Bloc Leader Says Party Hasn’t Discussed Backing of Bills With Liberals to Avoid Election

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves Francois Blanchet speaks with reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Sept. 19, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said there have been no formal discussions with the minority Liberal government regarding the ultimatum to support his party’s bills or face a potential early election.

“They haven’t asked for it and neither have we,” Blanchet told reporters in Ottawa on Oct. 1, adding that his party’s demands are non-negotiable.

He said there have only been light discussions between Bloc and Liberal MPs on the issue.

“We don’t know so much about the way they are thinking about it,” he said. “Some MPs sometimes speak with our people in the corridors here, but it’s not meaningful.”

Blanchet laid out his conditions for backing the Liberals in confidence votes on Sept. 25, which include passing two private member’s bills from his party before Oct. 29. Bill C-319 pertains to increasing the Old Age Security pension by 10 percent for seniors aged 65 to 74, and Bill C-282 is to protect supply management in future trade deals.

Bill C-319 requires royal recommendation, or the approval of a minister, to move forward in the House of Commons since it impacts the budget. The Parliamentary Budget Officer evaluated that the measure would cost over $3 billion in fiscal year 2024–2025.

A Bloc motion calling on the government to offer such a recommendation was debated in the House on Oct. 1. Bill C-282 has already cleared the House and is currently in the Senate.

Liberal ministers haven’t disclosed publicly whether the government will acquiesce to the Bloc’s demands.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Oct. 1 her government has discussed the issue at “great length for many days.” Ministers have been saying their government has done much for seniors.

The Liberals lost the formal support of the NDP to stay in power in early September after it pulled out of the supply-and-confidence agreement keeping them in power until June 2025. Through the agreement, the NDP was able to move forward a number of its priorities like dental care.

With the Liberals requiring the support of one major party to stay in power, the Bloc is now hoping to benefit from the situation. The NDP, however, has not signalled an interest in having an early election.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said on Oct. 1 that “things are bad right now” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre would “make things even worse.”

Blanchet told the House during debates that his party is ready to go into an election, but he has also stated he’s not interested in simply helping to replace Trudeau with Poilievre. Conservatives have maintained a large lead in the polls over an extended period, putting them in majority territory. Poilievre has criticized the NDP and Bloc for supporting the Liberals on confidence votes, saying they are voting “to extend and expand their costly coalition.”

The Bloc leader has said that if his party’s two bills aren’t passed by the late October deadline, he will begin talks with other opposition parties to topple the government. Two Conservative attempts to trigger an election by way of a non-confidence motion have been defeated in recent days.

When Blanchet was asked by reporters whether discussions have begun with other parties to discuss what could happen if the Bloc bills aren’t adopted, he alluded to frictions between them.

“If you were to have lunch with all the parties in the room, you would find that people do not speak so much,” he said. “Not much friendship between us.”