Liberal finance critic Scott Brison says his party can't offer ideas on a stimulus package until Finance Minister Jim Flaherty hands over fiscal numbers that are "honest, up-to-date, accurate and reliable."
Brison, along with Liberal economic chair John McCallum, met with Flaherty in Toronto on Monday for discussions ahead of the January 27th federal budget.
"We can't go on to develop a really sound stimulus package for the future without having realistic numbers we can count on in terms of the present economic and fiscal situation," Brison told 麻豆影视net on Monday.
Brison said Liberals were concerned with the numbers put forth in last month's economic update.
He said the numbers were "too rosy and did not reflect the reality of the Canadian economy and in fact they weren't giving Canadians the full truth about the fiscal situation."
Brison said he also discussed the sale of government assets with Flaherty during Monday's meeting.
"We addressed our concerns around asset sales and the need to have a real plan that we can believe in and rely on in terms of asset sales to meet the projections he's making," Brison said.
"I am hopeful and indeed confident that Minister Flaherty will come back to us on both counts -- a plan that we can consider to be a realistic one around asset sales and fiscal numbers that we can depend on."
Prior to the meeting, Flaherty said he was open to hearing suggestions from the Liberals about how to stimulate the economy.
CTV's Rosemary Thompson, reporting from Ottawa, said the Tories want specific proposals from the opposition that they can include in the budget.
"They don't want wide, blue-sky ideas," Thompson told 麻豆影视net on Monday, prior to the meeting.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has promised to bring down the minority Conservative government if the January 27th budget does not include ways to boost the economy.
"I believe, based on our meeting today, that there is an openness with Minister Flaherty and the government to actually co-operate with us and to work with us," Brison said.
On Wednesday, Flaherty will meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts in Saskatoon.
With files from The Canadian Press
