PARLIAMENT HILL—The government is looking at its economic strategy in light of a deteriorating global economy that has stock markets on a roller coaster.
After spending the weekend in the U.S. at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and G-20 meetings, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney met in Ottawa Tuesday to compare notes and see what moves should be made next to keep Canada’s economy from slipping into recession.
“I think we are all finding that people are pretty positive about what we are doing here, but we are in a world picture that is not so positive and clearly is going to demand that we spend a little bit of time looking at it,” Harper said Tuesday.
Flaherty declined Wednesday to give details of what the trio had discussed, but said the government would be implementing measures from the budget aimed at spurring economic growth, including a hiring credit for small businesses.
But should a deteriorating global economy force his hand, Flaherty said the government was prepared to look at stronger measures.
“If we get a shock from outside our country, then we will have to be—we’ll have to be responsive and we’ll be flexible and pragmatic.”
“Our fiscal and economic fundamentals in this country are among the best in the world,” Flaherty said, noting that a predicted drop in the loonie was more a result of relative change in value to the U.S. dollar as investors move to the greenback.
The government is facing heavy pressure from the Official Opposition to move towards stimulus spending and drop austerity measures aimed at ending deficit budgets.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said Tuesday the government was on track with its budget forecasts, but he has also been highly critical of the government’s failure to provide the cost of its omnibus crime bill and the total cost of the tough-on-crime agenda.
