Blanchet says Liberals have just days left to support the Bloc's demands

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has issued an ultimatum to the Liberal government, giving them only a few days to secure his party's support in the House of Commons by agreeing to increase certain pensions and protect supply management in trade negotiations.

"The solution is so simple. It is so simple that I do not know what more I could explain," Blanchet said on Wednesday. "They know what we want, they know how to proceed to give, not only us, but all those in Quebec and Canada who want it, they know how to give it."

Blanchet has set an October 29 deadline for the Liberals to grant a "royal recommendation" to Bill C-319, a Bloc proposal to raise Old Age Security (OAS) payments by 10 percent for seniors aged 65 to 74. In 2022, the government had already increased OAS for seniors aged 75 and over.

Since private members' bills cannot compel government spending without cabinet approval, Blanchet is pushing for the royal recommendation to move forward. He is also seeking support for another Bloc bill, C-282, which would exempt dairy, poultry, and egg sectors from future trade negotiations.

Bill C-282 has already passed in the House of Commons and is currently under Senate committee review, though it has faced criticism from some senators and witnesses.

Blanchet has warned that if the government does not meet his demands by the October 29 deadline, the Bloc will begin talks with the Conservatives and NDP to bring down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

"Two Liberal senators are against the principle of our bill, which has been voted on by the elected members of the House of Commons," Blanchet noted. "For those who want this to happen, it is unacceptable... because now what we are seeing is those guys, non-elected, saying that they are over and above democracy."

He emphasized that the October 29 deadline is firm. "Our calculations say there is still time to give us what we have demanded," Blanchet added.

Progress on the OAS legislation has stalled in the House of Commons as MPs debate a matter of privilege that has taken precedence over most other issues. This debate centers on an order requiring the government to produce unredacted documents regarding misspent funds for the RCMP.

Although the government has handed over some documents, Speaker Greg Fergus suggested referring the issue to a committee for resolution, an idea rejected by Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer. Scheer has vowed to continue debating until all documents are provided.

Blanchet made it clear that the Bloc would not support moving the document debate to committee unless the Liberal government provides the royal recommendation for C-319.

"We have said what we do want in order to have this Parliament get back to work normally, and it is a royal recommendation on C-319," Blanchet asserted, adding that both the Liberals and Conservatives appear to benefit from the current parliamentary deadlock.

While Blanchet has refused further discussions with the Liberals about a potential compromise, he said Trudeau’s government is fully aware of the Bloc's demands.

Quebec's Liberal lieutenant, Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, commented that although Blanchet is not personally engaging in talks, other Bloc members are still in communication with the government. "The Bloc leader has said he doesn't want to talk to us anymore, but his members are talking to us," Duclos said, adding that discussions with Bloc and NDP MPs on supporting vulnerable seniors are ongoing.