“There are things in it that we have indicated we can work with.”
John Nater is the Conservative MP for Perth-Wellington and said he is optimistic the issues most affecting Canadians can be dealt with in a spirit of cooperation as the House of Commons sits for the next four weeks.
“Issues such as interprovincial trade. This is something there is consensus among political parties federally and provincially that we need to take action on. There were a few affordability measures our party had promoted during the campaign. They’re not perfect and may not be what we would have put forward, but we can support them.”
Some of those affordability measures include a one per cent income tax cut and cut and the removal of the goods and services tax from the price of new homes. The main Conservative criticism coming out of the speech was that it did not include the words pipeline, energy or natural resources.
“There is no commitment to using our natural resources and getting them to tidewater. That’s a major concern and there were brief mentions of agriculture. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry that drives our local and national economy. There were passing references to it but we need to be focusing on that and I was a little disappointed there wasn’t a meaningful commitment to it.”
Nater said having King Charles III deliver the speech made it a unique occasion for all Canadians.
“It’s a special tradition to have the Monarchy there. Parliament itself is comprised of three parts, the House of Commons, the Senate and the Crown. When you have those three parts of Parliament together for the first time in almost 50 years, it’s a significant experience.”
The House of Commons, which hadn’t been active in over five months, is scheduled to sit for only four weeks before the summer break which doesn’t leave much time to pass legislation. Nater said it will be a challenge.
“Even with full cooperation from the opposition, there are certain periods of time it takes to get things through Parliament. We can’t even begin debating legislation until late next week. I think we will see the priorities find their way to a spot where things can start to be implemented but a lot of bills won’t be tabled until the fall.”
The last time a member of the Royal Family delivered the speech was in 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II. She also presented 20 years earlier in 1957.
