The environment-focused throne speech delivered by Governor General Julie Payette sets the agenda for parliament and the recently-elected government. Yorkton-Melville MP Cathay Wagantall was disappointed with the speech, and felt that much of Canada was left out of the speech overall.
Wagantall said that she started the process with some hope. She felt that post-election, she thought Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been more humble and more willing to reach out, and had met with party leaders, premiers and a number of mayors in the west. Wagantall thought there was an opportunity to have more of a focus on western concerns.
鈥淭hen, the throne speech was actually very disappointing compared to what we had thought, or hoped, might come out. I know it鈥檚 not a detailed speech, but just the lack of focus on the west, on the issues of job loss, again recognizing that it has been a different time, even still they don鈥檛 take any responsibility for that. There鈥檚 no movement at all on legislation that came from C-69 on pipelines. There鈥檚 no sense that he鈥檚 going to reach out in that way and get our pipelines built. Not just pipelines, but re-confirm confidence in investors in Canada.鈥�
She said that there needs to be government support for the west, especially as the oil and gas sector is currently under pressure, as evidenced by the job cuts at Husky.
There were promises to make life more affordable for families and seniors, though Wagantall remains skeptical about what that will look like.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see what their tax breaks look like.鈥�
The other issue is the environment, specifically the pledge to go zero emissions by 2050. Wagantall is concerned that this means more increases to the carbon tax, which she said is affecting people in the areas, especially farmers.
鈥淚鈥檝e had individual farmers contacting me saying 鈥榯his was my grain drying bill for one month,鈥� because of course we had a very wet fall, so we ended up having to do a lot of drying. For $4,000 of propane, the carbon tax was over $800 on one bill. One individual from Foam Lake said our RM sent $25,000 to the federal government in carbon taxes. They say you get it back, but when you鈥檙e a farmer no, you don鈥檛 get that money back, and you can鈥檛 recoup it.鈥�
While she notes that there is recognition of initiatives out of the west, such as Alberta鈥檚 plan to focus on large carbon emitters, she said the carbon tax is evidence that they鈥檙e still ignoring the west鈥檚 concerns, and the west鈥檚 solutions to the problem, such as sharing carbon sequestration technology.
鈥淭here isn鈥檛 a sense of working together.鈥�
Wagantall is also concerned about how veterans are being treated. While there was a general comment about doing better by veterans, she is concerned about how programs are being handled. She uses the example of mental health care, which is provided to families of veterans with PTSD. She has heard that the program has been cancelled in response to a controversy, and people will have to re-apply.
While she said she鈥檚 going to have to dig deeper, she is concerned that people are going to be left behind.
鈥淭hey are already 40,000 case files behind. Can you imagine what this is doing to the mental health and wellbeing of these families? And this is something they did identify in the throne speech. Veterans are going 鈥榶ou say one thing, and at the same time you鈥檙e doing another.鈥� Surely there鈥檚 a more humane way of doing those transitions without having to shut the program down cold turkey and make these people wait for support.鈥�
When asked if she sees any positives in the throne speech, Wagantall struggled to think of anything. She said that while she didn鈥檛 want to be negative, but she felt that they missed opportunities to help Canadians and how investors look at Canada as a place to do business.
When pressed, she said a tax break is a positive, provided it鈥檚 handled correctly.
鈥淚f there is a tax break, for all Canadians... I鈥檓 not sure if the way they鈥檙e doing it is the best thing. What we have to wait and see is, will they implement it, how long will it take to implement it, and聽 when they do, how is it offset by other increased taxes? Of course the carbon tax is one of the largest ones. We鈥檙e concerned.鈥�
Wagantall is proud that she has been voted to represent Yorkton-Melville again in this term, and thanks everyone for their support.
