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For the first time since 1993, Canada has a majority Conservative government, poised to introduce a moderate-rightist budget and social reforms. After five years as a minority government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's party outlined a wide range of reforms it intends to make in the next four years Friday in the Speech from the Throne, read to members of Parliament and the Senate by Governor General David Johnston.
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Topping the list is the federal budget that was crafted in March. Before it could be introduced, the three opposition parties brought down the government on a confidence issue and triggered a federal election May 2.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the budget to be debated beginning Monday is essentially the same package with minor tweaks. It focuses on debt reduction and job creation.
The budget also addresses an issue Harper failed at in 2008 that would end a federal subsidy to political parties of $2 per voter.
On a more liberal note, the budget also includes an extension of tax breaks for home energy retrofits and more financial support for seniors.
Harper is an economist and said his plan is to eliminate the national deficit and balance the budget by 2014.
The sitting of the 41st Parliament is expected to last less than three weeks before it recesses for the summer.
When it returns Sept. 19, the Conservatives have a lengthy list of right-leaning reform bills, including two on Senate reform. Senators are appointed for lifelong terms until age 75, but Harper wants to impose a two-term limit and allow provinces and territories to nominate senators for parliamentary approval. The disparity is seen most for the province of Ontario, which has nearly 40 percent of Canada's 34 million people, but is represented by fewer than 25 percent of the upper chamber's 105 members.
Some of the other bills that have been simmering among Conservatives since their last majority government under Brian Mulroney ended in 1993 include the abolition of the Liberals' controversial long-gun registry. Harper has said he considers it a waste of money and ineffective as a crime prevention measure.
There is also a Conservative omnibus bill that contains sweeping reforms to crime and punishment expected to be brought up for debate early. There are more than 10 reforms in it that deal with ending automatic pardons for serious crimes, ending house arrest, further protection for children from sexual predators and harsher prosecution of organized crime.
The Conservative party is scheduled to hold its first national convention since the fall of 2008 in Ottawa next week and reportedly is set to reaffirm its stance that marriage is "the union of one man and one woman" and its opposition to euthanasia.
Prior to the election, Harper's government came under heavy criticism from the three opposition parties for its decision to buy 65 F-35 fighter jets, for which price and maintenance costs have been increasing in the past year. While the criticism is likely to continue, the contract that could cost $24 billion over 30 years is considered sealed.
Of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, Conservatives hold 166. Since the election decimated the opposition Liberals and separatist Bloc Quebecois to 34 and four seats, respectively, the socialist New Democratic Party, led by Jack Layton, is for the first time the official opposition with 103 seats.
The former Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff, lost his seat in the election and has been replaced by interim party leader Bob Rae, a former NDP premier of Ontario who joined the Liberals.
For the first time, the environmentalist Green Party has a seat, won by its leader, Elizabeth May.
