Today’s Speech from the Throne will be long on new promises from the Harper Conservatives. Here’s what Stephen Harper’s 2006 Speech from the Throne promised Canadians – and what they actually delivered:
|
2006 Throne Speech Core Promise |
Broken Promise |
| “Leading change in a minority Parliament means working together… the government will look for shared goals and common ideas that will help Canadians build a stronger Canada.” | Conservative Parliamentary brinkmanship plunged Canada into a constitutional crisis, and Stephen Harper twice shut down Parliament to avoid accountability. |
| “Canadians’ faith in the institutions and practices of government has been eroded. This new government trusts in the Canadian people, and its goal is that Canadians will once again trust in their government. It is time for accountability.” | The Harper Conservatives’ culture of secrecy has resulted in three investigations into political interference with Access to Information requests. The smoke-and-mirrors Accountability Act has no real teeth. Defence Minister Peter Mackay was fined a paltry $200 for a conflict of interest after failing to declare that he sat on two corporate boards while sitting in Cabinet |
| “It will ensure that positions of public trust cannot be used as stepping stones to private lobbying.” | Numerous prominent Conservatives, including former Chief of Staff Ian Brodie, have left government to work for lobbying firms. Some have made profitable careers out of influencing government decisions by selling access to government insiders. |
| “Provide real protection of whistle-blowers who show great courage in coming forward to do what is right.” | The Conservatives smeared the reputation of Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin for providing an honest account of the abuse of Canadian-transferred Afghan detainees, and then threatened to stiff him with the bill for the cost of his legal counsel. |
| “The Government will strengthen the capacity and independence of officers of Parliament, including the Auditor General, to hold the Government to account.” | Access to Information requests are at a standstill because of political interference, while the Harper government has starved the Parliamentary Budget Officer of funds as punishment for being critical of the state of public finances. The Harper Conservatives have also fired independent watchdogs who have been critical of government policy. |
| “It will increase the transparency of appointments, contracts and auditing within government departments and Crown corporations.” | The Harper government has wasted over $1.3 million on a sham public appointments commission that has yet to vet a single appointment, while jamming government full of Conservative donors and former candidates.Government spending on management consultants has skyrocketed under the Conservatives, now up to an average of $570 million a year, an astounding 165% increase over the previous Liberal government. |
| “It will help prevent crime by putting more police on the street.” | The Conservative government fell far short of their goals to hire new police officers, providing insufficient funding with no long-term sustainability or controls, leaving police associations feeling betrayed. |
| “The Government will engage the provinces and territories on a patient wait times guarantee for medically necessary services.” | The Conservatives failed to implement the September 2004 federal-provincial Health Accord; failed to establish evidence-based benchmarks for medically acceptable wait times, starting with cancer, heart, diagnostic imaging procedures, joint replacements, and sight restoration; failed to establish, by the end of 2006, patient wait-time reduction targets for priority procedures identified by the provinces; and failed to provide Canadians with regular reports on progress towards meeting these wait-time targets, as promised in the Health Accord. |
| “Significant international treaties will be submitted for votes in Parliament.” | The Conservative government signed the Buy American treaty while Parliament was prorogued. |
