Comments by Thomas d’Aquino on Today’s Speech from the Throne

February 2, 2004

The following are comments by Thomas d’Aquino, President and Chief Executive of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), after today’s Speech from the Throne:

“The Canadian Council of Chief Executives supports many of the goals outlined in the Speech from the Throne, including changing the way things work in Ottawa, restoring trust and accountability, and cooperating more effectively with provincial governments in improving the quality of public health care, increasing access to lifelong learning, and shaping a new deal for cities.”

“We agree that to build a fairer society, we need a stronger economy. What the Speech fails to acknowledge is that economic growth must be driven primarily by a healthy and innovative private sector, not by government programs. Business investment and job creation depend on competitive taxation and smart regulation.”

“We are worried that this lengthy agenda will drive further rapid and unsustainable growth in federal spending. We are pleased, however, by the confirmation that the government is ‘unalterably committed to fiscal prudence’ and ‘will not spend itself into deficit.'”

“We endorse the commitment to a more sophisticated approach to the Canada-United States relationship. We also support the government’s plan to strengthen Canada’s role in the world and in particular to build closer relationships with key emerging markets, such as China, India and Brazil.”