At the beginning of every new session of a provincial legislature or the federal parliament there is what is called the Throne Speech. This is a speech that is supposed to outline what the priorities of the government will be over the coming year. It’s often a vision document, not filled with great details, but forward thinking on big issues.
The whole process around the Throne Speech is unique. It’s written by the government but read by a representative of the Queen. Usually there is an Honor Guard present and a traditional 21 gun salute. Guests are invited to attend to watch the ceremonies and to watch the reading of the speech. All in all it is a unique day.
This past Monday was the most recent provincial NDP government’s Throne Speech. And it was a bit strange to say the least.
There certainly wasn’t much new in the Throne Speech in terms of vision. There was lots of talk about what the government thought it had done well in the past. Looking forward, there was a commitment to fast-track some new Liquor Mart Express stores. There was even a couple of mentions about the new IKEA store opening in Winnipeg later this month. And while I certainly know some people who are excited about IKEA coming to Manitoba, furniture giants and express liquor stores really are not the kind of big picture thinking that one would expect in a government Throne Speech when the NDP just finished running up a billion dollar deficit.
In fact, there was little mention at all in the Throne Speech about the endless string of deficits or the ballooning Manitoba debt. Perhaps the NDP were hoping that the media and Manitobans would focus in on the new liquor and furniture stores instead of the finances of the province.
That plan didn’t work so well however because a reporter actually did ask Premier Greg Selinger how his promise to balance Manitoba’s books by 2014 was coming along. Turns out, its not coming along well and Premier Selinger acknowledged he expects to break that promise.
It’s worth remembering that it was only a few months ago that the NDP vowed again to balance the books by 2014. In fact Premier Selinger went one step further and said they were actually ahead of schedule. Everything was going well he said, and this was long after the impact of the 2011 flood was known.
So perhaps Mr. Selinger hoped his Throne Speech would distract people from the real problem that Manitoba faces with its financial situation. It didn’t work and it doesn’t move the province any closer to dealing with the challenge.
