Crime, The Environment, Tax Cuts, and Sovereignty Highlights of the Throne Speech

By 250 News

The Speech from the Throne has been delivered and  the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have indicated they will oppose it, leaving it  up to the Liberals to  decide if there will be a federal election. Gilles Duceppe says he will not support the Throne Speech based  on the  continued committment  to Armed Forces in Afghanistan  "We will have to see if the Liberals make an ammendment and  we may make an  ammendment to that, so we have to see what the Liberals will do."

The Liberal's, Stephane Dion, has been keeping quiet.  Experts say his party is not ready to fight an election, but Dion is said to be ready to make moves to defeat the Government on the basis of the Throne speech if it doesn’t contain what the Liberals want.  While some of the Liberal flock may be willing to share their thoughts on the Speech from the Throne this evening, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is not expected to make his thoughts known until tomorrow.  Michael  Ignatieff says  the "Liberals are looking at a disppointing speech, a vague speech,  we need to spend the evening calmly, soberly reflecting."   He says  the government is walking away  from Kyoto, and there is no strategy to give Canadian  industry an advantage as the dollar  continues to climb.  Ignatieff says Stephane Dion will reply tomorrow in the House of Commons.

There are  political pundits who say the Prime Minister is ready to head to the polls and may  have put  a “poison pill” into the  Throne Speech to ensure the Liberals  have no choice  but to defeat the  government and force an election which Stephen  Harper is confident  he can win.

If an election is forced, it would most likely take place on Monday December 3^rd, or Monday December 10^th.

Here are the highlights of the speech:

Starting the speech were words for the Canadian forces, pledging respect for their work.

"The economy is strong, the government is clean the country is united.  Now is the time to continue building a better Canada"

Five   key areas will be the focus of the government

1. Sovereignty:   The north needs new attention, and new challenges from other shores.  The government will  forward a new strategy to  strengthen sovereignty,  protecting  environment,  new opportunities and  improve living  conditions for  First Nations and  Inuit, and will build a world class  Arctic research  station .  There will be arctic floor mapping, and new arctic patrol ships to defend our sovereignty.   This includes increased commitment to the Armed Forces and continued support for Veterans.  Canada is back as a credible player on the world stage.  While committed to being in Afghanistan until February of 2009, Parliament will be asked to approve having the Armed Forces stay in  Afghanistan  to train Afghan army and police  until 2011.

2. Legislation to limit federal spending power  for new shared cost programs in areas of provincial jurisdiction.  Remove barriers that slow trade between provinces.  Reintroduce important pieces of legislation including senate reform.

3. Economic leadership including a long term plan for long term tax relief including a one percent cut to the GST.   Key sectors, forestry, fisheries, manufacturing and tourism, are facing challenges.   The government will work towards assisting these sectors as they adjust.

4. Crime:  protect the right to safety and security.  Reintroduce legislation that tackles violent crime with measures on impaired driving age sexual consent, stricter bail conditions and mandatory prison terms for gun crimes.  Strengthen the youth criminal justice act, so youth are held accountable to their victims and communities.  Repeal the long gun registry.  More  police officers to  patrol the streets.

5.Environment:  Canada admits  it cannot  meet the Kyoto  commitment,  but will help lead the effort to  reduce  greenhouse gasses with a new environmental agreement that will reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by  60 -70% by 2050, and a 20% reduction by 2020.  The Government plans tougher environmental enforcement which will make polluters “accountable”.  This would include enforcement measures, to ensure food and toys  are  safe for  all Canadians.

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