The major parties are all weighing in ahead of the Throne Speech Wednesday.
To prevent a trip back to the polling stations, the minority Liberal government under leader Justin Trudeau will be looking to gain the support of either the NDP or PC opposition parties.
LIBERALS
Marcus Powlowski
“The caucus has been speaking at length for the past month about what everyone wants to see in the throne speech,” says Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP Marcus Powlowski. “I certainly voiced where I thought the money ought to be going.”
Where does he think the focus should be? Bombardier.
“John Tory has committed the money for subway and street cars in Toronto. I’d like to see the Federal and Provincial Governments work together on some kind of agreement, to get the work going and get the laid off workers in Thunder Bay back in the plant,” he stresses.
An ownership change is coming with news late last week that the keys will be handed over to French manufacturing company, Alstom.
Ken Boshcoff
Toppling the current Liberal government during the throne speech would set a new precedent for recent minority parliaments, but there were several tense moments back during the early 2000s.
Boshcoff served the community as a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008, working alongside leaders like Paul Martin, Bill Graham and Stephane Dion. He remembers the vote for the 2005 budget in particular, which faced a steep challenge from opposition parties.
“I was working out in the parliamentary gym and the leader of the Bloc Qubcois [Gilles Duceppe] was there. He’d already committed to bringing the government down, [but he was so upset that] he couldn’t even do three sets of anything, constantly changing pieces of equipment. He was fretting about what he had done.”
The Liberals were able to get support from the NDP and survived.
Boshcoff isn’t entirely ruling out an election call, and feels it could be done properly despite COVID-19.
“The recent election in the Maritimes went off without a hitch, for all intensive purposes,” points out Boshcoff. “I don’t know if the opposition parties would agree with that sentiment, but it worked for the government of the day and got them re-elected.”
With the Conservatives choosing Erin O’Toole as their new leader, Boshcoff is watching them closely.
“Although they have indeed spent quite a bit on a leadership race, that was a limited amount from the party funds and less because they didn’t have to have a convention,” says Boshcoff. “The draw of a fresh candidate and maybe some backlash may just be enough to pull the trigger.”
CONSERVATIVES
John Bell
The Tories are the only party in Canadian history to see a minority government fall on a Non-Confidence vote. In 1980, then Finance Minister John Crosbie presented a budget that included the NDP motion proposed by Finance Critic Bob Rae to increase the gas tax in order to help reduce the federal deficit. The other parties disagreed and Prime Minister Joe Clark was defeated in the House.
In today’s world, the Conservatives also want to see Bombardier operations unchanged.
“If the Liberals hadn’t given an almost $1 billion contract for 20 new car sets (eight cars/train with two locomotives) to Siemens in California, that work would be going on at Bombardier in Thunder Bay and some of their other plants,” notes Bell, who serves as the President of the Electoral District Association for Thunder Bay-Superior North on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Bell believes no opposition party wants to force an election, adding the focus should be on looking for ways to help Canadians through this difficult time. When talking about pandemic funding, he points to a recent report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
“Probably with CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) [the officer] estimates that $22 billion went to people who probably shouldn’t have received it,” says Bell. “The Conservative approach would be to provide the necessary supports but to provide it as intelligently as possible, to provide the maximum benefit from the money that is spent and to ensure that those that actually receive further aid are entitled to that aid.”
Bell knows Canadians understand that you need to be cohesive when you don’t have the votes in the House of Commons.
“Doing power grab moves, like the June COVID emergency legislation. That would’ve given them the ability to have no oversight on spending until December of next year. Correctly, everyone said ‘this is ridiculous’ and the government backed down off of it,” adds Bell.
Bell, when asked about the possibility of taking down a government after the speech, notes it’s legal.
“There’s nothing that would stop it. A Throne Speech is a non-confidence measure. If the plan of the government were to be voted down, it would be a matter of confidence.”
NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Iain Angus
Ian Angus served in Queen’s Park (1975-1977) and the House of Commons (1984-1993) under the NDP banner.
He feels there will be maneuvering by the opposition parties. “We’ve already seen, in terms of the COVID response, where the opposition has pushed the government in a particular direction saying ‘look you’ve got a gap here in the services’ and the government has acted appropriately,” says Angus.
The former member of Thunder Bay Council shot down the idea of an election, saying the last thing any party wants to do is to hold a vote during the pandemic.
“There will be talk once again about a National Pharmacare Program, but we’ve heard that in previous government throne speeches already, with no dollars really attached.” Angus adds that, “the budget will tell us how serious the government of the day is in terms of implementing the various policy elements that they outline in the speech.”
Angus remembers well the 1980 take down of the minority Conservatives, saying, “[Prime Minister Joe Clark’s] whip couldn’t count and the government fell on an NDP motion.”
2015 THRONE SPEECH TRUDEAU PROMISES
- New health accord with the provinces
- Affordable post-secondary education
- A pledge to get handguns off the streets
- The previous election would be the last one under the “first-past-the-post voting system.”
- Strengthen Employment Insurance to help all Canadians who need it