We hear them all the time. On the campaign trail and in front of the cameras, politicians find no shortage of promises to offer in exchange for votes.
Many voters often assume at least some of those promises are intended to do little more than earn a vote, and then get promptly shuffled to the back burner.
But often for a politician, a promise is like a badge of honour.
After saying his government had knocked off a majority of its campaign promises, most of which were rolled into the 2011 throne speech, Prime Minister Stephen Harper decided to keep Parliament shuttered for one extra month before launching into a new session and revealing a new scroll inked with promises.
A Global News analysis of Harper’s last throne speech reveals his government has achieved a majority of those many promises and is well on its way in many others.
After earning the coveted majority in 2011, Harper moved quickly on some promises, scrapping the long-gun registry, killing the Canadian Wheat Board and passing its tough-on-crime agenda.
The Conservatives have also worked, as promised, to strengthen the country’s immigration system and protect Canadians from the possibility of marriage fraud, to support innovation and work toward establishing a national securities regulator.
Harper’s pledge to cooperate with provinces on health-care negotiations, however, didn’t go as the provinces were hoping. Instead of negotiations, the Conservatives unilaterally decided the future of Ottawa’s health transfers, presenting the provinces with a take-it-or-leave-it offer in December 2011.
The government’s pledge on free trade agreements also fell flat, with Canadians still waiting for Harper to ink a deal with the European Union, which the government said would happen in 2012.
The Conservatives have nailed down deals with Jordan and Panama, for example, but are still negotiating India, South Korea and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Canadians will have to wait a few years to see whether the government will fulfil some other promises, such as balancing the budget by 2015.
Themes from the past
Global News went back through Harper’s previous throne speeches and created word clouds to illustrate their major themes and focus. Each is posted below in chronological order.
Words that appear larger are those that appear more frequently. Click on the date to read the entire text of each throne speech.
39th Parliament, 1st session, read April 3 2006.
39th Parliament, 2nd Session, read October 16, 2007.
40th Parliament, 1st session, read November 18, 2008.
40th Parliament, 2nd session, read January 26, 2009.
40th Parliament, 3rd session, read March 3, 2010.
41st Parliament, 1st session, read June 3, 2011.
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