(Ottawa) “At each caucus, we must remind the MPs that they must be patient in the face of the maneuvers of the Conservatives, who only want to throw handfuls of gravel into the gears so that it does not work,” confides- he.
Small stones like presenting the same motion in all parliamentary committees in order to block the work or big rocks like the tabling of more than 20,000 amendments for a single bill a week before the end of parliamentary work.
The Bloc members “are exasperated” by these maneuvers, but not to the point of telling the Conservatives out loud to go fuck themselves, as we heard in the National Assembly. The weekly caucus meetings serve “to ventilate this type of thing,” underlines the Bloc leader.
“That’s where we need to ventilate, it’s made for that,” he said. So, I don’t think the MPs are going to lose their temper. »
Take your equal “gas”
As it announced in September, the Bloc Québécois tried to be “the adult in the room” in a tense climate. The Speaker of the House of Commons has repeatedly reminded Liberals and Conservatives to avoid making unparliamentary comments.
The pro-independence party was, however, the target of Pierre Poilievre and his team, accusing the Bloc of forming a coalition with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and supporting “a second carbon tax.”
“It’s expensive to vote for the Bloc,” said Conservative MP Dominique Vien during the last question period before the holiday break. This phrase was repeated repeatedly all fall.
PHOTO ÉTIENNE RANGER, THE LAW
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet
There is no real second carbon tax. The conservatives rather refer to the impact of Clean Fuel Regulations on the wallets of motorists. This policy, which took effect in July, requires refineries to gradually reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their fuel by 15% by 2030. The Parliamentary Budget Officer predicts that it will add 17 cents per liter of gasoline at that time.
“We will remind you again because lies are legal tender in our parliamentarism, there is no federal carbon pricing applicable in Quebec,” insists the Bloc leader.
“There is the carbon exchange that I myself set up ten years ago [en tant que ministre québécois de l’Environnement] then there are regulations on emissions which were put in place by the Quebec government just a few years ago which are already in place before the 2030 of that of the Liberals. »
“To the extent that that of Quebec meets the standard dictated by the federal government, it is that of Quebec which will be in force,” he specifies.
What always blocks
The Bloc Québécois has fought several battles that it has not yet managed to win. The Trudeau government has refused to change the deadline for the repayment of interest-free loans paid during the pandemic to SMEs through the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA).
He failed to obtain an increase in the Old Age Security (OAS) pension from age 65. It only applies to those aged 75 and over at present. MP Andréanne Larouche’s bill on this subject passed the second reading stage thanks to the support of the Conservatives and the New Democrats.
And the details of the anti-scab bill, demanded by the Bloc Québécois since the creation of the party, were negotiated by the Liberals with the New Democratic Party as part of their agreement.
“It’s not just the bills that pass, it’s how we change the bills,” he retorts. The signing of Martin Champoux in C-11 is gigantic. We have enormously influenced the Broadcasting Act. »
If it’s good, we’re for it. If it’s not good, we’re against it, but in general, it’s somewhere between the two and, in general, we try to improve the proposals.
Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois
He takes out a post-it from his wallet that he has been carrying with him since 2019. Three words are written on it: conscience, program and interests. The three criteria on which the Bloc Québécois caucus relies to make its decisions.
Its vision is to defend “the interests of Quebec And independence” while support for the sovereignist option stagnates despite the popularity of the Parti Québécois. A photo of him with Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont hangs prominently on his office wall.
Yves-François Blanchet sees his role as that of “preventing federal elected officials from undoing what the elected representatives of the National Assembly are doing” under the influence of Ontario or the Western Canadian provinces.