Federal ministers will vote against the Bloc motion on increasing the Old Age Security pension for seniors aged 65 to 74. And among the Liberal deputies, who are free to vote as they wish, several intend to follow the same path.
The Minister of Employment, Randy Boissonnault, was the first to publicize the cabinet’s position on Wednesday.
“What is important to look at is to what extent seniors aged 65 to 75 are better off than ever in this period in Canada,” he said on his way to a meeting of the liberal caucus.
The Leader of the Government in the House, Karina Gould, shortly afterwards confirmed that the Council of Ministers will vote against. She argued that at the procedural level, the Bloc Québécois opposition day motion was not the appropriate vehicle to win her case.
The motion to be voted on in the afternoon aims to declare that the House is asking the Liberals to take steps to grant the royal recommendation “as soon as possible” to their Bill C-319 on the increase of the Old Age Security pension. This royal recommendation is necessary for the legislative piece to be adopted, since it provides for expenditures.
When Mme Gould was asked whether the Liberals ruled out the idea of granting the royal recommendation if the Bloc Québécois requested it through another procedure, the parliamentary leader 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.
MPs who are not ministers have also indicated that they will vote against, although one of them has indicated that the vote will be “free”.
Take subsidies for fossil fuels?
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.
Ontario Liberal MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith mentioned this cost when explaining his decision to oppose the Bloc Québécois initiative. “If a senior earns $125,000, I don’t want to spend a taxpayer dollar when that dollar should be going to low-income seniors and young people who are desperate to find housing,” he argued.
The Bloc leader, Yves-François Blanchet, refutes any idea that C-319 is too costly a measure. He reiterated Tuesday that Ottawa could stop paying subsidies to fossil fuels and redirect these sums into measures such as increasing the Old Age Security pension.
This makes no sense to Mr Erskine-Smith. “They should learn to calculate. […] You’re not going to find $16 billion over five years in fossil fuel subsidies,” he replied.
Mr. Blanchet is rather of the opinion that Ottawa puts 10 to 13 billion per year into such “direct or indirect” subsidies.
Ultimatum
The adoption of C-319 is part of the ultimatum given to the Liberals last week by the Bloc. The Bloc members are also demanding, by October 29, the complete adoption of another of their legislative proposals, this one 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. Mr. Blanchet even said he was ready on Tuesday to go on the electoral campaign before that.
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.
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