Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Jack Layton’s Throne Speech: It’s Time to Build a Better Canada - Saturday October 27 2007
It’s time to build the Canada of our dreams: prosperous and green, where no-one is left behind.
A Canada that invests in its people, its communities and cities.
A Canada that champions equality and tolerance at home, peace and cooperation on the world stage.
This is a time in our country’s history when we are presented with unprecedented opportunity.
It’s time for bold steps.
But Mr. Harper’s government is taking Canada in the wrong direction. Most Canadians know it. We feel it deep down.
His agenda doesn’t match our dreams of what our country could achieve. A Conservative future means that hard-working families will fall further behind; our environment will continue to deteriorate as pollution increases and our water becomes unsafe; and Canada’s role on the world stage will continue to run counter to the values that we hold dear as a country.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
I have the honour to lead the New Democratic Party of Canada. The party of the “greatest Canadian”, Tommy Douglas. The party that brought Medicare to Canada – a commitment grounded in the powerful idea that when it comes to medical care, every Canadian is looked after, not just those who can afford it. After 40 years, Medicare continues to symbolize the bold vision of investing in each other and today it binds us closer together than ever before. It has become a cornerstone of Canadian values.
It’s time for bold, visionary steps again.
Achieving Fairness by Closing the Growing Prosperity Gap
We believe that unparalleled economic growth and federal surpluses present an opportunity to achieve fairness for hard-working families by investing in people and their communities. Mr. Harper believes that it’s time for more unbalanced corporate tax cuts.The hard facts of life in Canada are clear: despite current economic growth and record corporate profits, more and more families are working harder just to make ends meet. The average Canadian today is working 200 more hours per year than they did just 9 years ago. Yet in the last 20 years, over half of all families have seen their incomes drop. That’s not fair.
While the federal government is amassing record-breaking surpluses, more and more people are being left behind. Even the middle class is feeling squeezed.
Many working families are confronting the need to care for their ageing parents at the same time as providing for their children. In Aboriginal communities, many families live in crowded, third world conditions. New Canadians are unable to use their skills and young people are struggling to get the education and training that they need because of high tuition fees and crippling student debt. Homelessness and poverty grip far too many and hundreds of thousands of Canadians are being thrown out of work in key sectors.
In coffee shops across Canada everyday folks are saying: “When there are windfall profits and record CEO salaries, it’s not right that people like me are struggling to make ends meet.”
It’s time to close this growing and unfair “prosperity gap” through prudent and strategic investments:
- in home care and long-term care, that would shorten wait times in hospital emergency rooms and give seniors the care, dignity and respect that they deserve after building our country;
- in affordable, quality childcare that would help families balance their work and home lives;
- in housing, so that no one is forced to choose between paying the rent and feeding the kids; and
- in universal prescription drug coverage, so that all Canadians, regardless of their income, get the medications that their doctors say they need.
It’s also time for fairness for consumers. We will eliminate bank machines fees and introduce tougher rules to ensure that toys, food and consumer goods are safe for you and your family.
Tackling the Climate Change Crisis to Protect Future Generations
We believe that to ensure our children and grandchildren have a healthy, viable future, we must take leadership on climate change today. Mr. Harper believes we can ignore international obligations and allow big polluters to carry on with business as usual.
Over the last 14 years, Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions soared. Worry has turned into deep anxiety. The air we breathe is getting dirtier and the future of our children and grandchildren is at stake. Now is the time for hopeful action, not despair or excuses.
In Parliament, the NDP showed leadership by bringing the parties together to re-write Mr. Harper’s grossly inadequate “Clean Air Act”. Numerous ambitious and achievable ideas were put into this legislation. Environmental groups hailed our initiatives because they would see Canada get on track, once and for all, to reducing its emissions, cutting pollution, investing in transit and becoming a leader in clean, green alternative energy sources - including wind and solar.
But Mr. Harper and the Conservatives have now blocked this progress. They’ve put Canada back on the wrong track.
The NDP will continue to unleash Canadians’ creativity to get action on climate change. We will introduce hard-caps on the big polluters - making them pay for their excess toxic greenhouse gases. We will end the tax subsidies for big oil and big gas and instead invest that money into green solutions that are just waiting to become reality.
Helping the People of Afghanistan Achieve a Lasting Peace
We believe that to help the people of Afghanistan, Canada should focus its efforts on reconstruction, aid and peace. Mr. Harper believes that we should continue participating in a counter-insurgency combat mission.Canadian values include playing a leadership role as peace-builders and peacekeepers. We wish to share our wealth with those who are suffering from war, disease and famine.
The NDP believes it’s time we put those values in place for the people of Afghanistan. We believe that the current combat-role, the counter-insurgency mission, is inconsistent with Canadian values. Under Liberal and Conservative governments, Canada has spent $10 on combat for every dollar it has spent on aid and reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian situation is not improving, it’s getting worse. Civilian security is getting worse.
Canadians want to help the people of Afghanistan. It’s time to refocus our efforts and bring our troops home - as a clear indication of the new role we want to play. It’s time to play a leadership role in bringing the many sides together in the pursuit of a lasting peace. Let’s invest in aid and reconstruction as we do so. That way, we can help improve the lives of Afghanis and offer hope instead of a war without end.
With Leadership it Can be Done
It’s time for Canadians to dream big, not only for their families, but for their country.It’s time that we closed the prosperity gap, tackled climate change, and ensured that Canada plays a positive role on the world stage.
The NDP is offering a bold plan and the leadership to get us there.
It’s time to build again. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.
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