It was early afternoon this past Wednesday and I’d just finished up a call with speakers of last Friday’s #BuildBackBetter conversation on climate leadership in the social sector. Before sitting down to tune into the Speech from the Throne, I refilled my coffee, said hello to my partner, and we both established that when we see each other again in a couple of hours, we’d have a whole lot to say about the future of the country.

And we did. My partner rejoiced and said, “I think we may finally see an EI system that actually works for women.” Me? Like many in the social impact world across the country, I felt a sense of intense optimism and disappointment at the same time. 

What does one call a Throne Speech that is so progressive it leaves out the social impact sector?

Seems odd, doesn’t it?

A line from the speech that kept ringing in my head was, “we need to focus on the future, and on building back better.” How does one do that exactly without social purpose organizations at the table?

I hurriedly word-searched the text of the speech over and over again, hoping that the words might just magically appear. But they didn’t. Not a single occurrence of the words charity, social finance or social enterprise; one occurrence of the words not-for-profit and co-operative, but only in the context of the national housing strategy. I thought to myself: no, not again.

I went through the Library of Parliament archives, and you know when social finance and co-operatives most recently showed up in a Throne Speech? In 2013 — under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. 2013 feels like ages ago now, in the BC (before-COVID) era. Funnily, another thing that happened in 2013 we can look back and smile at: Zoom launched its video conferencing software.

I won’t take stock of the losses, closures, and suffering again across the country — last week’s speech did a decent job of that — but what it missed out on massively, again, is acknowledging the critical role of social purpose organizations in supporting children, youth, elderly, families, and our most vulnerable during the pandemic — and their role in shaping the recovery we all want to see. 

The Trudeau government made a strategic omission that will make their commitments much harder to deliver, even though this was one of the most progressive Throne Speeches I’ve seen in my lifetime. At Future of Good, we polled sector leaders and they gave the speech an average score of 7 out of 10 for much of the same reason. 

All of what the Trudeau government outlined in the speech, from addressing the digital divide to EI reform to scaling the youth employment and skills strategy requires input, cooperation, and collaboration with the social impact world — non-profits, charities, social enterprises, co-operatives, philanthropic organizations, social finance organizations, and the like. 

Social purpose organizations need to be at the tables shaping the recovery. The Trudeau government should take note that there is no way to build back better without a strong social impact sector. 

Just like private companies across the country have worked hard to maintain economic and community prosperity, so have social purpose organizations. There are tens of thousands of examples. Saint Elizabeth Health, one of the oldest social enterprises in the country is now delivering virtual home care for the elderly. Kids Help Phone, a world-renowned charity adapted to take on the 350 percent increase in call volume on mental health. First Nations Technology Council, an Indigenous-led non-profit has been working tirelessly to ensure that people have access to high-speed internet so they can learn from home. And in mid-March, Calgary Co-op was one of the first grocery stores to offer differentiated hours for seniors shopping, and the first to raise front-line team members’ salaries by $2.50 an hour. 

There is enormous creativity and ingenuity in the social impact world. We cover it everyday at Future of Good. Canada needs this creativity and ingenuity to shape the recovery in order to, as prime minister Trudeau has outlined, “build back better, with a sustainable approach for future generations.”

Debates following a Throne Speech are notoriously messy affairs and we may see a few shock announcements here and there in the coming days but a fall election seems to have been averted. However, the next couple of months, in the lead up to the federal government’s presentation of the fall economic statement are crucial for shaping the country’s recovery agenda. 

“What got us here won’t get us there.” Have you heard that expression? 

If social purpose organizations aren’t present at the tables shaping the recovery plan and its budget, we’ll go back to what got us here. The onus is on social purpose organizations to break this cycle. 

Of the numerous exciting commitments outlined in the Throne Speech, I believe there are five tables organizations like yours need to be at as the Trudeau government solidifies its commitments ahead of the next budget. Social purpose organizations can help the government: 

1. “shape an EI system for the 21st century, including for the self-employed and those in the gig economy”;
2. “create an Action Plan for Women in the Economy”;
3. “significantly [scale] up the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy”;
4. “accelerate the connectivity timelines and ambitions of the Universal Broadband Fund”, and;
5. “build a better collection of disaggregated data”.

I’m hoping that one of the most progressive Throne Speeches leaving out the social impact sector is a short-lived blind spot. What’s clear is that just as Canada cannot realize economic prosperity without strong businesses, Canada cannot realize a good quality of life for everyone without strong social purpose organizations. In the words of the Trudeau government, “this is the opportunity to contain the global crisis and build back better, together.” 

The time is now to make the ‘together’ include you.

Vinod Rajasekaran

Publisher & CEO

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