Canadian Finance Minister Hints at Tax Cuts
January 5th, 2009 at 7:06 am - by admin
Economic stimulus in the form of tax cuts - a move which a Democratic aide mentioned Sunday as being Obama’s latest plan could be the plan of the vulnerable minority Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, says Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
“There are a couple of ways to stimulate the economy. One is spending on the infrastructure side and other ways, and tax reductions — leaving more money in people’s pockets — is also stimulus to the economy. We’ve been reviewing other options,” said Jim Flaherty in reference to the Tax Free Savings Account program, officially launched January 1st in Ottawa.
“I’ve been worried for some time with what is happening in the economy globally. We are in a time where the world has entered a global recession. We will take the steps necessary so that Canada will not only endure the global recession and its effects on Canada, but also we will exit the global recession stronger and in a position to grow as the economy recovers,” finished the finance minister.
Flaherty previously announced, like the President-elect, the majority of the Conservative government’s new budget will be dedicated to infrastructure spending, in hopes to take a structuralist view of economic rejuvenation and repair the economic recession which looms ahead.
Additionally, a survey from Harris Decima suggested that consumer confidence could be at record lows in Canada, with at least 64 per cent of Canadians looking negatively at our economic future in 2009 - twice what the same survey said about 2008 at the end of 2007.


