'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election

The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.

The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.

Within Bill C-65, the "Electoral Participation Act," the Liberals are trying to move the next fixed election date from Oct. 20, 2025 to Oct. 27, 2025, citing conflicts with a series of fall holidays and local elections.

However, it's come to light that postponing the vote by even one day has the knock-on effect of securing pensions for 80 MPs first elected in 2019 who wouldn't qualify if they lost their seats before hitting their six year service mark: Oct. 21, 2025.

Already facing strong headwinds heading into debate on the legislation – with the New Democrats vowing to amend this portion of the bill and Conservatives coming out against a later vote – the Liberals learned Friday that they also won't have the backing of the Bloc Quebecois.

For the Bloc, they cited a few reasons why they can't vote for the bill. MP Martin Champoux said his party doesn’t believe the government should be making religious accommodations, and noted bumping back the vote would bring it rather close to municipal elections in Quebec.

His colleague Xavier Barsalou-Duval raised the pension issue, questioning how many government MPs stand to financially gain by a later election date. "We are going to vote against this bill," he said, in French. 

There are 32 Conservatives, 22 Liberals, 19 Bloc Quebecois, six New Democrats and one Independent MP whose pensions are potentially on the line.