The panel’s enthusiasm is especially strong with respect to Throne Speech commitments on personal and corporate tax cuts, the crime package (notably stronger penalties for drunk driving and gun offenses and raising the age of consent), removing inter-provincial trade barriers, and the North (protecting the North-West Passage and mapping the sea bed).

Of the 15 elements of the Throne Speech that panelists were asked to grade, only two elicited mixed reviews—a second GST cut and launching a Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on Native residential schools.

Among the verbatim comments volunteered by respondents, two themes appeared with prominence. One was general enthusiasm for the Speech.

The other was the government’s policy on the environment, which elicited mixed feelings. On the one hand, some panelists were uncertain about what the government was planning to do. On the other hand, other panelists were concerned that the government did not realize that the problem of green house gases would be resolved by market forces alone, resulting from sky rocketing prices and diminished use of fossil fuels.

These are the key findings from the current web-survey of the panel of CEOs and business leaders undertaken for the Financial Post under sponsorship of BDO Dunwoody LLP.

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