The speech from the throne on Friday and the budget release yesterday show a lot of promise for following through on items that influenced the outcome of the federal election. The Conservatives earned a majority through hard work and persistence, and a lot of pressure is riding on the outcome of the 2011 budget.
The 2011 budget looks the same as the one tabled before the election with the same promises of income splitting, tax credits for firefighters and fiscal restraint. But now with the majority, the government has seen fit to add in a few other provisions, such as eliminating the vote-subsidy to political parties. The Conservatives are expected to end the long gun registry and to pass crime legislation in the coming months or years, other key planks of their platform they were unable to implement due to the tenuous instability of a minority government where cranky parties held the balance of power. But now that’s in the past. The Conservatives are poised to move cautiously forward with a plan to get the country’s books in order, and to fix a long list of outstanding problems facing Canada.
The list is long and growing and now that the excitement of the election has faded, the feds have their work cut out for them. Add to the list the postal workers’ strike, which threatens to disrupt small businesses and the economy on the heels of the worst economic recession in recent history. Perhaps the Tories can figure out an innovative solution as the country waits and watches. Some commentators have applauded the strike as the demise of Canada Post as we know it, saying that it will strengthen competitors and transfer loyalties online, further weakening the posties.
Other platform planks should be taken care of as soon as possible, such as ending the long gun registry and other legislative loose ends left over from the past five years of turtle’s pace parliament.
