Bloc accuses senators of blocking Bill C-282

Photo: Adrian Wyld archives The Canadian Press Bloc agriculture critic Yves Perron believes that two senators are “intentionally” blocking the passage of Bill C-282.

Émilie Bergeron – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Published at 4:40 p.m.

• Canada

The Bloc Québécois believes that senators are blocking the adoption of its Bill C-282 aimed at protecting supply management, a legislative proposal that is part of the ultimatum given by the Bloc to the Liberal minority government.

“Peter Boehm and Peter Harder, two unelected little monarchs, both appointed to the Senate by the Liberals, are willfully blocking a bill that is supported by the majority in this House. Will the Liberals ensure that senators respect democracy and pass C-282 ?,” Bloc Québécois agriculture critic Yves Perron asked Thursday during question period.

The bill, which proposes to protect supply management in any trade negotiations, has been in the Senate for over a year. MPs gave C-282 their final seal of approval with a strong majority in the House of Commons.

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There has been no Liberal caucus in the Senate since changes made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Perron was specifically accusing Mr. Boehm, a member of the Independent Senators Group, and Mr. Harder, a member of the Senate Progressive Group, of slowing down the process.

During a meeting of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Conservative Senator Leo Housakos deplored the slow pace of things without attacking these two senators.

“How can we explain that this bill has been dragging on in the Senate for a very long time, […] a bill that was supported by the vast majority of members in the Democratic House ?”, he wondered out loud.

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It was the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, who responded to Mr. Perron on Thursday.

“Senators know they are independent, but senators also know they must do their job and carefully consider the House's point of view when deciding whether or not to support farmers in Quebec and elsewhere in the country,” he said.

Mr. Duclos took the opportunity to point out that the Liberals voted in favour of C-282 in the House.

“The Liberal Party has always supported supply management in Canada. In fact, it was a Liberal government that implemented supply management several years ago. We have always been there behind farmers,” he concluded.

The complete adoption of C-282 is one of the two conditions given by the Bloc Québécois to the minority Liberal government so that the opposition party avoids bringing it down by Christmas. The political party is giving the Liberals until October 29 to grant its wishes.

Beyond this deadline, the Bloc is threatening to begin discussions with the other opposition parties to bring down the government. Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet has even said he is prepared to head towards an election campaign before that if it seems “impossible” to him that the Liberals will accede to the Bloc’s demands.