at the Chateau Laurier hotel.