Bloc pushes government on pension pact as Liberals survive non-confidence vote

OTTAWA — The Liberal government survived a second non-confidence vote in as many weeks Tuesday, once again putting off the possibility Canada would be plunged into an immediate election campaign.

Though the Liberals are in the clear for another day, the Bloc Québécois made it clear they may not be so fortunate the next time the Conservatives bring a non-confidence motion before the House of Commons.

Members of Parliament voted on a Conservative motion Tuesday afternoon that called for MPs to declare they have lost faith in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his nine-year-old government.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois voted against the motion, as they did with a similar motion last week.

Last month, the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence agreement that had stabilized the minority government for more than two years. New Democrats now will vote on a case-by-case basis but have given no ultimatums for their support.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to green-light his party’s pension bill, which is estimated to cost about $16 billion over five years.

In exchange, his party will “not unplug the government that isn’t doing well,” he said in French on Tuesday.

“If the government doesn’t accept our request, well, we’ll understand what that means and we’ll begin negotiations that might not be pleasant, but the end will be clear,” Blanchet said in his speech to the House Tuesday, promising in that case to work with other opposition parties to bring the government down.

Acquiescing to the Bloc’s demands, however, will only buy the government a few months of support.

The NDP and Conservatives already voted in favour of the Bloc’s pension bill at second reading, which would increase old age security payments by 10 per cent for seniors aged 65 to 74.

Because it’s a spending bill, the governing Liberals need to support the legislation. They have not yet said whether they will negotiate with the Bloc.

The Liberals increased old age security payments by 10 per cent for people over the age of 75 in 2022, with the intention of targeting the most vulnerable seniors.

Despite all the attention on the political threat to the Liberals, Bloc MP Yves Perron said the vote on the bill is a question of human dignity for seniors.

Instead of debating the motion, Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the Liberal House leader, outlined other ways his party has supported seniors since it was elected in 2015, including by creating a national dental-care program for low- and middle-income Canadians and drafting national pharmacare legislation.

“These programs are of great benefit to our seniors. Unfortunately, the Bloc have made the decision to vote against these programs,” said Lamoureaux.

Liberal House leader Karina Gould would not comment on the Bloc’s motion Tuesday except to say that she looked forward to the debate.

NDP MP Bonita Zarrillo called the Liberals “cruel and callous” for withholding financial support for the Bloc bill. The vote on the Bloc’s motion is expected later this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 1, 2024.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press