CPJ's Alternative Speech from the Throne

What we’d like to hear read in the Senate chambers
on January 26th, 2009

by Kathy Vandergrift
CPJ co-chair (and not yet Governor General!)

“The holiday season allowed all Canadians and our Government to reflect more deeply on the challenges we face as a nation and how we can best act together to meet them.

“We have learned that our well-being is linked to others, so we need to work together. We have learned that putting our faith in the marketplace alone will not solve our needs. We have learned that a few profiting at the expense of others does not produce sustainable wealth. We have learned that governing is not a game for scoring points. Responsible government is essential for a healthy marketplace, a productive society, and for Canada’s future.

“The agenda for this 41st Session will use the gifts of every parliamentarian to ensure that by the end of this recession, Canada becomes a stronger nation, a more equitable society, and a better steward of our natural and human resources.

Social and Economic Reforms for the Common Good

“An economic stimulus package will be introduced in tomorrow’s budget, a response to this current crisis. We will give priority to investing in necessary physical and social infrastructure as a means of creating more jobs. The following measures will help build a just economy:

• Broadening the economic advisory group beyond business leaders to include workers, community leaders, social service providers, and spiritual advisors, recognizing that everyone has something valuable to contribute.

• Adopting a poverty reduction strategy will be a top priority during this Parliament, to ensure that the most vulnerable do not bear the burden of economic adjustment. Measures to reduce the wealth gap and assist the vulnerable will include reforming Employment Insurance, improving the child benefit system and affordable housing, as well as doubling the Working Income Tax Benefit.

• Implementing a social infrastructure investment program to improve community services, using a civic partnership model. This will deliver a high level of short-term economic benefits and build long-term resilience at the community level.

Stewardship of the Environment

“Greening Canada’s economy is essential to integrating environmental protection with economic development. We will:

• Act on previous parliamentary decisions on global warming and environmental protection, approved through all-party review processes, by tabling implementation strategies.

• Promote “greener” solutions in transportation, manufacturing and home building through all physical infrastructure spending.

• End federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, diverting this money to support green energy initiatives.

• All Canadian extractive-sector companies operating abroad will comply with the consensus recommendations of business, government and civil society groups, expressed in the 2007 Final Report of the Advisory Group to the Corporate Social Responsibility Roundtables. In particular, we will establish an Ombudsman to monitor and report on social and environmental practices overseas.

Political Reform

“The events of last year have shown that systemic democratic reforms are clearly needed, even if it means eventually opening constitutional discussions.

“Renewing Canadian citizenship as an active covenant between all peoples who make up this great country will build unity across provincial borders and cultural and religious boundaries. We will:

• Replace the proposed Charter of Open Federalism with a Charter of Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities, recognizing that all Canadians have important rights and responsibilities.

• Commit Parliament to developing a Canadian model of proportional representation, after consultation with citizens across the country, developing a proposal for consideration as part of the next federal election.

• Convene all-party discussions on procedural change in the House of Commons, with a full public report in six months, to help restore the confidence of Canadians in their parliament.

Global Peace with Justice

“The high cost and low return of war, in financial and human terms, cannot be sustained.
Resolving conflicts and strengthening international institutions that contribute to international co-operation and peaceful conflict resolution will be the top foreign policy objective in 2009, starting with sustained support for community-based peace initiatives in Afghanistan and active regional diplomacy to support sustainable peace. Our Government will:

• Establish a Department of Peace, with a senior Minister, to engage in international diplomacy, work with existing officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and with Canadian civil society organizations dedicated to international development and peace-building.

• Recognize that international development assistance levels, as a percentage of GDP, have fallen to less than half of what Canada promised. Budget 2009 will establish a timetable of iron-clad increases to raise aid to 0.7% of GDP by 2018.

• Repatriate Canadian Omar Khadr in keeping with the recommendation of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and President Obama’s closure of Guantanamo Bay.

Conclusion

“While challenges may abound, together we can work towards making government a place of public justice for all.”