With the NDP-Liberal agreement that kept the minority Trudeau government in power until 2025 ended, the Bloc Québécois now has more opportunities to make gains from the governing party in exchange for its support on confidence votes, as indicated by the Bloc’s leader.
Yves-Francois Blanchet has said his party will not vote in favour of a Conservative non-confidence motion next week to bring down the government, emphasizing that his party is “at the service of Quebecers.” He said an election held today would mean a majority Conservative government, which is not something he’s looking for. Instead, he said he wants to see what gains he can make from the Liberal government.
Blanchet suggested in comments made to CBC’s Power and Politics that by the middle of October there would have been enough time for parties to negotiate agreements, and if not, the government may lose a confidence vote by then.
One of the key things the Bloc is looking for is the Liberals’ support to pass Bill C-319.
The Bloc-proposed legislation would amend the Old Age Security Act and grant those aged 65 to 74 the same 10 percent increase previously granted to people aged 75 and over. The change would be applicable across Canada, not just in Quebec.
The proposed legislation would also increase the exemption for employment or self-employment income from $5,000 to $6,500 when calculating the Guaranteed Income Supplement benefit.
Another request of the Bloc is the passage of Bill C-282, which would legislate the protection of supply-managed sectors in Canada by ensuring Ottawa does not make market access concessions in future trade deals for supply-managed products, which is important to Quebec’s dairy sector.
Other Requests
Blanchet has also mentioned a number of other items that are important to his party. It’s likely that his strategy involves making gains on some of the higher priority items to ensure agreement from the Liberals.Blanchet wants to see additional immigration powers be granted to Quebec. Premier François Legault asked Ottawa in March for full immigration authority, but was turned down by Trudeau. Legault has in fact asked the Bloc to vote against the Liberals in next week’s confidence vote to topple the government over what he said is the inaction on curbing the number of temporary immigrants and asylum seekers coming to Quebec.
Quebec has taken in large numbers of asylum seekers compared with other provinces. In 2023 it received 160,651 people requesting asylum, 55 percent of the 289,047 residing in Canada. The federal government recently announced it is preparing a plan to relocate tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Quebec and Ontario to other areas across the country. Quebec has also asked the federal government to reimburse it for the $1 billion it says it has spent on settling refugee claimants over the past three years.
Blanchet’s party has an issue with Ottawa’s emergency order to protect the province’s falling population of woodland caribou. The decree could impact the operations of 53 companies and cost the province between $670 million and $895 million over the next decade.
Blanchet previously said in Parliament that the decree would lead to “economic disaster for the forest industry” and that Ottawa should let “Quebec, the forestry industry, and indigenous peoples negotiate a solution together.”
The Bloc has long wanted the federal government to do away with “subsidies” to oil companies, saying funding should instead go to clean energy development, “while maintaining the necessary funding for a transition away from fossil fuels in Western Canada.” A report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development says examples of subsidies to the sector include tax deductions and research and development support programs. The Conservatives say the term “fossil fuel subsidy” is not properly defined, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says the sector receives no subsidies, adding that tax measures are not subsidies as they are available to all sectors.
The Bloc also wants to see changes to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) legislation expedited.
The Quebec government has pushed ahead with a proposal to authorize certain early requests for MAID, beginning this fall, specifically for medical conditions that render an individual unable to give consent.
The province first adopted a law in June 2023 that allowed MAID requests from individuals with serious and incurable diseases.
In May, the Bloc tabled a bill that would allow advance MAID requests for people suffering from neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia. In August, the seniors’ minister said the province would not “wait any longer” for Ottawa to modify the Criminal Code to accommodate the requests, and Blanchet suggested on Sept. 18 that MAID is a priority for the party and that an early federal election would prevent them from achieving the changes they want to see on the issue.
Blanchet has also said he wants the federal government to leave the province alone when it comes to its approach to language and secularism laws. In 2022, the government of Quebec passed Bill 96, which limits the use of English in the public service and permits inspectors to conduct searches and seizures in businesses without warrants.
In 2019 the province passed Bill 21, prohibiting public servants in positions of authority, such as teachers, police officers, and judges from wearing religious symbols while on the job.
On both bills, the Quebec government invoked the notwithstanding clause to shield the laws from constitutional challenges under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for a period of five years.
The federal government has signalled its opposition to the increasingly frequent pre-emptive usage of the notwithstanding clause. In 2023, the Bloc put forth an ultimately unsuccessful motion that it is “solely up to Quebec and the provinces to decide on the use of the notwithstanding clause.”
