Robert Libman: Bloc Québécois has put itself in a bind with ultimatum to Liberals

Article content

“Politics makes for strange bedfellows” is a common maxim, apparently adapted from a similar line in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. So, will the leader of the separatist Bloc Québécois soon be sharing a bed with the governing federal Liberals of Justin Trudeau, and pulling the covers?

Last month, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh ripped up a supply and confidence agreement that committed his party to propping up the minority Liberal government in exchange for concessions. Without Singh’s 25 MPs, the Liberal government could fall, sparking an election, if another non-confidence motion was proposed by the opposition Conservatives, who currently enjoy a big lead in the polls. But another party in the House — the Bloc, with 33 seats — also holds the balance of power. Its leader, Yves-François Blanchet, has spelled out conditions in exchange for backing the Liberals, invoking an Oct. 29 deadline.

Article content

There has always been something unsavoury and sinister about the Bloc to me, like a cat among pigeons: a party dedicated to the breakup of a country sitting in its Parliament, collecting salaries and pensions from taxpayers. Canadians are certainly tolerant. Imagine the outcry if a party in the National Assembly advocated the secession of Montreal.

That’s democracy, though. Founded in 1990 by nationalist MPs who defected from the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives after the Meech Lake constitutional accord collapsed, the Bloc has elected MPs in every election — ranging from a high of 54 and official opposition status in 1993 to a low of four in 2011.

Bloquistes used to claim they hoped to be ousted from their jobs by completing their mission — but that hasn’t happened in 35 years. Without having attained their raison d’être, they justify their presence as the only party defending Quebec’s interests in Ottawa, though it’s hard to pinpoint a tangible accomplishment. Many Quebecers — primarily from the regions — identify more closely with them than the other parties, but balance that against the reality that the Bloc can never form the government.

Article content

With an election on the horizon, it’s important for the Bloc to show relevance — that it can deliver. Blanchet’s demands include government approval for the party’s bill that would grant additional old age pension benefits for 65- to 74-year-olds (at a cost of $16 billion); better protection for supply management; greater immigration powers for Quebec and less federal encroachment in provincial jurisdictions.

The latter two issues have been particular bones of contention for Premier François Legault, which puts the Bloc in a funny position. Its provincial political sibling — the Parti Québécois — is currently leading in the polls, doing battle with Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec. Legault is fighting a losing battle with the feds on the immigration question, which the PQ has been feasting on in opposition, without proposing concrete solutions of its own. Any short-term win for Quebec on immigration powers weakens the PQ’s leverage on this matter.

On the other issues, including pension benefits, Quebec’s financial dependence on the federation is undeniable. This was clear in the conclusions of an economic analysis released this week exposing the utter folly of the PQ’s study last year on the finances of an independent Quebec, which deceptively minimized the reliance on federal transfers and pensions.

If the Bloc succeeds in gaining concessions, it undermines the party’s raison d’être and that of the PQ by demonstrating the benefits of Quebec being part of the Canadian federation. If they fail, they show that even in a balance-of-power situation, they are impotent.

If Trudeau pulls the covers back from Blanchet anyway, I suspect that Singh, notwithstanding his transparent theatrics with the agreement — and knowing how vulnerable he will also be in an election — somehow crawls back into bed and votes against any Liberal non-confidence motion.

Robert Libman is an architect and planning consultant who has served as Equality Party leader and MNA, mayor of Côte-St-Luc and a member of the Montreal executive committee. He was a Conservative candidate in the 2015 federal election.

x.com/robertlibman

Article content

Article content