Smelling political blood, the opposition parties demanded Wednesday that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty be fired, a day after his shocking announcement that the federal deficit has swollen to $50 billion.
"How can the prime minister, or any other Canadian, have any confidence in the minister of finance?" Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff asked in the House of Commons Wednesday.
The Tory budget for this fiscal year far outstripped government predictions of $34 billion and is believed to be the largest-ever budget deficit in the country's history.
The opposition has seized on the numbers and said it is proof the government and its top "money man" can't be trusted with Canadians' tax dollars.
"Our government's finances are in free-fall, and there's no one at the wheel," Liberal finance critic John McCallum said in a release earlier in the day.
"This finance minister has blundered into the largest budget deficit in Canadian history, mere months after predicting a surplus and no recession."
McCallum also accused the Tories of botching the release of stimulus dollars and he said rising unemployment numbers prove the government's efforts to shock the economy back to life have fallen flat.
The latest opposition onslaught follows weeks of Liberal attacks centering on the Employment Insurance program. Both the NDP and the Liberals have been pushing the government to extend EI benefits.
"Now what do they have to show for their January budget? More than 40 per cent of the unemployed in this country aren't eligible for EI, even though they have paid into the system," said McCallum.
However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused the Liberals of doublespeak by asking for more stimulus dollars and then complaining about the deficit.
"What's at issue here is the credibility of the leader of the opposition, he's been here week after week demanding . . . that the government spend more permanently," Harper retorted.
Harper also stressed that the government is borrowing money at "historically low interest rates" to help people who have been thrown out of work during the recession.
Flaherty also denied that the deficit was the largest in Canadian history in terms of GDP percentage.
"The deficit is affordable," Flaherty said in Parliament. "It's necessary for Canada."
Still, the finance minister conceded that the government's financial situation wasn't as rosy as first predicted.
"It is true that the recession is deeper than anticipated, it is true that we are spending billions of dollars more on unemployment, on people in need of benefits . . . we think that is the right thing to do for Canadians," Flaherty said.
NDP Leader Jack Layton accused the government of creating structural deficits; an opinion that was echoed by economists, who said pulling the country's finances back into the black will be difficult.
The Tories haven't altered next year's prediction of a $30-billion deficit, even though economists believe that target will be nearly impossible to meet.
Equally troubling, TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond said Wednesday it will take several years before the budget is balanced.
Meanwhile, Flaherty is sticking to predictions that the budget will be balanced in only four years.
