There's a battle brewing over generational fairness as Bloc Québécois demands a pension hike

A debate over how Ottawa chooses to divide its spending among age cohorts is ramping up as the Bloc Québécois pushes the Liberal minority government to boost Old Age Security (OAS) payments.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet put forward a motion Tuesday demanding that the government move forward with legislation that would hike OAS payouts for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74.

The Bloc has said it will only continue supporting the Liberal government on future non-confidence votes if it gets an OAS hike before the end of this month. It also wants stronger trade protections for supply-managed farm sectors.

Benefits for the elderly, including OAS and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low-income seniors, 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 this proposed 10 per cent hike.

And the federal government already spends more on elderly benefits than on other major programs that disproportionately benefit younger people — such as Employment Insurance (EI) ($26.6 billion), the Canada Child Benefit ($28.1 billion) and the national child care program ($6.6 billion).

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has said the Bloc's proposed OAS increase would cost $16 billion over the next five years — spending that would add to a national debt that is now over $1.2 trillion. The cost of financing all that debt comes to about $54 billion this year.

"We have to look at the intergenerational impacts of something like that. It's a lot of money ... it's not insignificant, so we have to look at this very carefully," Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault told reporters Tuesday.

"Are seniors the people in society who need it the most right now? We see how young people are having difficulty at the moment. But it's a discussion that must take place," he added in French.

The Liberal government hasn't said how it will vote on today's motion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet ministers have been instead touting the government's fledgling dental care and forthcoming pharmacare programs as proof they are committed to helping seniors.

"We have supported seniors, importantly vulnerable seniors, in many, many ways since 2015," Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters.

"We changed this terrible policy that Stephen Harper announced," he added, referring to the previous Conservative commitment to raise the retirement age to 67.

While refusing to say how the cabinet will vote, Duclos talked down the Bloc initiative.