Throne speech 2010

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., Managing Editor, HRinfodesk.com---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News, March 2010

On March 3, 2010, the federal government presented the Speech from the Throne in the House of Commons by cautiously affirming that Canada's Economic Action Plan is working although the effects of the global recession have not fully faded. Tax cuts and enhanced Employment Insurance benefits are providing direct support to Canadians who paid into government programs over the years and now need help. The government intends to complete the second year of the economic plan and to continue creating jobs and growth. It will work with its provincial, territorial and municipal partners to ensure that measures under Canada's Economic Action Plan come to an end by March 31, 2011. Of further interest to employers:

• The government intends to offer tangible support to innocent victims of crime and their families. It will give families of murder victims access to special benefits under the Employment Insurance program. It will introduce legislation that will amend the Canada Labour Code to give employees of federally regulated industries the right to unpaid leave if they or members of their families are victimized by crime, similar to what Quebec implemented in 2007 under its Labour Standards Act. The government will also introduce legislation to make the victim surcharge mandatory, to better fund victim services.
   
• The government will continue to provide enhanced support for skills, apprenticeships and training for Canadian workers. It will make timely information on labour market opportunities available for all Canadians, especially in the area of the skilled trades. It will expand the opportunities for top graduates to pursue post-doctoral studies and to commercialize their ideas. It will also work hand-in-hand with Aboriginal communities and provinces and territories to reform and strengthen education, and to support student success and provide greater hope and opportunity.
   
• The government intends to lead by example, by introducing legislation to freeze the salaries of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Senators; by freezing the overall budget of ministers' offices and calling on Members of both Houses of Parliament to do the same; and by freezing departmental operating budgets, that is, the total amount spent on salaries, administration and overhead.
   
• The government will change the unfair rules restricting access to benefits under Employment Insurance for military families who have paid into the system for years.
   
• New legislation will be introduced to reform Canada's outdated system of fisheries management. And although it has implemented the Wage Earners Protection Program (WEPP), the government has pledge to explore additional ways to better protect workers when their employers go bankrupt

Other items of interest:

• There is a promise to launch a digital economic strategy to drive new technology and to encourage new ideas and protect the rights of Canadians whose research, development and artistic creativity contribute to Canada's prosperity; the plan includes strengthening laws governing intellectual property and copyright.
   
• The government has pledged to open its doors to foreign ownership in several sectors including in the satellite and telecommunications sector. The current rules indicate that foreigners cannot control more than 46.7 percent of voting rights in a telecom project.
   
• The government will keep taxes "competitive and low" in efforts to prepare Canada for the global economy in the post-crisis world.
   
• The government will take further steps to support the competitiveness of Canadian manufacturers. Tax experts indicate this could signal a further extension of a tax measure allowing for the quick write-off of capital equipment. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters have called on the government to extend the measure by another five years, to 2016.
   
• The federal government intends to shut down unscrupulous immigration consultants who exploit prospective immigrants for their own gain. They don't have to prove their competence and they're not accountable to anyone.
   
• It will introduce a new biometric passport that will significantly improve security.
   
• It pledges to work with provinces, territories and the private sector to implement a cyber-security strategy to protect the digital infrastructure and e-commerce.

Some of these measures will be better explained when the Budget is tabled in Parliament on March 4, 2010, and others will come when various bills are tabled in the House of Commons. For more, read the Speech from the Throne at www.speech.gc.ca/eng/index.asp.

One recent change to the Employment Insurance program allows self-employed Canadians to access regular employment insurance benefits. Read more about that program in the HRinfodesk article, Special EI benefits for self-employed.

By Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B., Managing Editor at HRinfodesk.com

Published on HRinfodesk---Canadian Payroll and Employment Law News and Developments

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