Bloc Québécois motion on seniors adopted despite Liberal opposition

Photo: Spencer Colby The Canadian Press Yves-François Blanchet believes that, despite the outcome of the vote, the government can still grant the royal recommendation to its bill within the requested time frame.

Sandrine Vieira

Published yesterday at 1:24 p.m. Updated yesterday at 5:49 p.m.

• Canada

The Bloc Québécois motion to increase the Old Age Security pension for seniors aged 65 to 74 was finally adopted, without the support of a majority of the Liberals, during the vote in Ottawa on Wednesday afternoon.

Conservative and NDP MPs supported the Bloc’s motion that called on the government to commit to taking steps to grant a royal recommendation to their Bill C-319. The motion was adopted with 181 votes for and 143 votes against.

Unlike the rest of their caucus, five Liberal MPs decided to support the Bloc motion. Former Liberal minister turned independent MP Pablo Rodriguez also voted for it.

Despite the rejection of his motion by almost all Liberals, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet is maintaining the October 29 ultimatum he gave the government last week. However, he added a new deadline during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Mr. Blanchet specified that the government now had “until spring break” to give the royal recommendation to his bill so that the October 29 deadline is met. The parliamentary recess is scheduled for the week of October 14.

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“It's still entirely possible. [The Liberals] didn't say they didn't want to do it. They said they weren't doing it for procedural reasons,” Blanchet said in the foyer of the House of Commons after the vote ended.

Government House leader Karina Gould had indicated Wednesday morning that the Bloc Québécois motion was not the appropriate vehicle to win the case.

Blanchet reiterated that he will begin discussions with opposition parties on a possible overthrow of the government when “it becomes impossible” to pass his two bills within the requested time frame.

“We're not there yet, even if it's not a good sign. “The electoral alert level is rising a little,” he warned.

The Liberals now have 27 days to pass the two Bloc bills if they want to retain its support.

“Extremely costly”

According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, increasing pensions for seniors under 75 would cost $16 billion over the next five years.

“We'll see what the Bloc does, but we felt that what they were proposing was extremely costly, socially regressive. I mean, a retired couple earning $150,000 to $160,000 a year would receive more than a single retired woman earning $30,000 a year. It makes no sense,” said federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault before the vote on Wednesday.

The minister and new Quebec lieutenant for the Liberals, Jean-Yves Duclos, also doubts the benefits of the Bloc proposal. “I think Mr. Blanchet's intention to help seniors is good, but is this the right way to get there?” he indicated Wednesday morning.

The Bloc leader refutes any idea that C-319 is too costly a measure. He believes Ottawa could stop paying subsidies to oil companies and redirect those funds to measures such as increasing the Old Age Security pension.

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Since the start of the parliamentary session, the Trudeau government has survived two confidence votes put forward by the Conservatives, thanks to the support of the New Democratic Party and the Bloc.

The stability of the government has been uncertain since the breakdown of the agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, which guaranteed the survival of the minority government until 2025.

With The Canadian Press