Bloc Québécois calls for ‘buy Canadian’ act to counter U.S. protectionist measures

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This article was published 24/03/2025 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet called Monday for Canada to adopt a law that encourages the federal government to purchase goods made in the country.

Blanchet told reporters his party promises to table legislation that would “mirror” the Buy American Act in the United States and other protectionist legislation south of the border.

“We must ensure that we protect and stimulate our own economic sectors,” Blanchet said in front of the American consulate in Quebec City.

The Bloc leader has said that if the April 28 federal election results in a third consecutive minority government, he hopes to hold the balance of power and force Parliament to adopt his party’s policies.

He said his proposal would regulate how the federal government awards contracts and subsidies to guarantee a certain percentage of Quebec and Canadian content in goods and services purchased by the state.

Blanchet also took aim at tax cuts promised by the Liberals and Conservatives, calling the pledges “impossible” and asking the two parties to explain how the cuts would be paid for.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday promised to cut income taxes by 2.25 percentage points, and a day earlier Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he would cut one percentage point from the lowest income tax bracket.

“There’s one who just wants to cut massively without telling us what he’s going to cut,” Blanchet said of Poilievre. “(Carney) says, ‘I’m going to cut, and on top of that, I’m going to increase government spending.’ I want to see the financial frameworks of Carney and Poilievre.”

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On the campaign trail Monday in Brampton, Ont., Poilievre said he would pay for his tax cuts — which he calculated would cost $14 billion a year when fully implemented — through reductions in government spending.

“We will be cutting bureaucracy, cutting consultants, cutting handouts to insiders, and we will cut back on foreign aid,” Poilievre said.

Over the weekend, Carney announced his tax cuts but also promised to move swiftly to build new domestic trade routes for energy and critical minerals, and add new supports for farmers and businesses affected by the trade war with the United States.

The Bloc leader questioned how the Liberals would succeed “in an imminently difficult context of economic slowdown, potentially a recession.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2025.