In Canada, a speech from the throne is an opportunity for the federal government or any provincial government to set its agenda for the coming legislative session. On Thursday, Ontario’s new Conservative government announced a revolution — and warned “change will not be easy” as it unveils its “Government for the People.”
As the Toronto Star notes, Premier Doug Ford plans to move quickly to reverse much of the big-spending, high taxing, environmentally-obsessed Liberal government legacy.
“We cannot afford to dither or delay. To overcome these challenges, we must challenge the status quo, reject the old compromises and embrace change,” the speech read.
Ford promised to return to law and order that will end “onerous restrictions that treat those in uniform as subjects of suspicion and scorn.”
There was no mention in the speech about making Ontario a bilingual province nor any new plan for fighting the perennial political hobgoblin of climate change. Instead, since becoming premier, Ford has ditched a cap and trade greenhouse gas scheme that the previous government negotiated with neighboring Quebec and California, vowed to fight any federal carbon tax from the Trudeau government and ended the province’s “green energy” program that was attempting to make wind and solar power credible alternatives to fossil fuels.
The Conservatives have also pledged to reduce Ontario’s hydro rates that are currently the highest in North America.
Ford is also following through on tax cuts.
“You should not be forced to pay more and work harder to make life easier for your government. Instead, your government should be working harder, smarter, and more efficiently to make life better for you,” the throne speech promised.
There will also be a “commission of inquiry” into how those tax dollars are spent in the province. The previous Liberal regime was chronically mired in financial scandals and government debt.