Everyone in Ottawa’s political scene seems to be reading Susan Delacourt’s new book, Shopping for Votes. It describes the obsession of modern political parties with “marketing strategies” rather than engaging in authentic democratic discourse and public dialogue. While all parties can be faulted for this change, Delacourt suggests that Harper’s government has raised vote shopping to a high art. Perhaps nowhere was this more evident than in last week’s Speech from the Throne.
Almost unanimously trashed in the media as “fluff,” “rhetorical,” or “instantly forgettable,” the 62-minute speech was intended to “hit the reset button” for the federal political session before us. Yet the speech focussed on shopping for votes from consumers who might be expected to be placated by promises of no extra payments for paper bills or reduced roaming charges on their cell phones, freedom from getting bumped on flights and for taking booze across provincial borders.
Our analysis of the speech looks for an indication of where this government plans to proceed on the three issues that currently guide our work: poverty eradication, ecological justice, and protection of refugee rights.
Leadership on poverty missing
While recognition should certainly be given for the government’s intention to “Build on the successful Housing First approach and its renewed Homelessness Partnering Strategy [HPS],” this – sadly – is old news. The government announced the five-year renewal of the HPS (which, admittedly, is an improvement over the less certain three-year funding cycles of the past) back in March’s budget. Although CPJ and our partners can take some of the credit for this renewed funding, at $119 million a year, it’s less than before.
There was nothing on strengthening the Canada Social Transfer or collaborating with provinces and territories to develop standards and accountability mechanisms for social service and welfare programs. There was nothing to improve effective federal income security programs like the Working-Income Tax Benefit for the working poor, the National Child Benefit Supplement for poor children and their families, or the Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors. There was nothing on addressing food security for the millions of Canadians who can’t access the food they need or the 882,000 people who rely on food banks each month. And there was nothing about a national poverty action plan, the main recommendation of CPJ’s new Poverty Trends Highlights: Canada 2013 report, and the focus of last week’s “Chew on This!” events that took place across the country.
Instead, the speech indicated that our federal government wishes to further abdicate its role in social programs by focusing more on what’s known as social finance. As the Caledon Institute’s Sherri Torjman has pointed out, such instruments should be reason for caution, not necessarily because they bring in private enterprise to address poverty, but because of the resulting “obsession with quantifiable performance outcomes.”
Speech avoids ecological justice
Perhaps it is no surprise that the only government on the planet to renounce its support of the Kyoto Accord didn’t even mention climate change once in the speech. The environment was mentioned four times, and greenhouse gas emissions once, in order to laud “the first government to achieve an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by working with provinces to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sectors while ensuring Canadian companies remain competitive."
In one fell swoop the Conservatives claimed credit for provincial government actions (some of which have indeed had a positive effect on emissions, such as BC’s carbon tax and Ontario and Nova Scotia’s moves away from coal plants to generate electricity.) Yet once again, there was no announcement of emissions regulations for oil and gas industries – something that has been promised (and avoided) for years.
The most interesting phrase, however, appeared when the government promised to "enshrine the polluter-pay system into law." This was most likely a reference to spills like the Lac Megantic disaster last July, and the need to increase liability insurance for pipeline operators as well as railways. However, what if this phrase was read to signal (perhaps to Washington policy makers deciding on approvals for new pipeline routes) openness to placing a price on carbon? Indeed, the Conservative Party once advocated a cap-and-trade system, and desperately wants export options for Canadian energy resources. Earlier, this government gutted the Navigable Waters Act, as well as the Fisheries Act, setting the stage for weaker environmental controls on energy transportation. Commitment to a “polluter-pay system” does not promise to prevent or lessen environmental harm – just to transfer financial responsibility away from government.
Refugees fear what is to come
The speech promised that this government’s Citizenship Act reforms will be the most comprehensive of the past generation. This could be a real cause for concern, as there is little concrete evidence from refugee-serving agencies that reforms implemented by former Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's Bill C-31 have "increased protection for genuine refugees,” as the speech implied.
Rather ominously, the speech boasted that the federal government had already “deported more than 100,000 illegal immigrants” and would move to “introduce a new model to select immigrants based on the skills Canadian employers need” (our emphasis). Are refugees and immigrants becoming nothing more than economic commodities?
The current two-tier system for refugee claimants hinders many refugees from proving their case if they come from a designated “safe third country.” In addition, necessary health care services for a large number of asylum seekers in Canada were cut by Mr. Kenney, negatively affecting many church sponsorship organizations. CPJ will remain vigilant to provide analysis and information to refugee-serving organizations concerning what the future “reforms” will bring.
In conclusion, the Speech from the Throne marketed a range of rather limited ideas and options. Precious few of the concerns of CPJ supporters were a priority. The most impressive announcement in the entire speech – an agreement in principle for a trade deal with the European Union – has already been over four years in the making and will need another two years to receive final sign offs from the 28 EU member states. With the next federal election scheduled for October 2015, the timing – in terms of shopping for votes – is not coincidental.
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