Speech from the Throne contains no surprises

The Governor General delivered the Speech from the Throne this afternoon, which is intended to be a high level, aspirational overview of the government’s intent. More details, and clarification on key policy goals, will be provided in the forthcoming mandate letters, fiscal update, policy and legislative announcements. While much of the speech focused on the covid-19 epidemic and the government’s plans to protect Canadians, the speech did contain commitments that could influence marine transportation and the marine industry in general, including:

1. Ramping-up support to provinces for COVID-19 testing;
2. Introducing legislated emissions reductions targets this year to reach net-zero by 2050;
3. Protecting 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025;
4. Investing in Canada’s “Ocean Economy”;
5. Cutting the corporate tax rate in half for companies developing zero-emissions products;
6. Introducing legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples before the end of 2020;
7. Investing in training and retraining for Canadian workers;
8. Creating an Action Plan for Women in the Economy to ensure a feminist, intersectional response to COVID-19 and raising employment levels for women; and
9. Investing in updating outdated IT systems to modernize the way that Government serves Canadians.

The text and video of the Speech from the Throne is available here.