Justin Trudeau govt to focus on economic growth, climate crisis

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and governor-gGeneral Mary May Simon attend the Throne Speech ceremony in the Senate, as parliament prepares to resume in Ottawa, Ontario, on Tuesday. (REUTERS)

As Canada’s parliament formally opened on Tuesday following the September elections, the minority government headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau presented an agenda focused on priorities like economic growth and tackling record inflation, climate crisis and reconciliation with the Indigenous communities.

What Justin Trudeau plans to achieve shortly was presented by Canada’s governor-general Mary Simon in her Speech from the Throne, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state.

The speech will be debated in the House of Commons in the days ahead and could result in the new government facing its first vote of confidence, as it will require the support of either the opposition Bloc Quebecois or the New Democratic Party (NDP) to get it passed. Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party is 10 short of the 170 seats required for a majority.

In a statement related to the speech, Trudeau referred to the snap elections in September and said voters “gave parliamentarians a clear direction to work together to put the Covid-19 crisis behind us and find the real solutions needed to build a better future for all Canadians.”

“Building a better future starts with getting the pandemic under control and finishing the job on vaccines,” the statement issued by the prime minister’s office noted.

The speech began with a reference to the devastating flooding that beset the province of British Columbia last week. The speech reiterated Canada’s COP26 commitment that it was “moving to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions while accelerating” its “path to a 100% net-zero electricity future”.