The Bloc Québécois motion on increasing the Old Age Security pension for seniors aged 65 to 74 was finally adopted, without the support of a majority of Liberals, during the vote in Ottawa on Wednesday after -noon.
Unlike the rest of their caucus, five Liberal MPs decided to support the Bloc motion. Liberal MPs René Arseneault, Serge Cormier, Mike Kelloway Wayne Long and Mike McDonald voted for the motion which asked that the government commit to taking steps to grant the royal recommendation to their Bill C-319.
Bloc, Conservative and New Democrat MPs all supported the motion, for a total of 181 votes for and 143 votes against. Former Liberal minister turned independent MP, Pablo Rodriguez, also voted for the motion.
Despite the rejection of the motion by a majority of Liberals, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet maintains his deadline of October 29 to offer his support to the government during votes of confidence.
Mr. 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.
“It’s still totally possible. They did not say that they did not want to do it, they said that they did not do it for procedural reasons,” explained Mr. Blanchet a few minutes after the vote.
The Leader of the Government in the House, Karina Gould, indicated on Tuesday morning that the opposition day motion of the Bloc Québécois was not the appropriate vehicle to win the case.
The adoption of C-319 is part of the ultimatum given to the Liberals last week by the Bloc. The Bloc are demanding, by October 29, the complete adoption of C-319 and another of their proposals on the protection of supply management in trade negotiations.
Beyond this deadline, the Bloc Québécois threatens to begin discussions with the other opposition parties to bring down the government.
Too expensive
According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, increasing the amount of pensions for seniors under the age of 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 and socially regressive. I mean a retired couple making $150,000 to $160,000 a year would receive more than a single retired woman making $30,000 a year. This makes no sense,” reacted Minister Steven Guilbeault before the vote.
The Bloc leader refutes any idea that C-319 is too costly a measure. He believes that Ottawa could stop paying subsidies to oil companies and redirect these sums into measures such as increasing the Old Age Security pension.
Asked whether the Liberals ruled out the idea of granting the royal recommendation if the Bloc Québécois requested it through another procedure, Ms.me Gould did not want to come forward. “I talk to all parties all the time to see how we could make this Parliament work […] and we are in a position where we are continuing discussions,” she said.
At the time of the vote on second reading of C-319 in the House of Commons, the Liberals had voted against the Bloc proposal, although they had supported it at the committee stage. The Conservatives and New Democrats rallied to the Bloc in the House. The bill is now in third reading, the last step before C-319 is sent to senators for further legislative study.
With The Canadian Press