The Antidote to Depoliticization Is to Speak in One's Own NameThe Speech from the Throne is a reminder of how outdated and in need of renewal the democratic institutions of Canada are. It is delivered from the throne of a condescending monarch by the Governor General, an anachronistic colonial office that represents the Queen of England, who is still formally the head of state in Canada. Of course it is just a form but the reason it is kept is that it helps to hide that the royal prerogative is exercised through the powers of the Prime Minister while the actual decision-making power lies in the financial oligarchy. It does not reside in the people, either in form or content.
The Throne Speech declares that the October 21 election gave the cartel parties "a mandate from the people of Canada" to "fight climate change, strengthen the middle class, walk the road of reconciliation, keep Canadians safe and healthy, and position Canada for success in an uncertain world." None of the measures outlined in the speech meet the demands workers, youth, women and Indigenous peoples have been formulating in their thousands in demonstrations and other actions across Canada. In the Canadian parliamentary tradition, the Throne Speech is really addressed to the other parties in the Parliament and the different sections of the ruling elite they represent in an attempt to create an understanding between them to maintain their control over power and resources to serve their interests for the coming period. This is the main feature of the December 5 Throne Speechfrom the minority government of Justin Trudeau. Throne Speeches do not require a vote, as they only express the broad policies the government intends to pursue. According to some sources though, the Trudeau government intends to submit this Throne Speech to a vote in order to cement some kind of alignment with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to prevent an election, which would presumably favour the Conservatives. In any case, even if it doesn't submit it to a vote, the first confidence vote is expected in the coming week on a financing bill that allows the continuation of the operations of the government. Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet announced immediately after the presentation of the Throne Speech that, if there is a vote, the Bloc will side with the government because, he said, "the wording on delicate subjects is vague" and this "allows us to make of it what we want." Specifically, Blanchet noticed that there is no mention of oil projects or pipelines which would make it difficult for the Bloc to support it. "The government knows very well which are the issues we cannot agree with," he added. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said that although the measures announced in the Throne Speech "are not good enough," the NDP is not closing the door to supporting it if the government "promises more." He said, "We need to talk, we need some firmer commitments, we need some real action to tackle the urgent problems that people are facing." Some of the measures spelled out specifically to allow the Bloc and the NDP to support the minority government on major confidence votes include: - Not mentioning anything to do with pipelines. The divide created on who is "against" and who is "for" pipelines has degenerated to an absurd level where even the mention of the word is a reason to vote for or against the government agenda. This is related to attempts to split the polity by presenting a caricature of workers in the western provinces who want oil pipelines and nothing else versus those in the rest of the country who cannot bear the thought of them. - Mentioning specific measures suggested or previously championed by the other cartel parties such as: "lowering taxes for the middle class and those who need it most" and national pharmacare "so that Canadians have the drug coverage they need." This is something the NDP has been calling for and which Quebec is open to discuss since it already has a drug program. - Mentioning broad measures on which everyone will agree such as: "a real plan to fight climate change;" "less gun violence" by "banning military-style assault rifles and taking steps to introduce a buy-back program" (municipalities that want to ban handguns will be able to do so); "dialogue and cooperation" between all regions of Canada; a commitment to work with others to develop a National Action Plan and a Gender-Based Violence Strategy; and reconciliation with Indigenous people as "a core priority for this government" which will "continue to move forward as a partner on the journey of reconciliation."
In other words, the Throne Speech confirms that working people have to continue to organize to speak in their own name, express their demands and concerns, and make it clear that neither the minority government nor a coalition of cartel parties in the House of Commons have a mandate to speak and act in their name.
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
This reality of
who decides is reflected in the Throne Speech
delivered on December 5 by the Governor General on behalf of the
minority government, led by the Trudeau Liberals, that was brought
to power on October 21. While the speech gives the broad
orientation of the new government for the current parliamentary
session, it is oblivious to the reality that Canadians have
refused to give this government a mandate to do what it wants and
especially to continue to do what the Trudeau Liberals have been
doing for the last four years. On every
issue raised in the speech, it says the Liberals will continue to
do what they have been doing. The expression "the government will
continue" is the content of almost every announcement and is
repeated 19 times. The issue of how this minority
government, led by a party that received less than 35 per cent of
the vote cast, will make sure the measures it takes and the
orientation it gives the economy and the country will represent
what Canadians want is not addressed in the speech.
However, it is
clear that the Liberals, having
already determined what Canadians want, therefore have no need
to address any of the issues and demands raised by working people
in their battles against the anti-social offensive across the
country, and will carry on in much the same way as they did during
their first term. They will continue to pay the rich and
implement budgets designed by those in the highest echelons of
the financial oligarchy. They will continue to rule with impunity
while paying lip-service to the Indigenous peoples or
to the workers with promises of tax cuts. The Liberal government has
already made it
abundantly clear with its irresponsible statements welcoming the
murderous coup d'état in Bolivia that it will continue
interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign nations to
achieve regime change in favour of U.S. imperialist
interests.