(Ottawa) After issuing an ultimatum, the Bloc Québécois will increase pressure on the Liberals on Tuesday so that its bill on improving the Old Age Security pension takes a crucial step. Its leader Yves-François Blanchet gave the government until October 29 for the final adoption of two of its bills and avoid elections.
The Press obtained the Bloc motion which will be tabled and therefore debated on Tuesday on the occasion of National Seniors Day: “That the House asks the government to take the necessary measures so that a royal recommendation is granted as soon as possible to the project of Bill C-319”. The vote is due to take place the next day.
The royal recommendation means that the government authorizes the expenses that would be generated by this bill from an opposition party. They would amount to at least 3 billion per year, according to the parliamentary budget officer. This recommendation must be given by the government at third reading stage which began on Wednesday.
It is rare for a political party to attempt to force the government’s hand by tabling a motion to seek the support of elected representatives of the House of Commons in order to obtain such a recommendation. This initiative would put the Liberal government on the defensive if it chose not to grant it.
“It demonstrates the Bloc’s determination, its seriousness in this desire to move forward and restore this unacceptable inequity among seniors,” said the party’s spokesperson for seniors, Andréanne, in an interview. Larouche.
“Not only did we have unanimity in committee, but we had unanimity at the report stage in the House last Wednesday,” she argues.
This unanimity last Wednesday was perhaps not entirely intended, according to the words of Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, who is parliamentary secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. He invoked the rules after Mr.me Larouche proposed “that Bill C-319 be adopted unanimously at report stage”.
“Madam Speaker, I am raising a point of order, but it may be a matter of interpretation,” he said. We wanted the bill to go to third reading, but not unanimously. I’m not sure if that’s what was proposed. »
“When I asked if the motion carried, no one stood up to say otherwise, so it passed without division,” said Assistant Deputy Speaker of the House Carol Hughes, who chaired the debate. .
Bill C-319 aims to grant a 10% increase in the Old Age Security (PSV) pension from the age of 65 and to increase the exemption from $5,000 to $6,500 for income employment status of a person in calculating the amount of the Guaranteed Income Supplement. It was filed in March 2023.
The adoption of this bill by both the House of Commons and the Senate is one of the conditions issued this week by the Bloc leader to avoid elections this fall. He also wants Bill C-282 to protect the supply management system, which has already passed all legislative stages in the Commons, to also pass those of the Senate.
He gave the government until October 29. After this date, he threatens to bring down Justin Trudeau’s minority government.
With Joël-Denis Bellavance, The Press