"This government will not spend itself into deficit,'' said Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, who read the speech on Martin's behalf.

"This speech from the throne was really Martin's pre-election document," said David Docherty, a political scientist at Wilfrid Laurier University.

The key thrust of Martin's speechwriters was to distinguish the new leader's program from that of [Jean Chretien]. The word "new'' surfaced at least 30 times in Martin's effort to sketch his own approach as kinder and gentler than the one he implemented as finance minister in the mid-1990s.