Economy the focus of throne speech

By David Atkin, Canwest News Service

Gov. Gen. Michaëelle Jean reads the throne speech as Prime Minister Stephen Harper listens in Ottawa yesterday.

Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters, Canwest News Service

The federal government's top priority for the next year is to get more Canadians off the unemployment rolls and strengthen an economic recovery it continues to describe as "fragile."

The government laid out those priorities and several others in a 6,000-word speech from the throne, read in the Senate yesterday afternoon by Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean. The speech marked the beginning of the third session of the 40th Parliament, officially ending a controversial two-month-long prorogation of Parliament.

"Jobs and growth remain the top priority," Jean said. "Too many Canadians still find themselves out of work and events beyond our borders could yet threaten a fragile recovery."

The throne speech also touched on a wide range of initiatives the government will work on in the coming parliamentary session.

It will, for example, lift restrictions on foreign investment in Canada's telecommunications sector. It will launch a major review and reform of Canada's fisheries management system.

The government also said it will build on its popular universal child-care benefit -- the $100-a-month subsidy paid to every parent for every child under six -- by strengthening the benefit for single-parent families.

Still, the biggest challenge for the government will be to try to find jobs for the 1.53 million Canadians who are still without work. The government will do that with a focus on new education programs and skills training.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will table the budget for 2010-11 today at 1 p.m. PT and, as Jean said yesterday, will confirm the government's intention to carry through on its two-year economic stimulus spending commitment.

But the throne speech also confirmed that the extraordinary spending programs that saw Canada through the recession will end by March 31, 2011, and that date will begin a period of austerity as the government tries to eliminate what will be successive years of budgetary deficits.

Among other things, the government said it would freeze the salaries of the prime minister, cabinet ministers and members of Parliament. The operating budgets of every department -- the money spent on salaries, administration and overhead -- will also be frozen, although Jean did not say for how long.

The government also confirmed that the military mission in Afghanistan will end in 2011, but that Canada will continue to provide civilian aid to that country.

Some other commitments Jean made on behalf of the government include:

- Establish a new biometric passport.

- Allow military families greater access to employment insurance benefits.

- Build more community war memorials.

- Take action to address the "disturbing" number of unsolved cases of murdered and missing aboriginal women.

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