Liberals won't support block motion on retirement security: House leader

OTTAWA — The Liberal Party says it will not support Bloc Québécois in a House of Commons vote on increasing old-age security benefits for all seniors, despite an ultimatum by opposition parties threatening to topple the minority government.

Liberal Commons leader Karina Gould said her party would not vote in favor of a block motion asking parliament to support the private member’s bill.

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“This is not appropriate for an opposition day motion,” Gould said Wednesday.

The Liberal Party has been asked to give a royal endorsement to a block bill that would increase Old Age Security pensions for seniors aged 65 to 75.

The Liberal Party will increase pensions for people aged 75 and over by 10% in 2022, and other opposition parties support the bloc’s push to increase it.

The move is estimated to cost approximately $16 billion over five years.

As this is a finance bill, the changes cannot take effect without government support.

Mr Gould said the government had set budgetary policies and wanted to ensure support for older people could continue.

Labor Minister Stephen McKinnon on Tuesday accused his party of being “opportunistic” as it continued to vote against measures to support older people, including dental and pharmaceutical care.

Health Minister Mark Holland said on Wednesday morning he would vote against the motion, saying it would set a “terrible precedent” for how private members should use the bill.

“I don’t think Canadians want a $16 billion private member’s bill just being sent to them without any context,” he said.

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“I think the bloc countries will understand that as well.”

The bloc has given the Liberals a deadline of October 29 to pass the bill, along with another bill on protecting supply management systems in international trade agreements.

If that doesn’t happen, party leader Yves-François Blanchet said he would begin negotiations with other opposition parties about rejecting the government.

The Conservative Party has already used two days of opposition in the past two weeks to introduce a motion of no confidence in the House of Commons. The Liberals survived both votes with Bloc and NDP votes.

If the no-confidence motion is passed, the minority government will collapse and likely prompt elections.

The bloc will not face another opposition day this term and will not have the opportunity to introduce its own no-confidence motion. By the time the House of Commons opens for Christmas in mid-December, the NDP will have gained one seat and the Conservatives will have three more.

The number of opposition days allocated to each seat is decided at the start of the session, but the government decides when to do so.

MPs were scheduled to take part in a government-prompted vote of confidence on Wednesday, but it was postponed.

An instrument motion paving the way for legislation to change the capital gains tax was originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but has been postponed as the House deals with several issues unrelated to privilege.

The capital gains tax rate will be adjusted in June, and a motion in the House of Commons will allow the government to introduce legislation to formalize the changes.

The motion was expected to pass as the NDP and Bloc both support these changes. However, since there is no concrete timetable for discussions on privilege issues, it is not clear when the voting methods and means will change.

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