Blanchet says Liberals have just days left to support the Bloc's demands
Bloc leader says senators tying up supply management bill are 'saying that they are over and above democracy'
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says the Liberal government has only days left to secure his party's support in the House of Commons by agreeing to boost to some pensions and shield supply management from concessions in trade talks.
"The solution is so simple. It is so simple that I do not know what more I could explain," Blanchet said Wednesday. "They know what we want, they know how to proceed to give, not only us, but all those in Quebec and Canada who want it, they know how to give it,
"They only have to proceed or find themselves another way out of this, but they know how we will behave."
Blanchet has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to grant a "royal recommendation" to C-319, a Bloc bill that would hike Old Age Security (OAS) payouts by 10 per cent for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74. The government topped up OAS payments for seniors aged 75 and older in 2022.
The Bloc needs the royal recommendation because a private member's bill can't force the government to spend money without cabinet approval.
Blanchet also wants the government to back another Bloc private member's bill, C-282, that would exempt supply-managed farm sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from any future trade negotiations.
Bill C-282 has passed the House and is currently being studied by a Senate committee, where some witnesses and senators are giving it a rough ride.
Blanchet has said that if the government does not meet the Bloc's demands by Oct. 29, his party will start negotiations with the Conservatives and the NDP to topple Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.
"Two Liberal senators are against the principle of our bill, which has been voted (on) by the elected members of the House of Commons," Blanchet said.
"For those who want this to happen, it is unacceptable … because now what we are seeing is those guys, non-elected, saying that they are over and above democracy."
Blanchet said he would not back down from his Oct. 29 deadline. "Our calculations say there is still time to give us what we have demanded," he added.
OAS bill stalled in House
All progress on the OAS legislation, currently at its final stage in the House of Commons, has come to a halt as MPs continue to debate a matter of privilege that has superseded most other business.
The debate stems from an House order requiring that the government produce unredacted documents related to misspent funds so they can be handed over to the RCMP.
The Liberal government handed over some of the documents, but not all of them. Speaker Greg Fergus has suggested that the matter be referred to committee to be sorted out.
Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer is declining to do that, saying his party will continue to debate the issue until the government hands the rest of the documents over so they can be forwarded to the RCMP.
In a letter sent to the House law clerk in July, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the police service examined the documents it has regarding the now abolished Sustainable Development and Technologies Canada fund and concluded that they "do not identify any criminal offences or evidence of criminal wrongdoing at this time."
The letter also said the RCMP is not seeking the additional documents the Conservatives are requesting, citing concerns they "could be interpreted as a circumvention of normal investigative processes and Charter protections."
Blanchet said Wednesday that the Bloc will not support moving the debate over the documents to committee until the Liberal government delivers its royal recommendation.
"We have said what we do want in order to have this Parliament get back to work normally, and it is a royal recommendations on C-319," Blanchet said.
"I believe that both Liberals and Conservatives, whatever they say, are quite happy about the situation, because they seem to gain from the fact that the Parliament is not working."
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the Conservatives have "no interest in letting Parliament work" but there's nothing stopping the Liberal government from releasing the documents.
"The ball's in the government's court. They could do the right thing, move forward on accountability and Parliament can move ahead," he said Wednesday on his way into question period.
Blanchet said he is not talking to the Liberals about a possible compromise to get his OAS legislation through the House because Trudeau's government knows "what we want and either they give us that or they don't."
The Liberal government's Quebec lieutenant, Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, said Wednesday that while Blanchet isn't talking to the Liberals about a possible OAS compromise, others are.
"The Bloc leader has said he doesn't want to talk to us any more, but his members are talking to us," Duclos said.
"We have had discussions and meetings with the Bloc and NDP members of Parliament over the last few days and continue to have that, including on the importance of supporting better vulnerable seniors."
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