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The Bloc Québécois has made due on their election ultimatum, claiming the offer of a coalition government with the governing Liberals has just expired.

“We could not have gone further in terms of good faith, of transparency ... and even opportunity for a government that is in distress as much on the inside as from the outside,” Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet told reporters.

“Its days are numbered.”

So far, the Liberals have survived two non-confidence votes put forward by the Conservatives, with the Bloc and NDP voting to keep them in power. But Blanchet has warned for several weeks that he would join the Tories to “bring down the government” if senators failed to pass two pieces of legislation by Tuesday. 

The Conservatives can try to bring down the government with a non-confidence motion three more times this fall, though the timing of the next vote remains uncertain.

Among the Bloc’s demands included support for Bill C-319, which aims to line up pensions for seniors, ages 65 to 74, to the same level that those 75 and over receive. It would cost an estimated $16 billion over five years.

Another, Bill C-282, would enshrine dairy, poultry and egg quotas as non-negotiable in any future trade talks. The one-page bill passed the Commons in 2023 and has spent 16 months in the Senate.

“We cannot avoid noticing there is nothing happening in this government,” Blanchet told reporters October 22. He claimed any extension of time “would be useless.” 

The Bloc leader said Tuesday that his party has already delivered a letter to begin discussions with other opposition parties to dissolve the 44th Parliament.

Blanchet earlier claimed it would give Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a confidence-and-supply agreement after the NDP repudiated their partnership deal on September 4. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre earlier challenged New Democrats to dissolve Parliament on a Conservative confidence vote on September 16. “That way we can have a carbon tax election where Canadians will decide,” he said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said his party, though not looking for an election, is not “afraid” of pulling the trigger. Its priorities include abortion access, health care, grocery costs and affordable housing. 

Blanchet accused the party of acting as the “shadow” behind the Trudeau government, though admitting votes from their caucus will be needed to dissolve Parliament.

“Their [NDP] caucus must decide if it’s better for them to go into an election or continue to disappear,” he said, after a Leger poll found the New Democrats lost considerable support over the summer.

In March 2022, the New Democrats pledged to support the government in confidence matters through June 2025. In exchange, the Liberals would prioritize pharmacare and dental care in the House of Commons.

However, cabinet reneged on the agreement last December 31 by failing to pass a pharmacare bill as promised. “I am going into this with eyes wide open,” Singh said at the time.

An anonymous Bloc strategist earlier told The Canadian Press the NDP has handed the balance of power back to them. 

“It’s going to happen with or without Quebec,” they said. “They [the Conservatives] are 20 points ahead everywhere in Canada, with the exception of Quebec, and that won’t change … their [Conservative] vote is firm.”