Highlights from the Speech from the Throne

December 5, 2019

Earlier this afternoon, Governor General Julie Payette delivered the Speech from the Throne, setting out the Government of Canada’s priorities for the First Session of the Forty-Third Parliament of Canada.

Below are some highlights of interest to the Canadian library and information management community:

Strengthening the Middle Class

The Government will give families more time and money to help raise their kids, and make before and after school care more accessible and affordable. It will cut the cost of cell and wireless services by 25 percent. It will strengthen the pensions that so many seniors rely on, and increase the federal minimum wage.

Understanding that an educated Canada is a successful Canada, the Government will give more support to students, be they new graduates struggling with loan repayment, or be they heading back to school mid-career to learn new skills.

To ensure fairness for all in the new digital space, the Government will review the rules currently in place.

Walking the Road of Reconciliation

Among other things, the Government will:

• take action to co-develop and introduce legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the first year of the new mandate;
• continue work to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice, in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples;
• work with Indigenous communities to close the infrastructure gap by 2030;
• continue to move forward together to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are in control of their own destiny and making decisions about their communities;
• take new steps to ensure the Government is living up to the spirit and intent of treaties, agreements, and other constructive arrangements made with Indigenous Peoples;
• continue to invest in Indigenous priorities, in collaboration with Indigenous partners.

(Via Government of Canada)