Bloc leader says the deadline still stands after Liberals vote against pension motion
Bloc has said the government must move forward on pension legislation by Oct. 29 or risk an early election
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says the Oct. 29 deadline his party set for the government to meet a key policy demand still stands after the Liberals largely voted against his party's motion on Wednesday.
"The government did not have the spine to provide us and Canadians and Quebecers with a clear answer," Blanchet told reporters after Wednesday's vote.
"They just want to get some more time and to keep not deciding about anything. They might hope that they go further than Oct. 29. They will not."
Blanchet put forward a motion Tuesday calling on the government to support Bill C-319, a Bloc private member's bill that would hike Old Age Security (OAS) payouts for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74 by 10 per cent.
The motion ultimately passed with the support of the Conservatives, NDP, Greens and five Liberal backbenchers. Most Liberal MPs voted against it.
For the Bloc's pension legislation to become law, the Liberal government would have to grant a "royal recommendation" because a private member's bill can't force Ottawa to spend more money without cabinet approval.
Blanchet has warned the government that if it does not push through the Bloc's pension legislation by the end of this month, the party will start negotiating with other opposition parties to trigger an early election.
But the Bloc leader said Wednesday that unless he gets a clear answer from the Liberals soon, he'll begin talking to the other opposition parties.
"They have until a few days from now to go on with the royal recommendation. And if they do not, we will start as rapidly as next week to speak with other opposition [parties] to get ready to go into an election," he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould said Wednesday the Liberal cabinet wouldn't support the Bloc's motion because it was attempting to push the government to grant the royal recommendation.
"It is not appropriate for an opposition day motion to set the precedent of getting a royal recommendation," Gould told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Steve MacKinnon, the minister of labour and seniors, indicated the motion would be a free vote for Liberal backbenchers.
"We have very, very strict criteria for something that is mandatory for all government MPs to support. It's not in this category," he told reporters in French.
The motion is not binding on the government and Liberal ministers voting against it doesn't necessarily mean the government won't support the pension legislation.
Blanchet noted Wednesday that it was still possible for the Liberals to support the private member's bill and accused the government of using a "procedural" excuse to vote against Wednesday's motion.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has said the Bloc's proposed OAS increase would cost $16 billion over the next five years — spending that would add to a national debt that is now over $1.2 trillion. The cost of financing all that debt comes to about $54 billion this year.
Earlier Wednesday, a number of Liberals said the Bloc's proposal isn't aimed at the most vulnerable seniors.
"I think the question is how we should be better supportive of our vulnerable seniors. There are seniors that are doing really well in our country," Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters Wednesday.
Ontario Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said the Bloc's legislation is "too expensive and poorly targeted."
"If you're thinking of the people in real need right now, it is low- income seniors and it's young Canadians struggling to get into the housing market, struggling to afford rent," Erskine-Smith said.
"If anyone thinks that in today's fiscal environment… that it's useful to spend a new taxpayer dollar — a taxpayer dollar we don't have — on seniors who are making over $120,000, the Bloc should explain that logic to me."
People over the age of 65 are also less likely to be considered low-income, according to Statistics Canada data from 2022.
Seniors have the lowest poverty rate of all age groups. About 11 per cent of people aged 18 to 64 years of age are classified as "low income," compared to just six per cent for people 65 and over, the data shows.
In addition to the pension changes, Blanchet is also calling on the government to pass a Bloc private member's bill, C-282, that would exempt supply-managed farm sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from any future trade negotiations.
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With files from John Paul Tasker