Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks with reporters before Question Period, in Ottawa, on Oct. 22.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The Bloc Québécois dropped its support of the minority government after its failure to boost seniors benefits and protect supply management, once again returning the New Democrats to the position of being the only viable partner for the Liberals.
But the NDP said Tuesday that unlike the Bloc, it has no list of demands it is currently negotiating and will continue to consider whether it would prop up the Liberals on a case-by-case basis.
Even after the collapse of the Bloc’s support and the party’s decision to launch talks with opposition parties on toppling the government, when that could actually happen remained unclear.
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A logjam in the House of Commons over the Liberals’ refusal to provide documents connected to a spending scandal is now into a fourth full week. Until that clears, a confidence matter can’t advance to a vote.
Meanwhile, the question of whether Liberal MPs even have confidence in their own leader remains a live issue, with several MPs calling Tuesday for a secret-ballot vote on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s future as leader.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters Tuesday that his party thinks time is rapidly running out. “We can say the government’s days are numbered,” he said.
Last month, Mr. Blanchet set Oct. 29 as a deadline for the Liberals to increase federal benefits for seniors under the age of 75 by 10 per cent, and pass a bill protecting supply management in international trade talks into law.
If both measures were in place by Tuesday, his party would continue keeping the Liberals in power. But, since neither passed, that’s no longer the case, he confirmed. The Bloc has now sent a letter to opposition parties to start discussions on how the government could fall, he said.
Whether the Liberals would meet the Bloc’s demands even without a deadline was never clear.
While the Liberals had increased seniors’ benefits in 2022, it was only for those over the age of 75 and a further expansion could cost $16-billion over five years, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
The Liberals have argued the expansion the Bloc wants is too broad.
“What’s important is to help seniors who are most in need, the most vulnerable, and that’s not what the Bloc’s bill does,” Procurement Minister Yves Duclos told reporters Tuesday, speaking in French.
And though the Liberals had supported the bill protecting supply management, it is still in the Senate.
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The governing Liberals appeared unconcerned by the passing deadline and the threat Tuesday. Mr. Duclos called it an artificial ultimatum and Liberal House Leader Karina Gould said talks continue.
“There’s always a way to go forward,” she said on her way into the government’s weekly cabinet meeting.
That way now depends on the NDP.
The Opposition Conservatives and Bloc don’t have enough seats together to defeat the government and would need the NDP to join them.
Up until last month, the NDP had a deal with the Liberals to vote alongside them in confidence motions. But ever since they ended the arrangement in September, they’ve said whether or not they’ll continue to support the Liberals depends on what they’re putting forward – a position they repeated Tuesday.
“We’ll see what’s on the table every time, if it helps people we are going to be ready to support,” NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice. “But I don’t have a list, I’m not negotiating right now.”