On May 27, King Charles III delivered the Throne Speech in Canada’s Senate to the newly-elected government and—by extension—to all Canadians. The fact that the speech was delivered by the King himself, and not by the Governor-General, was a significant bit of theatre, indicating Royal support for the new Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney. As usual, the speech was prepared by the Canadian government and not by the King; its declarations of focus and intentions were those of the newly-minted PMO. Some of these statements could be considered aspirational, while others were vague enough to leave Canadians wondering what they should really expect as Parliament resumes sitting and Cabinet begins implementing their agenda.

In his opening remarks, the King said, “…we witness Canadians coming together in a renewed sense of national pride, unity and hope.” While such a state of affairs would be desirable to the new administration, this was clearly a promotional claim and not an accurate picture of the national mood. Regarding national pride, it’s true that a lot of Canadian flags appeared on lawns and porches in response to the perceived threats of US tariffs and expansionism and the aggressive rhetoric of Mr. Carney towards the US during the election campaign; in itself, this did not symbolize true national pride so much as a desperate expression of resistance to US policies. The booing and heckling during the American National Anthem at the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game was a prime example of misguided negative emotion masquerading as national pride. I felt shame, not pride, witnessing that rude behaviour.

To claim that Canadians have a renewed sense of “unity and hope,” was simply disingenuous. While Mr. Carney did receive 43.8% of the popular vote, that means that 56.2% of those who voted did NOT vote for him or his Liberal candidates. In Canada, we generally accept the outcome of elections even when we don’t like the resulting policies and direction. However, no reasonable person could honestly say that a majority of Canadians are experiencing a sense of unity and hope. On the economic side, most of us are still reeling under the impacts of high inflation, a lack of affordable housing and poor access to quality medical care. There are strong sentiments in the Prairie Provinces, especially Alberta, that Canada has lost its way, and the best way to achieve prosperity is to seek independence. Albertans are tired of being hindered in the development and export of their oil and gas while—at the same time—having a portion of their resource wealth redistributed through equalization payments to other provinces.

Realistic Canadians—particularly small-c conservatives—look at our current federal debt and our broken institutions and wonder if there is a feasible path back to prosperity and freedom. Any sense of “hope” that existed before the recent election lay in the prospect of a change of government. That didn’t happen because too many Canadians allowed themselves to be manipulated by fear and lured into compliance by high-sounding phrases and empty rhetoric. But dog-paddling madly to keep from drowning in a sea of red ink and red tape is not “hope”; it’s a survival instinct.

What else did the King share with Canadians about the plans of the new/same-old Liberal government?

The King—speaking for Mr. Carney—said that the government plans for Canada to become an “energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.” Hidden in that statement is the assumption that conventional energy cannot be clean. It also uses the word “clean”—without defining it—to encompass various processes of energy production deemed “clean” by eco-activists, presumably wind and solar. Those who have looked at the research know that both solar and wind and the storage batteries necessary to make them useful, involve processes that can, in fact, be very “dirty.” Lithium and cobalt mining require huge areas, can pollute local water sources, often involve unsafe working conditions and have a negative impact on wildlife; the toxic byproducts and spent batteries frequently end up in landfills. Huge wind turbines, besides killing migratory birds and creating substantial disposal problems when they are retired, require—when erected—large expenditures of fossil fuels; they also occupy land that could otherwise be available for food production. But “clean and conventional” are placed in contradiction as if needing no further definition.

In that regard, the Throne Speech led Canadians to believe that Canada is set to become a world “superpower in the production and distribution of energy.” Yet new pipelines—upon which attaining the status of an energy superpower depends—were not specifically mentioned. Both before and after the Throne Speech, Canadians have been receiving mixed messages from Mr. Carney and his Cabinet regarding new or existing pipelines. MP Steven Guilbeault, former Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, said recently that Canada has enough pipelines for now. The fact that existing pipelines don’t carry oil and gas to the East Coast where it’s needed to eliminate dependence on foreign “conflict oil” from the Middle East apparently doesn’t bother him. It remains to be seen what Mr. Carney will actually do on this and many other matters. The Throne Speech was short on detail, not rising to the level of a budget. It was obviously meant to placate those concerned about the economy, while allowing the PM to keep his cards close to his vest.

The fact that King Charles has—for years—been a proponent of leftist ideals is not much comfort to Canadians who were already leery of the globalist tendencies of our new Prime Minister. May God lead both our King and our PM to seek wisdom from above. Reliance on human wisdom has led us to our current sorry state of affairs. We, in the CHP, stand ready to support good policies that are in accord with God’s design for humankind. Only then, can we expect to see true national pride, unity and genuine hope.