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The Niagara Independent, September 25, 2020\u00a0 \u2013 <\/em>Wednesday, with pomp and ceremony, Governor General Julie Payette presented the Trudeau Government\u2019s Speech from the Throne. The GG took 55 minutes to pedantically work her way through the 17-page regal address to set out the government\u2019s plan to manage our current health and economic crises.<\/p>\n The Throne Speech suggested a four-pronged approach to pandemic survival and recovery and, in sharing his laundry list of old commitments, PM Trudeau succeeded in promising everything to everyone.<\/p>\n The federal government offers Canadians a national pharmacare plan, a \u201cCanada-wide\u201d child-care program, the extension of wage subsidies and a new, more generous employment insurance program along with the largest jobs training program in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n Other promises include ending systemic racism in the justice system, further toughening gun laws, giving more support for reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and introducing a new disability benefit regime.<\/p>\n The federal government pledges its green spending will create one million new jobs. It is also laying the cornerstone of the \u201cresiliency agenda\u201d by promising legislation that will establish the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and provide the unspecified amount of necessary cash for green technologies to achieve that goal.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s promised agenda came with no price tag and no timelines; however, in summarizing, the GG pronounced, \u201cTaken together, this is an ambitious plan for an unprecedented reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservative Party Deputy Leader MP Candice Bergen, succinctly observed that it is \u201cirresponsible\u201d to make all those big-ticket spending promises with no plan to pay for them: \u201cThey\u2019re still talking about how budgets will balance themselves, so it\u2019s very, very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n Media editors\u2019 and pundits\u2019 reaction to the Throne Speech was uncharacteristically uncharitable towards Trudeau and Co.\u00a0The Globe and Mail<\/em>\u00a0led with \u201cJustin Trudeau prorogued Parliament \u2013 for this?\u201d\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0headlined: \u201cTrudeau\u2019s new agenda is full of old promises and unrealized hopes\u201d and stated the major take away was that \u201cit was quintessential Liberal,\u201d \u201ca letdown,\u201d and \u201cmore of the same.\u201d Brian Lilley of the\u00a0Toronto Sun<\/em>\u00a0quipped: \u201cThe Throne Speech is much like \u201cOprah\u2019s Favourite Things.\u201d\u201d Chris Shelley in the\u00a0National Post<\/em>\u00a0concluded: \u201cIt\u2019s a muddle, a mess, a Liberal greatest-hits album played on shuffle.\u201d Shelley wrote: \u201cYou don\u2019t need to haul the governor general out of bed to add specifics to pre-existing promises, let alone to simply reiterate them, as this speech does over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n In the event that Canadians may not have fully appreciated the weightiness of the Throne Speech as delivered by GG Payette, the Prime Minister felt compelled to take to the airwaves a few hours later to reiterate his government\u2019s plan.\u00a0CBC News<\/em>\u00a0profiled the PM\u2019s TV appearance as \u201can attempt to command the moment\u201d and compared it with former PM Mackenzie King\u2019s addresses to the Nation \u2013 in 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression and in 1945 days after the end of the Second World War.<\/p>\n All the networks granted PM Trudeau prime time exposure to tell Canadians that we are \u201cat a crossroads\u201d with the second wave of COVID-19 now upon us. He surmised: \u201cIt\u2019s all too likely we won\u2019t be gathering for Thanksgiving, but we still have a shot at Christmas.\u201d And then he went on to repeat much of the key elements from the Throne Speech. PM Trudeau repeated the tone and tenor of the GG\u2019s afternoon oration with his own personal reassurance that \u201cWe\u2019re Canadians. And there\u2019s nothing we can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n Again, media reaction to the political infomercial was less than kind. Perhaps the best analogy for the PM\u2019s TV spot was the\u00a0National Post<\/em>\u2019s column referring to it as a \u201cWinger Speech\u201d in reference to the sitcom\u00a0Community<\/em>. The comedy\u2019s central character is known for his \u201cglib, eloquent monologues designed to win arguments and mend problems through the power of silver-tongued charisma\u201d; relying on \u201cemotion, rhetorical gimmicks, clever-sounding turns of phrase.\u201d The\u00a0National Post<\/em>\u00a0assesses: \u201cLike Trudeau last night, Winger appreciates that what often counts is what it sounds like you\u2019re saying rather than what you\u2019ve really said.\u201d<\/p>\n For all that was said in the Senate Chamber and again in the TV talk, Canadians did not hear about the issue that they are most concerned with: Health Care. Earlier in the week, the Canadian polling firm, Ipsos, released its latest public opinion survey which found that 33 per cent of Canadians chose \u201cimmediate health measures to respond to the pandemic crisis\u201d as their priority concern. Darrell Bricker, Ipsos CEO states: \u201cThe biggest priority item for Canadians, they tell us, is support for health care initiatives to fight COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n The Premiers convened in Ottawa last Thursday with the expressed purpose to call on the\u00a0federal government\u00a0to provide $70 billion in health transfers this year to help with management of the second wave of COVID-19. The additional funds would be used for increased testing, staffing the expected surge in the country\u2019s hospitals and for increased measures to ensure seniors are safe in their long-term care homes.<\/p>\n The federal government\u2019s silence on the health priority was disappointing for the Premiers and two of them let their frustrations show. Manitoba Premier Brian\u00a0Pallister\u00a0said, \u201cSadly, the federal government\u2019s Throne Speech ignored one of the most pressing issues in our country to date, growing health care wait times. Demand is growing at a record level, federal support has never been lower, and Manitoba will continue to lead in standing up for better care sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n Ontario Premier Doug Ford issued a statement: \u201cProvinces require stable, long-term funding for health care. Today the federal government missed a critical opportunity to commit to a desperately needed increase to the Canada Health Transfer. I will continue to work alongside my provincial counterparts to advocate that the federal government invest its fair share in health care.\u201d<\/p>\n The six days of Parliamentary debates on the Throne Speech are not yet scheduled and the vote on the Trudeau Government\u2019s plan is unknown. Yet the Bloc Quebecois was quick to state their condition for supporting the Throne Speech: it is looking for the federal government\u2019s commitment in the next week to \u201cprovide unconditional transfers to Quebec for health care.\u201d Pushing all the political rhetoric heard this week aside, it is a rare instance when the separatist party from La Belle Province speaks for all Canadians\u2019 desire.<\/p>\n Chris George<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is an Ottawa-based government affairs advisor and wordsmith, president of\u00a0CG&A COMMUNICATIONS<\/a>. Contact:\u00a0ChrisG.George@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n