Confidence vote on Liberal changes to capital gains tax delayed

A confidence vote on a government budget motion may not happen today after all, but the Liberals are still under pressure as they face a vote on a Bloc Quebecois ultimatum.

The ways and means motion that paves the way to legislate a change to capital gains taxes was scheduled initially for this afternoon. It's on hold as the House of Commons deals with some unrelated matters of privilege.

The capital gains inclusion rate was adjusted in June and the motion before the House would allow the government to introduce the legislation to formalize the changes.

Debate on matters of privilege have no specific timeline so it is not clear when the ways and means vote can be rescheduled.

But the Liberals will have to make a choice this afternoon about a Bloc motion asking them to give a royal recommendation to a bill that would increase Old Age Security pension payouts for seniors between 65 and 75 years old.

The Liberals increased the pension by 10 per cent for seniors over 75 in 2022 and the opposition parties have all backed the Bloc push to expand that.