Speech From the Throne- Talking the Talk, It seems

Well, the Speech from the Throne is out.  Not a whole lot that is new or unexpected, given that it is Canadian politics.  However, it remains a fairly ambitious project.  No one will be shocked that the Conservatives are pushing for tougher sentencing on sex offenders, given that it was a campaign plank.  Fiscal restraint is the word of the day, but as always, it'll be an uphill battle with the entitled.

Read more for highlights.
The part I like is as follows

• Our Government will lead by example, introducing legislation to freeze the salaries of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Senators.
• It will freeze the overall budget of Ministers’ offices and calls on Members of both Houses of Parliament to do the same. 
• It will freeze departmental operating budgets, that is, the total amount spent on salaries, administration and overhead.
• It will launch a review of administrative services to improve their efficiency and eliminate duplication.
• It will aggressively review all departmental spending to ensure value for money and tangible results.
• Our Government will also eliminate unnecessary appointments to federal agencies, boards, commissions and Crown corporations.

For those of you unfamiliar with Canadian governance, let me assure you: this is the opening salvo of a thermonuclear war with the Canadian Public Service.  You see, the Public Service has become almost parodic of itself.  Anyone who has seen the old BBC show, "Yes Minister", will know what I mean.  The government appoints bureaucrats to positions ranging from "Human Rights Commissioner" to "Assistant Deputy Undersecretary for inter-Ministry Cooperation". Ok, so I invented that last one.  But I wouldn't be surprised if it existed.  You see, the Canadian Public Service is filled with well-meaning Leftists who are convinced that if we just get enough people with degrees in Public Administration together, everything will be fine. See my post on funding the arts for a more detailed description.  Hand in glove with the idea of getting well-meaning "experts" together is the idea that we just need to throw heaps of cash at a problem, and it will magically solve itself.  If that doesn't work, do a Royal Commission.  Perhaps even a Report on the Commission. Rinse, repeat, ignore taxpayer.  It's working for our healthcare system!

We now pause for a mandatory safety message. In case of extreme sarcasm, your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device.  En cas d'urgence causé par d'extreme sarcasme, veuillez utiliser le coussin de votre siège comme flotteur de sauvetage.

To steal from President Obama; let me be clear.  I don't hate public servants.  They are good people trying to do the right thing.  Unfortunately, that doesn't make them right.  They have been accustomed to annual budgetary increases as a matter of course, rather than  a reward for a job well done.  Simply freezing their budgets will do wonders for the bottom line, though personally I'm hoping "eliminating duplication" is code for "shutting down wasteful and useless bodies such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission." See Ezra Levant for reasons why this needs to happen, or better yet, buy Shakedown! It's worth every penny.

As a final note, Mr. Harper plans on opening certain sectors of the Canadian economy to foreign investment.  This is sound policy, and philosophically consistent.  After all, if we're going to moan about "Buy American", we can't very well keep our own borders shut.

Overall, an interesting speech. I haven't read it line by line yet, but I'm willing to give it a 7/10 for potential.  Let's hope the execution can match.