PARLIAMENT HILL, Ottawa—A parliamentary page holding a red cardboard stop sign reading “Stop Harper” was the biggest surprise during the government’s speech from the throne Friday but likely the least significant.
She was a well-behaved protester, suitably formal and silent, a page who Senator Mobina Jaffer tweeted was well known in the Senate Chamber. After walking into the middle aisle facing away from the Speaker, she turned and faced the Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston before the Sergeant At Arms bowed his way in and escorted her out.
The exceedingly formal ceremony, whereby Johnston, Canada’s official head of state, reads a speech outlining the newly elected government’s plan for the upcoming session of Parliament, has as much pomp as Canada can work up.
It begins when Johnston is preceded on Parliament Hill by a military marching band and two rows of smartly dressed troops holding C8 rifles (similar to M-16s) at their sides complete with bayonets .
The throne speech repeated previous promises and priorities, with some inclusions not possible in a minority Parliament—notably, Senate reform. In Canada, senators are appointed by the Prime Minister via the Governor General. Harper wants to set term limits and have each province elect its senators.
The PM also pledged progress on joint border security with the United States through the Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness he and President Obama announced in February.
Unless Harper deviates significantly from the content of the throne speech and the trajectory created in his previous minority parliaments, the secret agenda that was to raise its head will not emerge.
Harper pledged to continue to keep low taxes and push for jobs and growth and suggested a strategic operating review of government spending could eliminate the deficit one year earlier than the 2015 goal previously outlined.
The speech also included a promise to conclude a free trade agreement with the European Union by 2012 and with India by 2013.
“Our government will introduce and seek swift passage of copyright legislation that balances the needs of creators and users,” read Johnston.
Canada has failed twice to revise its outdated copyright laws due to elections interrupting a very long process that saw committees call dozens of witnesses with the potential for hundreds more.
Canada will also mark a key milestone next year in celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812.
“We will remember how those of diverse backgrounds and various regions came together to fight for Canada, ensuring the independent destiny of our country in North America.”
In the war, Canada, then a colony of the British Empire, successfully defended itself against an American invasion.
Law and order legislation, including provisions for citizen’s arrest, are also top priorities, noted Johnston in the speech.
According to a press release distributed during the throne speech, the protester was Brigette Marcelle, a 21-year-old recent graduate from University of Ottawa. She has been a page in the Senate for a year.
“This country needs a Canadian version of an Arab Spring,” read the release.
