The balance of power in Ottawa has shifted to the Bloc. So what does it want?

When the NDP and Liberals signed the confidence and supply agreement in 2022, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the agreement caused the pendulum of power to swing so far in one direction that the interests of Quebec were not being served.

Since NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh terminated that governance agreement, Blanchet said, the pendulum has swung even harder back in Quebec's favour. He said he intends to capitalize on the situation — or see the Trudeau government fall.

«We have deposed a law which is now at the very centre of the survival of this government. This is what we call power,» he gleefully told reporters outside the House of Commons on Thursday.

Actually, the item at the top of the Bloc's list of demands is a bill that would benefit millions of seniors across Canada — not just those in Quebec.

Bill C-319 proposes to increase by 10 per cent the amount of full pension for people once they turn 65. It also would boost the employment income exemption used in determining the amount of guaranteed income supplement (GIS), from $5,000 to $6,500.

Blanchet is also using Bill C-282 as a bargaining chip. The legislation would provide new protections to Canada's supply management system.

«We could have serious wins about those issues in the coming weeks. If not, then the Liberals might fall,» Blanchet told host Catherine Cullen on CBC's .

Blanchet said he's secured no commitment from the Liberals on either bill — dispelling any speculation that he's already inked a deal in exchange for keeping the Liberals in power through the Conservatives' non-confidence motion next week.

«It's not [about] supporting the government. It's [about] not having them fall, soon,» Blanchet said, adding his party is practicing some tactical