Martin Follows Bush, Promises Moon

The State of the Throne

from JoeUser Forums

From The Globe and Mail:

Renewal:

"[T]he overriding theme was renewal..."

"The Liberal plan calls for “significantly more” free votes, enhanced roles for MPs and Parliamentary Committees, and more active roles for Parliamentary Secretaries."

Wow, more power for backbench MPs and Parliamentary Secretaries! That's exactly what all the laid-off High-Tech workers and minimum wage labourers in this country are looking for!

And more from The Globe and Mail:

Recycled promises they still haven't made good on:

"No one repeated the Alexa McDonough stunt of carrying a Liberal Red Book and blue box to the reading of the Throne Speech this time around, but Opposition politicians were quick to dismiss the Paul Martin-led government's agenda as full of recycled ideas and devoid of detail..."

"'It's high-sounding rhetoric for sure,' New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton said. 'Lot's of good words, but we've heard that from Mr. Martin and the Liberals many, many years in a row and the delivery doesn't seem to follow.'"

This really is a great electoral strategy: make a lot of popular promises, get elected to fulfill those promises and don't fulfill any of them so you can run on the same popular platform next time.

From The Toronto Star:

Let's see if Mr. Martin can stick to that "path" six weeks from now:

"Prime Minister Paul Martin formally laid out his vision for the country today in a throne speech that aimed to re-position him to the left of the political centre by earmarking billions for cities and environmental cleanup..."

"[Opposition Leader Grant] Hill warned that, while appearing to lean left, Martin might not deliver the goods..."

"'Paul Martin has become so conservative he can't even fake being progressive very well,' [Jack Layton] said."

And more from The Toronto Star:

The mayors got a down payment on their "new deal":

"The money, about $580 million a year, would come as a full GST rebate on goods and services purchased by cities, the government said today in its throne speech..."

"A gas tax deal would not be included in this year's budget expected within weeks."

And even more from The Toronto Star:

Hands off:

"In his first throne speech today, Prime Minister Paul Martin is in danger of trying to fix something that isn't broken:"

"The Supreme Court of Canada."
politics
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