The speech is used to outline what the government of the day intends to do in the near future. This one was fairly brief considering the economic climate here at home and around the world. But it did mention that they would put stimulus money into various programs to kick start the economy. I briefly surveyed them and found a couple of interesting ones, one of which I'll share.
For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Newfoundland, it would help if I described it a bit before explaining the funding that is to soon take place. Newfoundland is one of the most impoverished areas of Canada. It was bad enough even before all the codfish were taken from the Atlantic, which was one of its main occupations, so you can imagine what it's been like since.
So, to help out our poor brethren on The Rock, what do you suppose the federal government of Canada has committed to do? Build a state of the art research centre? Relocate a government ministry to St. John's, Newfoundland? Perhaps, commit money for retraining of unemployed fishermen? Actually, the feds say they will make available about $200,000 so that peat moss can be developed into an alternate bedding material for dairy cows. Go ahead--read the previous sentence again, but I guarantee it won't sound any less bizarre. Maybe the thinking is that if those big, fat dairy cows can sleep more comfortably, they might be persuaded to produce cappuccino or other exotic drinks more lucrative than plain milk. I'm all for making animals comfortable, but how, exactly, will this stimulate the local economy?
Test cow with peat moss bed:
