Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP Derek Sloan released a video on his Facebook page saying there were some positives and negatives from Wednesday’s Speech from the Throne.
The speech marked the beginning of the second session of the 43rd Canadian Parliament.
Sloan says the Liberals put forward “massive” promises, but there were things that he sees as positives. During the speech, the government said that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor need to “come home.” The two Canadians have been detained in China since December 2018. He also praised the Liberals for promising to reform the World Trade Organization. “To me that indicates that Liberals are finally stepping up the rhetoric on China,” Sloan said. “They’ve been very weak on China.”
He said he’s also happy to see the Liberals commenting on interprovincial free trade. “It’s something I’ve been talking about for many years,” he said. He added that despite this, he’s still concerned about the Liberals saying the party doesn’t care about provincial jurisdiction.
He criticized the Liberals for promising to create one million jobs. “I don’t know how they’ll plan on doing that,” he said. He believes they will intervene provincially – which he says he’s against – and will have to “spend a lot” to make these jobs a reality.
Sloan also expressed concern about what he called a “dig” against legal gun owners. “They didn’t mention in any way tackling gang crime when it comes to the illegal gun owners and criminals,” he said.
The Liberals promised to make COVID-19 testing more available. “Why didn’t they do that months ago?” Sloan asked. He claims Health Canada has been “dragging their feet” on making available tests that can be done in a few minutes while you’re at home.
The Conservative Party has already said they do not support the Speech from the Throne. The leaders of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois have commented on the speech, but have not indicated yet whether or not their party will support it. There need to be six days allowed for MPs to debate the Throne Speech, and then a vote will be held. Since the Liberals are a minority government, they will need support from the NDP or Bloc Quebecois to avoid an election being called.
A vote date has not yet been announced.