TORONTO - The faltering economy and public education will be two of the key focus points for the newly re-elected Liberal government's throne speech that will open a brief session of the Ontario legislature Nov. 29, Premier Dalton McGuinty announced Wednesday.
Just before his first meeting of the new Liberal cabinet, McGuinty said it was time for the government to get back to work following the Oct. 10 election.
"We're going to have a great throne speech, and we're going to introduce a number of new initiatives,'' McGuinty said. "We've got a strong mandate, and I feel a heavy responsibility, as does everybody in our caucus, to get moving.''
McGuinty refused to specify what plans his government will outline in the speech to start the Liberals' second mandate, but he did say there would be some acknowledgment of the soaring value of the Canadian dollar -- which hit US$1.10 Wednesday -- and its impact on Ontario's economy.
"I'm not going to speak to the initiatives that are going to flow from the throne speech, but I can tell you that we'll definitely be speaking to the economy,'' he said.
"Our single greatest priority has been, and will remain, publicly funded education. If we can invest in the best possible way in our schools, not only do we generate good citizens, but we help build a strong economy.''
McGuinty's defence of public education in the face of Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory's proposal to fund faith-based schools helped propel the Liberals to their first back-to-back majority government in 70 years.
Newly minted Finance Minister Dwight Duncan declined to comment Wednesday on what actions the province may take before Christmas to counter the impact of a rising loonie on the Ontario economy.
"We've already taken measures in past budgets and we'll continue to work with the manufacturing sector,'' he said.
Duncan also said the Liberals made promises during the recent election campaign to help manufacturers, such as a $1.15-billion "next generation'' jobs fund available to Ontario's manufacturing sector, which has lost tens of thousands of jobs in recent years.
"We made certain undertakings during the election and obviously we'll work to fulfil those undertakings,'' he said.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton said the legislature session would be "little more than a photo-op'' for the Liberals.
"There will be nothing of substance here,'' Hampton predicted. "It'll be a throne speech full of platitudes. This is a government that doesn't have a plan.''
Tory said the Liberals are planning a brief pre-Christmas session more for show than to get anything done because there won't be enough time to pass any legislation without the opposition parties' consent.
"I'm not expecting much. I mean, they didn't really have much of a (campaign) platform, so I think in that sense it's hard to know what will be in the throne speech,'' Tory said. "The very fact we're coming back as late as Nov. 29 to me indicates that it's not really meant to be a serious session of the legislature because it can only last for a bit better than two weeks.''
Government sources said Wednesday they did not expect to pass any new bills in the brief fall session, which will echo the Liberals' campaign platform with its emphasis on education, health care and the environment.
Members of the legislature will actually take their seats the day before the throne speech to elect a new Speaker in a secret ballot.
