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OTTAWA—Who needs a Throne Speech?
Forget Governor General David Johnston’s cameo in the Red Chamber on Friday to lay out the blueprint for the majority Conservative government.
House Leader Peter Van Loan laid it out Thursday.
The budget is the main priority for spring session, he said. But the government will also move to introduce term limits for senators, extend the NATO military mission in Libya to enforce a “no-fly” zone, and a bill to end human smuggling.
A massive crime bill — that will package several legal proposals including tougher mandatory sentences for drug crimes and stronger police powers to search and seize online information — will be introduced in the fall, as will a bill to abolish the long-gun registry.
Van Loan, who colleagues say revels in the more high-profile role of House leader, told reporters the Conservative budget is the main order of business for what’s expected to be a short three-week session of Parliament.
It will be tabled Monday, and is expected to include much of what was promised in the March 22 budget that never passed before the election.
Van Loan said a budget implementation bill will also need to be passed in the next three weeks to provide better Guaranteed Income Supplement payments for “the most vulnerable seniors.” Specifically, the Conservatives had promised a top-up benefit of up to $600 for single, low-income seniors and up to $840 for couples through the Guaranteed Income Supplement—expected to cost more than $300 million.
Van Loan referred to other measures in the March budget that would be brought forward.
It had contained a temporary hiring credit for small businesses of up to $1,000 against the increase in 2011 EI premiums to encourage hiring; a Family Caregiver tax credit that would save about $300 a year for people caring for sick or disabled relatives. It had also pledged $400 million to extend the ecoENERGY Retrofit-Homes program for one year. The program offers rebates to help make homes more energy efficient.
The government will also introduce this spring a motion on the extension of the NATO mission in Libya, legislation to limit senators’ terms, and to end human “smuggling.”
Van Loan said other legislative measures will come “in the spring and fall sessions” including an end to per-vote subsidies for political parties, which he pegged at $27 million a year.
“The government does not believe that taxpayers’ money should subsidize political parties directly. The per-vote subsidy introduced in 2004 by the Liberal party was in fact a tax on voting.”
“We believe political parties already enjoy considerable advantages over other organizations in fundraising including very strong tax incentives for donors.”
Another government spokesman confirmed the Conservatives will also move to enlarge the number of seats in the House of Commons to accommodate population growth in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. The government’s last attempt to add 30 seats to the Commons faced much opposition from Quebec and rural MPs and did not pass. It is not clear whether the government will now try to use the same seat re-distribution plan – which would have given Ontario 18 new seats, B.C. seven and Alberta, five – or adopt new numbers.
Van Loan said the government will move in the fall to eliminate the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board – a longstanding Conservative pledge that met fierce opposition in the previous minority parliaments.
And Van Loan said along with the end of the gun registry, the Conservatives will take “steps” to prevent “criminals from getting guns.” |
