The Bloc’s ransom demands are terrible. The Liberals should tell them to kick rocks

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The Bloc Québécois’ ransom note to the Liberal Party – support the passage of two of our private member’s bills by Oct. 29, or we’ll bring down the government – is admirably forthright. There is little pretense about either of these bills being about what’s best for the country; indeed, they are both baldly political, designed to preserve support from the Quebec dairy lobby and Canadians aged 65 and up. The Bloc, of course, doesn’t really need to bother itself with what’s best for the rest of the country, which is why it can all but explicitly propose that it buy itself votes from Quebec dairy farmers and seniors at the expense of younger Canadians. But the rest of Canada can plainly see that these are two truly terrible bills. Ideally, the Liberals would tell the Bloc to take their ultimatum and kick rocks.

The first, Bill C-282, binds the hands of Canada’s trade minister when negotiating international trade on Canada’s dairy and poultry supply management systems. It essentially states that he or she cannot increase the quota of dairy products, eggs or poultry allowed into Canada or lower applicable tariffs. That’s great for Canadian dairy farmers, who are and continue to be insulated from global market forces, and awful for Canadians still struggling to afford basic groceries, even if inflation has slowed. While the cost of food purchased from grocery stores increased 2.1 per cent over a 12-month period as of June, the cost of four litres of milk, for example, increased 3.4 per cent.

This bill has already been through the House and completed its third reading in June last year (when, notably, the cost of milk was up 7.1 per cent year over year). The bill received the support from the NDP caucus (which took a break from demonizing greedy grocery CEOs), nearly the entire Liberal caucus, and about half of Conservative MPs, including notable fighter-for-the-little guy Pierre Poilievre, whose vicarious frustration over the rising cost of living for people across the country apparently took a little smoke break, it seems. The bill completed its second reading in the Senate in April and is now in committee. That committee now needs to work fast if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to keep his government intact.

Opinion: Ottawa must not bow to the Bloc and boost Old Age Security for younger seniors

The second bill, C-319, is an equally fawning, economically illiterate piece of legislation. It prescribes that the government increase Old Age Security (OAS) payments for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74 by 10 per cent, effectively taking from a generation that is statistically worse off and giving to one that is better off. In 2022, this government increased OAS payments for seniors 75 and older by 10 per cent, which is more defensible than what the Bloc is proposing now, since it’s less likely that those 75 and older can find work if they need to subsidize their income, and more likely that they would have depleted their retirement savings the longer they live. But elderly benefits already represent the largest (and fastest growing) budget expenditure, and will cost an additional $16-billion over the next five years if younger seniors are given an extra 10 per cent across the board. (There is always the option to boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors, except that defeats the purpose of Bill C-319, which is to buy the support of the demographic that’s likeliest to vote by casting the widest possible net.)

The Liberals voted against Bill C-319 at the second reading in October, 2023, while the Conservatives – a party that used to understand that Canadian seniors are healthier and living longer than ever before, and that it made sense to actually raise the age of OAS eligibility – voted in favour. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and House Leader Karina Gould have both signalled that they are willing to negotiate with the Bloc on this proposal, which would be a curious capitulation for a government that named its last budget “Fairness for Every Generation.” Though since the Liberals have already lost the support of young Canadians (a recent Leger poll had support for the Liberals among Canadians aged 18 to 34 at an abysmal 14 per cent, compared with 47 per cent for Conservatives) they may opt to cut their losses and go back to coveting the demographic that reliably turns out to vote. Millennials don’t seem all that grateful about their new 30-year mortgages, alas.

To yield to the Bloc’s demands would be to cave to bad policy, to keep a doomed government alive a little longer. It’s plainly not worth it. If only the Liberals are able to see that.