Finance Minister Jim Flaherty called on the Senate Tuesday to pass the budget as soon as possible, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada would emerge from the current recession stronger than any other country.
In an address to the Brampton Board of Trade, billed as his first major speech on the recession, Harper emphasized the positives about Canada's economy.
"Canada was the last advanced country to fall into this recession," Harper said Tuesday.
"We will make sure its effects here are the least severe and we will come out of this faster than anyone and stronger than ever."
He said it's time to put away "that legendary Canadian modesty."
"Notwithstanding all the troubles around us, Canada has real advantages, real assets, and we should not hesitate to remind investors, partners and leaders around the world of the comparative strengths of our country," Harper said.
Still, he admitted that Canada will not turn the corner on the global recession until the American financial sector crisis is fixed.
The budget, which must still be approved by the Senate, contains a $40 billion stimulus package. Later Tuesday, Flaherty released the government's first quarterly progress report on the stimulus plan.
"I'm going to urge you to deal with this bill this week and don't go on holidays until you deal with it," Flaherty told the Senate finance committee.
The money contained in the budget can start being spent on April 1, when the government will start pumping $20 billion into the economy, about 90 per cent of the stimulus allocated for this year.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Flaherty's pressure on the Senate was needless politics, because the senators are expected to pass the bill in late March, before the money can be spent on April 1.
"There will be no delay, repeat, no delay, from the Liberal Party of Canada in getting needed stimulus to Canadians," he told reporters.
Employment insurance
Speaking on CTV's Power Play later in the day, Flaherty again stressed the need for expediency, saying the budget contains a provision on employment insurance that would come into effect before April 1.
"There's a five-week extension of EI in the bill and as soon as it gets Royal assent it applies, so we don't have to wait until April 1. There are tens of thousands of Canadians entitled to that money," he said.
But when asked exactly how much money would come out of the Treasury to pay those unemployed Canadians EI before April 1, Flaherty did not give a specific amount.
"It's in the budget," he said. "We have millions of dollars allocated to EI. This is a very substantial change because we know that we're in for a difficult year."
Liberals say the government has billions of dollars already allocated that could be put into the economy as soon as possible, but is sitting unused.
"That's a part of the estimate system," said Flaherty, responding to the criticism. "We have this archaic estimate system in Parliament. That money tends to get spent at year's end, so some of it lapses and doesn't get spent, like the Building Canada Fund ... But we're talking about the budget and the extra $3 billion we want for April, May and June. It's stimulus money."
He said that the Building Canada Fund is focused on large infrastructure projects that are slow to get off the ground, but the money contained in the bill could be put into action faster.
Job losses
Ignatieff attacked the credibility of the Conservatives during question period in the House of Commons. He quoted the prime minister as saying, "If we were going to have a recession, we would have had it by now," last September.
"His credibility never recovered," the Liberal leader said. "Why should we believe his forecast now?"
In a news release, the Liberals said that Harper's assessment of Canada's economic situation is not backed up by the numbers.
The Liberals say Canada is losing jobs at a higher per capita rate than the United States -- 39 jobs per 1,000 citizens verses 19 per 1,000 in the U.S.
They also pointed out Statistics Canada data that shows Canada having a lower real GDP growth rate than the U.S., Australia or the United Kingdom in 2008.
