Conservation, Indigenous affairs at heart of Liberals’ throne speech

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This article was published 04/12/2019 (1802 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are pledging to work “just as hard” to address the climate change as they will to get pipelines built, in Thursday’s throne speech that touched multiple times on healing regional divisions.

“You can raise the bar on what politics is like in this country,” said Gov.-Gen. Julie Payette in reading the Liberal government’s speech to a packed Senate chamber full of dignitaries.

The speech reiterates the Liberals’ election planks from this autumn, while promising new initiatives for Indigenous people and conservation. The speech was lukewarm on the prospect of drug coverage.

“The government will take steps to introduce and implement national pharmacare,” according to the speech, instead of an specific promise to table legislation. It also notes that “ideas like universal dental care are worth exploring.”

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously pledged, his first legislative initiative will be a tax cut targeted to the middle class. Other economic initiatives include cutting mobile phone costs by 25 per cent and unspecified action on internal-trade barriers, child care and pensions.

“While the government takes strong action to fight climate change, it will also work just as hard to get Canadian resources to new markets.” – Gov.-Gen. Julie Payette reading the Liberal government’s throne speech

The government intends to extend its conservation goals for lands and oceans, from the current 17 per cent by 2020, to 25 per cent by 2025. The Liberals are sticking to the carbon tax, and promise to make both electric cars and energy efficient homes “more affordable.”

“While the government takes strong action to fight climate change, it will also work just as hard to get Canadian resources to new markets,” the speech reads, marking a change in tone in balancing the resource sector with the environment.

The speech continues the Liberals’ foreign-policy platform of seeking a United Nations Security Council seat, while collaborating with other countries on trade and digital policy.

While deciding “to show courage” by giving cities the power to ban handguns will catch notice in place like Toronto, a less specific pledge to help cities fight gang-related violence could have an impact in Winnipeg.

The government similarly pledged action on opioids and substance abuse, though the speech does not specifically mention the impact of methamphetamines.

The Liberals will also attempt to set mental-health standards in workplaces, alongside provinces.

The government is promising to “work with Indigenous communities to close the infrastructure gap by 2030;” it is unclear if this means upgrades to housing on Manitoba reserves, which would cost roughly $2 billion.

The Liberals are also pledging “new legislation to ensure that Indigenous people have access to high-quality, culturally relevant health care and mental health services,” which is a longstanding goal of First Nations in northern Manitoba.

The government pledges to “take action to co-develop and introduce legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the first year of the new mandate,” a key NDP demand that could have implications on megaprojects.

The government also pledged “fair and timely” compensation for Indigenous people harmed by discriminatory child-welfare practices, which aligns with the current policy of appeal a major tribunal ruling in favour of a separate compensation process.

“Some believe that minority governments are incapable of getting things done. But Canada’s history tells us otherwise,” Payette read to the Red Chamber.

That’s a reference to the numerous social programs the Pearson government rolled out in the 1960s when the NDP propped up their minority parliaments.

The Liberal-written speech acknowledged Payette’s career, as a former astronaut.

“We share the same planet. We know that we are inextricably bound to the same space-time continuum and on board the same planetary spaceship. If we put our brains and smarts and altruistic capabilities together, we can do a lot of good,” she said.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca