The speech from the throne is a historic tradition rife with all kinds of pomp and pageantry not often seen in Canadian politics. Quite simply, it's the event that sets the government's agenda for the coming session of Parliament.

As such, it triggers a flurry of activity both as government ramps up for its delivery, then as politicians and civil servants get busy with the business of making the new priorities a reality in the coming session.

The speech itself will be delivered in the Senate on Tuesday from the oak and scarlet velour 'throne' that is reserved for the head of state or her representative -- Governor General Michaelle Jean.

But the 'pomp' begins even before she arrives.

Jean will leave her Rideau Hall home in a horse drawn carriage, likely accompanied by her husband and escorted by four Mounties in full dress uniform, for the trip to Parliament Hill.

Upon her arrival at the Hill, the Queen's representative will be greeted with a 21-gun salute and according to tradition, will formally inspect a Canadian Forces honour guard.

Greetings will then be exchanged by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Jean and by the rest of their entourages, before the group heads to the Senate.

Old traditions

Even the walk to the chamber is heavy with old tradition, as the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod -- so named for the ebony staff he carries, tipped with a sculpted golden lion -- escorts the group to their destination.

Under the parliamentary system, neither the Queen nor her representative is allowed into the House of Commons, so the speech must be delivered in the Senate.

As Jean arrives and prepares to begin delivering the speech -- which has been carefully written by the Prime Minister's Office -- elected MPs crowd into a small area behind a bar at the south end of the Senate to hear the address.

Once the speech has been read a second flurry of activity begins, usually with the opposition parties rushing to news conferences to slam the speech.

Confidence vote

The eight days or so that follow the speech's delivery will be a key period for the government, says Nelson Wiseman, a University of Toronto political science professor. As a matter of confidence, the speech must pass or the government will fall.

Stephane Dion, as leader of the Official Opposition, will have the first chance to speak to the throne Speech - usually the day after it is delivered -- and to propose amendments to the document.

Then the leader of the third largest party, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe, will have his chance to put forward a sub-amendment.

Roughly five days later, after several days of debate in the House, it will be time to vote on the two motions and the throne speech. If either of the amendments pass, the government will fall, unless it has decided to go along with one of them, which is possible -- especially in a minority government trying to avoid an election.

"The normal procedure is the sub-amendment would be voted down and the amendment would be voted down and the speech itself would be passed. And that's what happened with the last speech from the throne," Wiseman tells CTV.ca.

Wheels in motion

The various government departments have typically been given notice of what to expect in the throne speech and have been preparing for the big day for weeks.

Wiseman says it is possible that a department will be caught off guard by how an element of the throne speech affects them, but not likely.

"Usually they're thinking of doing something, they don't just spring it," Wiseman said.

"And they start getting the wheels in motion and they'll say to the different departments listen, we're thinking of introducing legislation in this area, give us your input and start drafting a bill here, and these are the general principals, we want you to give us some options."

For government departments, ranging from environment to public security, much hinges on the throne speech, and intense backroom lobbying will have been taking place in the days leading up to it, says Kathy Brock, a political science professor from Queen's University.

"Leading up to the throne speech, what you will have seen is every department lobbying to have at least one, two, three words in the speech ... getting three words in is golden for a pet policy project for a department," Brock tells CTV.ca.

"So they will have been lobbying the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office, the prime minister, to get their ideas into the throne speech. It's very important just to get a program or a policy acknowledged because that means it is more likely to be followed up in the budget with resources and attention committed."

"If a department has trouble, obstacles down the road getting something through, they can always say it's in the throne speech, resources have been allocated in the budget and therefore we must move ahead. People pay attention."

Broad brush strokes

Wiseman said the throne speech will attempt to touch on many different areas.

"Usually the throne speech is a broad canvas, because even though there may not be legislation or a high priority for legislation in a certain department, they'll try to mention something from that policy area just to give a broad brush stroke."

Once the speech has been delivered, Brock said, it's time to get to work implementing the nuts and bolts of the throne speech and preparing for the next key step -- drafting a budget that delivers money to address the priorities set out in the speech.

In recent years a tradition has been established whereby the government brings back bills that died on the floor when the last sessions of Parliament was prorogued, Wiseman said. That's likely to happen again this year after the throne speech, with several law and order bills expected to be brought back at the point where they died at the end of the last session.

"House leaders have agreed to that in the past but it doesn't guarantee it will happen this time, though it probably will."