Bloc leader to push for early election after government doesn't pass pension hike bill

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Tuesday he will work with the other opposition parties to bring down the Liberal government after Ottawa failed to deliver what he wanted: a pension hike for some and further protections for supply-managed farm sectors.

After the NDP pulled out of its deal to prop up the Liberals, Blanchet stepped into the mix, saying he would back the Liberals on non-confidence votes if it passed two Bloc private member's bills that hike Old Age Security payments for people between the ages of 65 and 74 and exempt dairy, poultry and eggs from future trade negotiations.

He gave the government a deadline of Oct. 29 to pass both bills into law.

Today's the day and the bills aren't law, so Blanchet is pushing ahead with an alternative plan: trying to topple this minority government.

"Depending on what the NDP will do, we can say the government's days are numbered," Blanchet told reporters, referring to the possibility that the NDP could stand with the Liberals again to prevent an election.

"The expiry date of this government has gone by and it's up to the people of Quebec and Canada to compose a new Parliament," Blanchet said in French. "The only agreement we need now is to send the Liberals to the showers."

Blanchet said he will vote against the government whenever there's another non-confidence vote. He also said there's a outside chance his party lends the Liberals some support if they do deliver on the pension hike and trade protections down the line.

But Blanchet said the Bloc is no longer negotiating with the government now that it has blown past the deadline. Instead, "we are negotiating with opposition parties in order to have the government fall," he said.

The chances of the government fulfilling the Bloc's demands in such a short time frame were always slim, given the Liberals have little control over the Senate, where the supply management bill is currently before committee.

After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's changes to Senate appointments, the government has less, if any, influence over what the Senate does and when.

The House of Commons has also been paralyzed by a filibuster over the government's refusal to release documents related to a failed green technology scheme. MPs haven't done much of anything in the chamber for weeks.

Trudeau, his ministers and some Liberal MPs also voted against a Bloc motion that tried to force the government to apply a "royal recommendation" to the pension bill. Under Canada's parliamentary system, a private member's bill can't force the government to spend more money without the cabinet's approval.

The pension bill has raised serious questions about generational fairness given how much Ottawa spends on elderly benefits, which already constitute the largest and fastest-growing part of the federal budget.

The cost of elderly benefits is projected to rise from $80 billion this year to $100 billion annually by 2028-29 — a figure that doesn't take into account the Bloc's proposed 10 per cent pension hike.