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By Ashley Legassic

MCLEOD THRONE

Kamloops MP pans throne speech

Dec 6, 2019 | 4:26 AM

KAMLOOPS — “I don’t think it will be any surprise that of course, I am disappointed in the speech from the throne.”

That’s how Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod summed up Thursday’s (Dec. 5) Liberal minority throne speech.

The Conservative Party of Canada member felt the speech was missing many key elements.

“What it didn’t do was recognize that for a government to spend money on things that are important, they need to have a robust economy,” said McLeod. “I think it’s going to take us down the rabbit hole of unsustainable spending.”

The speech has been characterized as one that reaches out to other parties, like the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois, who the Liberals will need support from to hold its minority government together.

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While the speech addressed regional divisions across the country, it didn’t go far enough for the local MP.

“It was like the lines around the economy and natural resource sector were just throw away lines because we had to say something,” said McLeod. “We have some problems in the country and this particular speech from the throne, I don’t think looked at the needs of the addressing them.”

McLeod said she was pleased to see the Liberals are committed to moving forward with the next steps following the release of the report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, along with continuing down the path of reconciliation.

But she says the speech failed to commit to economic development for First Nations.

McLeod struggled to find anything in the throne speech that was directly connected to the Kamloops region. Instead, she wondered why key issues weren’t addressed in the speech.

“Where is the support for forestry? I was more disappointed by what was not in it, as opposed to what was in it.”