Duceppe Gives Harper $5-billion Ultimatum

Unless the next budget includes a sizeable compensation package for Quebec, the Bloc leader says he’ll trigger an election.

Canada inched closer towards a spring election Wednesday when the Bloc Québécois unveiled a list of demands for the next budget that the Conservative government will find difficult to accept. The Bloc is asking for $2.2 billion to compensate Quebec for harmonizing the provincial and federal sales taxes in the 1990s, arguing that B.C. and Ontario received large sums for making the same move last year. Duceppe is asking for $2.8 billion more to go towards education and social programs, and to cover the cost of the 1998 ice storm. The Conservatives table a budget as early as late February, and the Bloc says if the $5-billion package isn’t in it they will withdraw their support for the government.