Justin Trudeau govt to focus on economic growth, climate crisis

As Canada’s parliament formally opened on Tuesday following the September elections, the minority government headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented an agenda focused on putting the Covid-19 pandemic “behind” and priorities like economic growth and tackling record inflation, climate crisis and reconciliation with the Indigenous communities.

The outline of what Justin Trudeau plans to achieve in the near future was presented by Canada’s governor-general Mary Simon in her Speech from the Throne, which is equivalent to the Indian President’s address to the nation. The speech is so named as the governor-general (GG) is the representative of the Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state.

The speech will be debated in the House of Commons in the days ahead and could result in the new government facing its first vote of confidence, as it will require the support of either the opposition Bloc Quebecois or the New Democratic Party (NDP) to get it passed. Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party is 10 short of the 170 seats required for a majority.

“Priority number one remains getting the pandemic under control. The best way to do that is vaccination,” the GG said. In a statement related to the speech, Trudeau referred to the snap elections in September and said voters “gave parliamentarians a clear direction to work together to put the Covid-19 crisis behind us and find the real solutions needed to build a better future for all Canadians.”

“Building a better future starts with getting the pandemic under control and finishing the job on vaccines,” the statement issued by the prime minister’s office noted.

The speech began with a reference to the devastating flooding that beset the province of British Columbia last week. “The Canadian government will continue to invest in our workers and industry to help bring us into the economy of the future, while also taking action to clean the air that we breathe and protect Canadians from extreme weather events,” Trudeau said.

The speech reiterated Canada’s COP26 commitment that it was “moving to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions, while accelerating” its “path to a 100% net-zero electricity future”.

With inflation at a level of nearly 5%, a high not experienced in the country for two decades, that, along with affordability, was among the main matters addressed.