OTTAWA – On Monday, September 30, 2002 the Governor General of Canada read the Speech from the Throne, outlining a new agenda for the Canadian government. Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s government pledged to bolster health care spending, help the poor escape welfare, and increase efforts to protect Canada’s environment.
“We now have a generation of Canadians who have grown up in the Internet world, a generation of Canadians who are global, at ease with change and diversity, optimistic and eager to create, innovate and excel. And who believe they can achieve their aspirations in Canada. Canada must tap into and unleash this energy,” Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson said in the Speech from the Throne at the start of the new Parliament session.
“The goal of the government is nothing less than making Canada a land of ever-widening opportunity. Ensuring that the benefits of the new economy touch every community and lift every family and every Canadian. Working together, we can put in place the health care system for the 21st century. We can get Canada’s children off welfare. We can close the gap in life chances between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians,” said Clarkson. — “We live in uncertain times. The events of September 11 demonstrated that our progress at home can be affected in a moment by world events. We see unrest in many parts of the world. We still see far too much poverty.”
“The government will continue to work with its allies to ensure the safety and security of Canadians. Canada will continue to work through organizations such as the United Nations to ensure that the rule of international law is respected and enforced. At the same time, the government will remain vigilant and ready to ensure the protection of Canadians from emerging threats, and will work with the United States to address our shared security needs.” — “But there is more we can do. Canada has a long history of contributing solutions to global problems. We will continue to speak out in every forum for the values of pluralism, freedom and democracy, and contribute to reducing the growing global divide between rich and poor. We will double our development assistance by the year 2010, and earmark at least half of that increase for Africa as part of Canada’s support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. As of January 1, 2003, Canada will eliminate tariffs and quotas on almost all products from the least-developed countries,” Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson said in the Speech from the Throne
Adrienne Clarkson, the representative of the British Queen in Canada, delivered the speech in the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. A Speech from the Throne opens every new session of Parliament. The SFT, and the Prime Minister’s speech in response to it, set out the government’s commitments to Canadians and the policies and programs the government will implement during the session.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said the government should have focused its spending priorities on health care and defence. He also criticized the absence of any commitment to lower taxes or reduce the government’s accumulated debt. Other opposition leaders called the government program a rehash of previous proposals that Chretien’s government never carried out.
“I wasn’t expecting much and there was less here than we thought,” said Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper. “I just thought it was a bunch of recycled stuff.”
