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    • Boosting Canadian seniors' benefits would cost a 'chunk of change,' says PBO

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    Canada鈥檚 budget watchdog says the federal government may not meet its fiscal anchors if it acquiesces to the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois鈥 demand to expand seniors benefits in exchange for keeping the minority Liberals in power.

    Last week, Bloc leader Yves-Fran莽ois Blanchet confirmed his party will vote against a Conservative non-confidence motion set to take place this week, giving the Liberals enough support to avoid an imminent election.

    In return, Blanchet is pushing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government 鈥 through a private member鈥檚 bill 鈥 to expand the government鈥檚 increase in Old Age Security (OAS) payments to pensioners aged 65 to 74. The Liberals had announced an increase of 10 per cent in OAS payments in 2022, but only to those aged 75 years and older.

    鈥淲e have deposed a law which is now at the very centre of the survival of this government. This is what we call power,鈥 Blanchet told reporters on Thursday.

    But in an interview with Vassy Kapelos on CTV鈥檚 Power Play Monday evening, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said a further expansion would be a pricey commitment for the federal government. He calculates the Bloc鈥檚 demand would come with an annual price-tag of more than $3 billion, with a total cost of $16.1 billion over five years.

    鈥淚t would also be a bit tricky to make that fit within the fiscal framework that the government has indicated itself in the last budget. . . that would be a significant chunk of change, to say the least,鈥 Giroux told Kapelos. He referred to the government鈥檚 targets to keep the deficit below $40.1 billion this fiscal year and reduce both the debt-to-GDP ratio and deficit-to-GDP ratio in 2024-2025. In addition, the government aims to keep deficits to one per cent of GDP by 2026-2027.

    鈥淎ll these constraints would be at severe risk if the government was to acquiesce to that demand without cutting expenditures elsewhere,鈥 he said.

    Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was asked Tuesday about the Bloc鈥檚 demand and whether the federal government can afford that expense. Freeland would only say 鈥渃onversations are ongoing.鈥

    鈥淲e are having good conversations about all possible economic measures with both the Bloc and the NDP,鈥 Freeland said.

    You can watch CTV Power Play鈥檚 full interview with Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux in the video player at the top of this article. 

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    Canada

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    Local Spotlight

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

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    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

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    A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥

    • With the B.C. election too close to call, Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked Tuesday how she feels about the possibility of a party that has repeatedly called for her firing forming government.

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    • Police say a youth has been arrested after a report of online threats against a school in the Metro Vancouver community of Richmond, B.C.

    • Police have released video footage of a recent home invasion in Richmond Hill as they search for three outstanding suspects who they say may have returned to the residence the following day to take another vehicle.

    • A Superior Court justice in Milton has been ordered to participate in coaching from a more senior judge after the Canadian Judicial Council found that his tone was 'abusive and intimidating' during a family court hearing last September.

    • A group of professional engineers plan to soon withdraw services from key Ontario infrastructure projects Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass as part of a bargaining dispute with the province.

    • A new study suggests the Government of Alberta purposely pushed false narratives around public safety to scale down safe supply in the province.

    • An electrical grid alert was issued throughout Alberta on Tuesday morning as temperatures cooled.

    • Calgary police are investigating a Monday crash that sent a man to hospital in life-threatening condition.

    • Memorials and tributes are taking place across Ottawa on Tuesday to remember Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, an honour guard stationed at the National War Memorial, killed 10 years ago today.

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    • A Montreal suburb has started an operation to kill white-tailed deer in one of its local parks, after years of legal battles with activists seeking to save the animals.

    • Edmonton police are looking for information on a man they say is connected to a July house fire in the Fraser neighbourhood.

    • Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) custodians have voted 97 per cent in favour of going on strike.

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    • A member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party is crossing the floor and joining the Progressive Conservatives.

    • Communities east of Alberta set record high temperatures for an Oct. 21 while Alberta itself contended with the first snowfall of the season in some areas.

    • The Manitoba government is restoring the 1:1 apprentice-to-journeyperson ratio.

    • Brandon police are looking to find the owners of a small litter of puppies found abandoned in the city on Tuesday.

    • It was lights, cameras, and action at a beachfront Manitoba community last week as a Hollywood movie shoot took over the town once again.

    • Saskatchewan's Conflict of Interest Commissioner (COIC) has found that former Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal violated legislative rules by profiting from hotels while they were party to government contracts.

    • Two bullet holes were discovered at the campaign office of a Saskatchewan Party candidate in Regina.

    • Hundreds of voter information cards have landed in the wrong hands.

    • Police are investigating a suspicious fire at a Kitchener playground.

    • At least seven large-scale butter thefts have been reported in Guelph, Ont. over a 10-month period, including two hauls in just the last month.

    • People living in Doon South say they鈥檝e seen a group of teens running around and knocking down Halloween displays.

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    • The Saskatchewan RCMP has confirmed a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a vehicle on Highway 2 near Wakaw on Sunday.

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    • Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

    • The head of the union representing thousands of teachers believes the embattled Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is 鈥渕oving in the right direction.鈥

    • On the stand of a London courthouse on Tuesday, Rachel Johnson described how a fun bush bash birthday party on July 30, 2021 turned deadly.

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    • Lethbridge police are advising the public of officer training on Tuesday that will happen in two different venues throughout the day.

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    • The last students to graduate from Lethbridge College will make history this weekend as they cross the stage at fall convocation.

    • Rallies by a group called Voices Against Violence took place across the country on Monday, including Sault Ste. Marie.

    • An Indigenous group in northwestern Ontario shut down the highway for a couple of hours Monday morning in protest after ancestral remains were found at a construction site.

    • The owners of 73 vacant properties in the Sault have been fined for violations of the city's vacant properties bylaw, including 33 owned by a firm going through a high-profile insolvency process.

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