MINORITY PARLIAMENT AT WORK

Barry Devolin Column (October 21/04)

Earlier this week, I was excited to witness history in the making when, for the first time, substantive amendments were made by opposition parties to the government’s Speech from the Throne.

For those of you unfamiliar with parliamentary process, at the beginning of each session of parliament, the government outlines its agenda in a Speech from the Throne that is delivered by Her Excellency, the Governor-General of Canada.

At the risk of sounding partisan, I would suggest that this year’s speech was largely a rehash of un-kept promises made in previous speeches or Liberal campaigns.

For example, promises to create a national daycare program and to implement the Kyoto Accord have been on the Liberal agenda since 1993, with no action to date.

In my opinion, my leader Stephen Harper effectively made the point that a minority parliament cannot function unless it takes into account the views of opposition parties.

Members of the Conservative Party, Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party were also quick to note that fewer than one-third of Canadians voted Liberal in the recent federal election, with fully two-thirds of Canadians voting for an opposition party

I think that it quickly became clear that the five Conservative amendments added some much-needed substance to vague Liberal promises. These amendments are:

·        Ensuring that monies in the Employment Insurance Fund only be used for the benefit of workers instead of balancing the federal budget;

·        Committing to the reduction of taxes for low and modest income families;

·        Creating an independent parliamentary budget office to offer advice on fiscal forecasts;

·        Considering proportional representation with a view of making the electoral system more fair; and

·        Giving Parliament a real voice on important foreign and defence policy issues, such as a parliamentary free vote on a missile defense agreement.

Because of our success with these amendments, I believe that all opposition parties – but especially the Conservative Party as the Official Opposition – will be in a much stronger position to positively influence Canada’s public policy agenda.

As this parliament goes forward, I look forward to working with all Members of this Parliament to focus on the issues that Canadians sent us to Ottawa to deal with. In the coming weeks and months, I look forward to sharing these matters with you in this column.