Arctic absent from throne speech

To no one’s surprise, the Conservative government’s first speech from the throne makes no mention of Canada’s northern territories, and contains only passing references to aboriginal peoples.

Michaëlle Jean, the governor general, read the speech this past Tuesday in the Senate chamber, marking the official resumption of Parliament under Stephen Harper’s minority government.

Written by the new government to list goals and how it plans to achieve them, the speech focused mostly one Harper’s oft-stated “five priorities.”

They are:

* Government accountability: to this end, the Tories say they’ll bring forward a new law called the Federal Accountability Act, which would limit the size of political donations, protect whistle-blowers, and put limits on when ex-government officials may become lobbyists;
* Tax cuts: the Tories will reduce the GST to six per cent this year, with eventual reduction to five per cent, and say that “over time” they will work to reduce taxes even further;
* New anti-crime laws: the Tories say they’ll amend the Criminal Code to create tougher sentences for violent and repeat offenders, especially those convicted of weapons-related crimes;
* Child care: the Tories will forge ahead on their election promise aimed at giving families a $1,200 a year allowance for each child under the age of six, and they say they will work with provinces and territories to “encourage the creation of new child care spaces;”
* Health care: the Tories say their government will work with provinces and territories to reduce wait times for medical procedures, and that they will support “innovative approaches” to health care delivery.

Issues affecting the three northern territories – such as devolution, infrastructure, social housing, and formula financing – aren’t mentioned.

Aboriginal people are mentioned twice: in a paragraph praising “the new generation of Aboriginal entrepreneurs” and in a paragraph saying the government will “improve opportunity for all Canadians, including Aboriginal peoples and new immigrants.”

Nancy Karetak-Lindell, the Liberal opposition MP for Nunavut, attacked the throne speech in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

“What instantly struck me was that there was no mention of the North at all. This just reinforced to me how much work the northern members of Parliament have ahead of us to educate this new government on the challenges faced by northerners.”

Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, offered a more nuanced response.

He said he didn’t expect aboriginal issues to be mentioned, since Harper never mentioned them in his five priorities.

But Fontaine called on the government to carry out the first ministers’ agreements on aboriginal issues reached last fall at their meeting in Kelowna, B.C., and to carry out an agreement-in-principle reached last year to compensate people abused within residential schools.