Prime Minister Stephen Harper will face his first test of support in the House of Commons this week, now that his minority government has unveiled its Speech from the Throne.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean read the speech on April 4, officially marking the opening of the 39th session of Parliament.

The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper will work on a set of five priorities: a child-care credit for children, a GST cut, new accountability legislation, a patient wait-times guarantee and tough new criminal sanctions.

The speech also focuses on Senate reform and review the Environmental Protection Act in addition to its five priorities, the throne speech says.

There will also be special measures for Quebec and an apology for the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants early in the 20th Century.

Liberal Leader Bill Graham has warned it would be up to the Bloc Quebecois and NDP to see the Conservative government survives its first throne speech.

Here is where the parties stand on the different priorities:

Child-care credit

Tories: The Conservatives want to replace the $5-billion, five-year program set up by their Liberal predecessors with direct payments to parents of $1,200 a year for each child under the age of six.

Liberals: The Liberals favour a system where transfer payments are made to provinces to help set up a system of subsidized daycare spaces.

NDP: The NDP supports the delivery of early child care and wants to phase out for-profit day care centres, bringing them into a new funding regime restricting funding to for-profit day cares.

Bloc: The Bloc is concerned with ensuring that Ottawa transfers funds into Quebec's existing low-cost day care program.

A GST cut

Tories: Harper has pledged to cut the seven-per-cent GST by one percentage point immediately, followed within five years by a second one-point reduction. He will reverse Liberal personal income tax cuts to lower-income Canadians.

Liberals: The Liberals say the Conservatives are raising the tax rate of the lowest income brackets in favour of cutting the GST. They say their decision in November to cut the tax rate at the bottom income bracket to 15 per cent from 16 per cent is the better option.

NDP: Layton says the NDP favours two reductions in personal income taxes that would benefit ordinary families, especially those living on low incomes.

Bloc: Leader Gilles Duceppe said during the election campaign that a blanket GST reduction plan would end up hurting revenues in Quebec.

New accountability legislation

Tories: The centrepiece of the Conservative government's new accountability act is the creation of a new "integrity commissioner" to investigate complaints of corruption and wrong-doing from whistle-blowers. Harper is also considering paying whistle-blowers for information.

Liberals: The Liberals accuse the Tories of not sticking to their promises of accountability, and point to instances where Harper wouldn't meet with the ethics commissioner, and the election of former lobbyist Dennis O'Connor to the defence post.

NDP: Layton doesn't support the idea of paying whistle-blowers for information.

Bloc: The Bloc said in its election platform that it supports the creation of tougher ethics rules for Ottawa in order to avoid another sponsorship scandal.

Patient wait-times guarantee

Tories: Harper has promised to work with the provinces to establish a wait-times guarantee. During the election campaign, he said he would not close private clinics.

Liberals: Under the health accord that former prime minister Paul Martin struck with first ministers in 2004, provinces were committed to setting wait-time benchmarks by the end of 2005. Targets to achieve those goals had to be set within two years.

NDP: The NDP is against any privatization of the health-care system.

Bloc: The Bloc wants a universal health-care system for Quebec.

New criminal sanctions

Tories: During the election campaign, Harper said he would introduce a series of mandatory prison sentences -- ranging from five to 10 years -- for those convicted of a major firearms offence. He said he would also introduce a minimum sentence of five years for possession of a loaded restricted or prohibited weapon.

Liberals: Martin vowed to ban handguns if he was re-elected.

NDP: The New Democrats support a plan requiring mandatory four-year sentences for the illegal possession or sale of restricted guns, such as handguns or automatics.

Bloc: The Bloc's election platform called for a ban on ammunition belts for automatic guns. The party supports rehabilitation over imprisonment for young offenders.

Canada in Afghanistan

Tories: Harper made Afghanistan the destination of his first foreign trip as prime minister. There he reaffirmed Ottawa's commitment to the operation, and said he will not support a parliamentary vote on extending the mission.

Liberals: Canadian troops went to Afghanistan as mandated under the previous Liberal government. About 2,200 troops are serving in Kandahar now as part of a multinational force led by a Canadian general.

NDP: Layton is demanding an emergency debate in the House on April 5 on the Canadian mission in Afghanistan over concerns about the changing nature of the mission and the treatment of detainees.

Bloc: Duceppe said recently, following a meeting with Harper, that the PM promised to hold votes on new troop deployments.

Arctic defence plan

Tories: Harper wants to build up Canada's military presence in the Arctic with the creation of three heavy, armed icebreakers, an Arctic deep sea port and a surveillance system. He also wants to increase unmanned aerial vehicle patrols and create an Arctic army training centre in the Far North.

The total cost of the program is estimated at $2 billion over eight or nine years.

Liberals: The Liberals have criticized the plan, saying it would be too expensive to implement. They also say the military threat in the north isn't big enough to warrant this kind of build-up.

NDP: Layton said during the election that he was generally in agreement with the Conservative plan to boost Canada's military presence in the north to protect the nation's sovereignty.

Bloc: N/A