A throne speech from two rich men: Make Canada Great Again?

From the “throne” of Parliament, one of the richest men in the world read a speech written by one of the richest men in Canada. This was heralded as a victory for Canadian identity and sovereignty against threats by another rich and anti-democratic man in Washington DC. What does this mean for the rest of us? 

King Charles inherited the wealth created by the enslaved and colonized people the world over. Carney made his fortune working for companies like Goldman Sachs whose financial speculation helped create the market crash of 2008 and Brookfield Asset Management who, among other things, makes money by from property speculation, rental homes and student housing.

A British sovereign was asked to deliver the throne speech for the first time in decades, to draw a line in the sand against Trump. A feudal institution to save Canadians from the dismantling of democracy in the US? Most Canadians didn’t buy it: an Angus Reid poll found that 83% didn't care that the King was giving the throne speech. 

Carney is banking on the fear of Trump to allow the “King of Canada” to sell his bankrupt solutions. In the throne speech, the Carney Liberals put forward policies that will result in more wealth for the wealthy, more war, more racism, and more climate catastrophes. And cuts to public services to make the Canadian economy strong, with no time to waste.

The message was: “Make Canada Great Again,” under the blessing of an irrelevant monarch. But here’s the breakdown:

No time to waste to eliminate “waste”

Carney’s government aims at a “balanced” operating budget for the federal public service by eliminating “waste”. A cap on the public service means cutting essential services in favour of the actual waste: military and police.

More border guards and 1000 more RCMP. Since 2000 police use of force has killed over 800 people and over 2000 people have died in custody, according to Tracking (In)Justice. More police means more police violence. More police means more police violence, and the throne speech also promised changes to the Criminal Code to make bail more difficult. 

No time to waste to gear up for war

The day before the throne speech, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said NATO members will agree to increase military spending to 5% of GDP. To reach this goal, the money wasted on arms and other military expenditures would need to increase by more than $100 billion every year on top of the $33 billion per year that is already budgeted. 

The throne speech promised to expand Canada’s military industry independent of the US and commit to the “Re-arm Europe” plan. This will all come at a huge cost to “waste” in social programs for us.

The first test may be cutting our Canada Post mail service. 

No time to waste to exploit the Earth

The government will identify “projects of national significance,” and through a “new Major Federal Project Office, the time needed to approve a project will be reduced from five years to two.” 

The Liberals once again promised to make Canada an “energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.” Oils and gas extraction companies revenues have already increased by over 300% between 2016 and 2022. 

The key word from the “throne” was speed: no time to waste on environmental assessment. Less time spent assessing risky mines, pipelines, and oil wells. This means more disasters. 

According to the Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, “Canada’s world-leading environmental standards” lead to 676 spills from drilling operations in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1997 and 2022. That is an average of more than one spill every two weeks. The Canada Energy Regulator pipeline incident data reveals that between 2008 and 2024 pipelines in so-called Canada had 439 fires, 803 “substance releases,” which includes oil, gas, and contaminated water, 453 incidents of “Operation Beyond Design Limits” and 123 serious injuries. Although there is some overlap, that is more than two incidents a week over sixteen years.

Deregulation to speed up project approval also means less concern with acquiring free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous nations whose land will be destroyed by these projects. 

No time to waste in covering up broken promises

Carney’s plan for the housing crisis: more money for builders and speculators. In addition to direct subsidies to builders he also promises to cut “municipal development charges in half for all multi-unit housing.” Development charges are the fees that cities and towns charge housing developers to pay for the sewage and water connections, and to pay for the schools, parks and other necessities required by increased density. Forcing cities to slash these fees will result in more failures in aging water and sewage infrastructure along with less livable cites. 

He also promises more of the anti-immigrant racism adopted under Trudeau with a cap on temporary foreign workers and international students to less than five percent of Canada’s population by 2027. This continues the government’s mass deportation plan that will force up to 1.2 million people from the country this year.

There were promises to maintain transfers to the provinces, leave untouched the new dental, pharmacare, and childcare plans, and provide a tax-cut for home buyers. At the same time the Liberals are promising to “balance the budget.” With increased spending on cops, border guards, subsides for real estate developers, more money for the arms trade, and spending on infrastructure to increase oil and gas company profits, it’s hard to believe social programs won’t be cut.

No time to waste in building resistance

And the ultimate lie? Lip service to the reality of Indigenous rights: mention of the empty federal government promise of reconciliation, not Land Back. Most Indigenous treaties are directly with the Crown, but many are being fought in the courts by the federal government. We need to be prepared to stand in solidarity with Indigenous land defenders as Carney’s government tries to destroy their lands for profit.

We need to stand against the broken promises to us all: there is no monarch, no Parliament, nothing but ourselves that can make ordinary people strong across borders.