This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

How the Throne Speech Was Like an Episode of Seinfeld

Yesterday's Throne Speech was a-like moment -- it was about nothing. Instead of using the Speech from the Throne as an opportunity to finally lay out a bold vision for tackling the most pressing issues facing Canadians, the Harper Conservatives served up more political gamesmanship, gimmicks and recycled, old policies.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Yesterday's Throne Speech was a Seinfeld-like moment -- it was about nothing.

Let's recall that last month, just as Parliament was scheduled to return from its summer recess, the Prime Minister suspended the opening of the House of Commons by one month. He suspended it under the pretext that he needed more time to lay out a new vision for Canadians.

Part of this new bold Conservative vision to tackle Canada's problems, apparently involves an all-out effort is to find the wreckage of a ship that was last seen in 1845. I don't think Obama's ever promised to find Jimmy Hoffa in a State of the Union address.

Instead of using the Speech from the Throne as an opportunity to finally lay out a bold vision for tackling the most pressing issues facing Canadians, the Harper Conservatives served up more political gamesmanship, gimmicks and recycled, old policies.

This Speech ignored the economic challenges of middle class families. And it failed to recognize that the Prime Minister's economic growth record is the worst of any Prime Minister since the Great Depression.

This is the message I think the Conservatives sent yesterday: don't worry about jobs, don't worry about youth unemployment, don't worry about the gap between the rich and poor, don't worry about health care, don't worry about energy security (for P.E.I. the cable link), don't worry about protecting our environment, don't worry about poverty issues, don't worry about any of the substance that really matters, just be grateful that we might help cut a few pennies off your cable bill -- maybe.

Delaying the opening of Parliament by a month was a transparent effort to avoid accountability in the House of Commons, period.

Harper hopes you would rather talk about cable bills. But, is this really the best we can do as a country, focus on cable bills?

Where is the grand vision for our country? Where are the programs and initiatives that all Canadians can rally around? Where are the ideas that would help bridge the gap between those who are successful and the need to extend that success to others? What is the grand plan for investing in our future, and our young people? What is our plan to protect our seniors? Where is our vision for health care and education for Canadians?

The answer is nothing -- absolutely nothing. It was a Seinfeld moment, but unlike the show, it wasn't funny.

Throne Speech 2013

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.