Yesterday marked the opening of Canada’s 45th Parliament, but unlike the usual process and ceremonial procedures that interest only those who closely watch Parliament, the inclusion of a royal visit has created attention and wider interest that Speeches from the Throne rarely garner. The opening of Parliament by a new government, combined with the spectacle of a royal visit and the reading of the Throne Speech by the King for the first time in almost 70 years generated widespread interest. However, those of us who are particularly attuned to Ottawa politics notice a difference sense of change and importance as King Charles delivered this speech.
As a result, the usual procedurally heavy ceremony of the Throne Speech, which functions as a vehicle for the government to outline their upcoming priorities, felt particularly different yesterday. Beyond the presence of the monarchs, it felt as though this was not simply a traditional process, rather the beginning of a new era in Canadian history. When the Sovereign last opened Parliament in 1957, it was in the aftermath of the Second World War as the Canadian economy and order in the world was changing dramatically. As was often mentioned by Prime Minister Carney throughout the campaign, the post-WWII global economic system which relied so heavily on steady and reliable leadership by the U.S. has ended, and the relevance of yesterday’s speech being delivered by the King in today’s context and the similarity to his late mother’s own some 68-years ago was striking.
The pre-positioning of the new government was that the presence of the King highlighted this divergence. Canada is entering a new global order, and as the speech itself states, “the world is a more dangerous and uncertain place than at any point since the Second World War.” Whether the contents of the speech lived up to its delivery by the King was a point of debate for the political commentators, and the initial reaction was somewhat lukewarm. Speech from the Throne expectations are often let down, as speculation prior to each speech offers the hope that it will include specific details and timelines for when government plans on executing its legislative agenda. Inevitably, disappointment comes when the speech is delivered and takes the form of a minimalistic agenda that holds specifics to the immediate priorities of government. This was the approach taken by the government yesterday and is a valid one. What this does signal is that we can expect a much more detailed agenda to come in short order as the government finds its feet in a new and very different looking Parliament.
At this level, it seemed like a missed opportunity and a softening of the “Elbows Up” and “Canada Strong” messaging Prime Minister Carney relied on through the recent election campaign. However, in a broader view, the visual messaging that came from the Sovereign opening Parliament during this difficult global time, as a new government comes to power, along with the sense of Canadian pride and unity in the face of Canada-U.S. relations, may have a much greater impact than the words themselves. No imagery could better represent this than the final few words read by King Charles: “As the anthem reminds us: The True North is indeed strong and free.”
Priorities
While many were looking for today’s Throne Speech to be an outline of the government’s plan moving forward, with specific timelines and details, it fell short of being this guiding document. Rather, it reiterated many of the government’s campaign commitments, and aligned with the themes provided in the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to his ministry.
The speech began with the government’s priority to build the strongest economy in the G7, beginning by removing interprovincial trade barriers and creating one economy rather than thirteen, a familiar campaign promise. The differentiating factor found within this speech was the commitment to “introduce legislation” by Canada Day, while previous messaging referred to the removal of trade barriers themselves by Canada Day.
The King then reiterated the government’s commitment to projects of national interest, and the campaign promise of creating a Major Federal Project Office. The Throne Speech took this commitment one step further as it committed the government to signing co-operation agreements with interested provinces and territories, within six months. This builds on the request of the prime minister for premiers to bring their preferred list of infrastructure projects to Saskatoon next week, when the prime minister meets with the premiers on June 2nd.
The remainder of the speech read as it was outlined throughout the campaign with few surprises. The government committed to increasing the safety and security of Canadians through increased RCMP hiring, and changes to firearms licencing which include revoking licenses of those convicted of intimate partner violence. Protecting Arctic sovereignty as well as increased security at Canadian borders to stop the flow of illegal guns, drugs and stolen vehicles were also reiterated commitments.
While specific timelines were rarely provided, there were some tangible commitments that the government made, including:
- Doubling of the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion
- Capping the total number of temporary foreign workers and international students to less than five percent of Canada’s population by 2027
- Introducing measures to lower the government’s operating budget from nine percent annually to below two percent and balancing the operating budget in the next three years
While the speech reaffirmed the government’s commitment to highlight Quebec and French culture as an anchor of Canadian identity there was a lack of recognition of the national unity challenges that are apparent across parts of the country, particularly the Prairies. While there was mention of the importance of developing conventional energy sources, there was no mention of the need to address the sentiments of western alienation.
Aside from this exclusion, it is interesting that the priorities outlined by the government largely align in a way that if the election results from a month ago had gone the opposite way, and it was a Poilievre led Conservative government writing the Speech from the Throne; it may not have looked or sounded all that different.
What’s next in Parliament
While the Liberal government will look to hit the ground running and produce results in Parliament, it cannot be overlooked that the 45th Parliament opens after a lengthy break since the 44th was prorogued on January 6th. With nearly 1/3 of Parliament now being made up of first time MPs, there will be a learning curve along with a number of necessary procedural hurdles standing in their way.
On Tuesday, the House quickly conducted its first order of business in electing a new Speaker in Liberal MP Francis Scarpeleggia. While they may hope for this type of efficiency in other orders of business, the date of June 20th, when the House is set to rise for summer break, will be fast approaching, unless the sitting calendar is extended. While unlikely, there has been pressure to do so given the current calendar which sees Parliament set to sit for just 76 days in 2025.
While the government enjoys the luxury of being in a strong minority position and the general unwillingness of the population to go back to the polls anytime soon, they will face a House of Commons that is somewhat unfamiliar. This is due to the NDP not receiving official party status and with an interim leader, and a Bloc Quebecois on its back foot that will be looking to create waves after a disappointing election result.
The government’s first hurdle in their legislative agenda will be the debate and voting on the Speech from the Throne. This constitutes the government’s first vote of confidence, and debate will occupy the full six days that are allotted to it. This means the speech vote will come on Wednesday, June 4th.
If it is any indication of the government’s approach for this shortened session, they wasted no time getting down to their legislative agenda. Nearly before King Charles’ plane had left the runway, Finance Minister Francois Philippe-Champagne introduced a Notice of Ways and Means Motion to introduce a bill respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and other measures. This includes the middle-class tax cut which was outlined in the Speech from the Throne.
Committees
One of the first major House procedural hurdles that needs to be addressed before the government can get to work passing legislation, is the creation of Parliamentary Committees. Plenty of behind-the-scenes work goes into committee make-up, with House leaders compiling slates of MPs who have listed their committees of interest and balancing these ‘wants’ with party critics and internal party politics.
The first order of business will be to strike the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC), as this committee is responsible for the review and reporting of suggested committee membership to the House of Commons for approval. This process will be slightly different this time around, as with the loss of official party status the NDP, they also lose the right to ensure they are represented on committees. This will come down to case-by-case deals with the House leaders but will undoubtedly have an impact on government strategy as committees are the single greatest risk for lost time in the legislative process, as opposition parties can often apply an array of filibuster inducing procedural tactics to slow down the process. With only Liberal, Conservative and Bloc members guaranteed seats on committees, the ability to do just that increases in this Parliament.
PROC will then work to establish the make-up of the various other committees that will be necessary to review legislation prior to its implementation. While the government could focus on striking the necessary committees needed to consider and pass their priorities, historically the timeline for setting memberships of all committees, and getting through their first order of business—electing a chair and vice-chair(s)—stretches beyond the 18 days currently allotted in the sitting calendar.
It’s not unreasonable to think, given the government’s immediate priorities include the middle-class tax cut, that establishing the Finance Committee membership will happen first. This way, the government can satisfy the committee review of any finance related legislation first thing. There is also the option to establish a Committee of the Whole, which allows the House of Commons to fulfill this function as a plenary. However, much of this is simply speculation as it relies heavily on the behind-the-scenes discussions held between House leaders.
Insights in this piece contributed by Bailey Stafford.
