After a three month prorogation, the Conservatives have come up with a long Throne Speech short on content, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said today.
“The Conservatives needed to shut down Parliament for three month to come up with this?” asked Mr. Ignatieff. “Canadians were promised a focus on jobs and innovation, but all we get are rehashed, empty bromides.”
The Liberals have proposed specific job proposals, including incentives for hiring young workers, boosting job creating productivity for manufacturers, and tax incentives for investing in start-ups.
“While the Throne Speech offers platitudes about barriers to growth for small businesses, the only concrete proposal on offer from the Conservatives is a $13 billion, job-killing payroll tax hike,” said Mr. Ignatieff.
Last year, the government promised to create 190,000 new jobs. The Throne Speech claims that the economy added 135,000 net new jobs since July 2009, but this only goes back to the bottom of the recession, ignoring over 300,000 people who have lost their jobs since October 2008.
“What’s significant is what’s not in the Throne Speech,” continued Mr. Ignatieff. “No specific measures aimed at creating jobs. No specific investments in research and development. Nothing new on clean energy. Nothing on pensions. Nothing on culture. And nothing on helping our veterans recover from post-traumatic stress disorder.”
The Conservatives have no credibility when it comes to innovation.
They have:
• Cut $148 million from Canada’s research councils in the last budget;
• Let Canada fall from the second to the tenth position in internet connectivity;
• Overseen a decline in Canada’s investments in Research & Development as proportion of GDP has declined steadily since 2005;
• Lapsed $160 million in approved spending for the Canada Space Agency – spending that could have supported innovation in Canada’s $24-billion aerospace sector;
• Axed the position of National Science Advisor, and
• Overseen Canada’s fall to 14th out of 17 peer countries when it comes to innovation performance.
“The Conservatives have a lot of catching up to do. We’ll wait to see if the budget has anything more substantial to offer,” Mr. Ignatieff concluded.
