On throne speech eve, I took part in a Liberal bloggers
conference call with Dominic LeBlanc, MP for Beauséjour and Liberal house
leader, where he discussed the party's plans for the fall session of parliament and
what we're expecting from today's speech from the throne.
LeBlanc said the Liberals are open to supporting good
legislation should it be brought forward by the government. He expects they've
spent the summer preparing a whole raft of bills that will be put on notice for debate with Parliament's return; the Liberals will want to scrutinize those closely. It will be a
compressed session due to the prorogation; the Conservatives will want
legislative victories but he’s curious to see how much of their agenda will actually
be substantive, effective measures.
Some of what we've heard telegraphed as far as throne speech
content has been positive, said LeBlanc, and indeed some of it mirrors what
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau discussed during his campaign and in the House of
Commons in May and June – economic measures to help middle class Canadians.
Liberals may be able to support some of the measures in principle, but the test
will be are they effective measures, or just a series of gimmicks.
“If some of them are effective, sure, I don’t know why we
wouldn't support things that move the yardsticks forward,” said LeBlanc. “But
our desire is to see what substantive things are contemplated, not just what
James Moore talked about on the Sunday talk shows.”
It's unclear yet how many opposition days will be allocated
for the fall supply period, said LeBlanc. That’s something the speaker will
need to determine. Likely, the Liberals will have one day, maybe two. It hasn't
yet been discussed by caucus, but LeBlanc said he expects Trudeau will want to
keep the focus on the government’s failings with respect to middle class
families, and the increasing economic pressures people are facing in their
daily and monthly existence. Incomes aren't keeping up with the cost of living,
and the economic pressure on families is making for a great deal on anxiety.
“I would think we’ll focus on issues like job creation and
employment prospects, and retirement security. I have colleagues working on
ideas around retirement security, improving CPP and other instruments that can help,”
said LeBlanc.
In a nod to the Liberal grassroots though, LeBlanc said
while the caucus will continue to respond substantively to current events and
government actions, they also want to see what comes out of the Liberal policy
convention happening in February in Montreal, which will be the culmination of
a process of local and regional policy meetings happening across the country
between now and then.
“We won’t be making great platform pronouncements until we
hear what Liberals have to say at the convention,” said LeBlanc.
Over the summer, both in his riding and travelling the
country, LeBlanc said two things struck him. One, people are profoundly
disturbed by some of the ethical lapses that dominated public attention in May
and June. Harper ran a very sanctimonious campaign about restoring honesty and
transparency to government, and they’re unhappy with the culture of secrecy and
vindictiveness that has instead set in.
And second, there’s still a great deal
of economic angst. Many people think we’re still in a recession; they don’t
feel the recovery that the government talks about in their lives. There are
concerns about jobs, about retirement, about the costs of goods and services. Small
businesses feel squeezed. Conservatives have picked up on this too. Again, the
question is will they offer gimmicks or substantive action to help.
Finally, on a side note, LeBlanc said it appears the
Conservatives may not allow any debate or a vote on the throne speech. As it
stands now they’re not scheduling any debate on the speech, when six days of
debate are pro forma, though he cautions they could easily change their minds up
until the last moment. But it appears they will go straight to debate on a
legislative matter on Thursday.
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