Instead of a balanced budget or surplus that was forecast back in April, the parliamentary budget officer says the Harper Government will rack up a billion dollar deficit this year.
Wayne Long, who’s running for the Liberals in Saint John-Rothesay, says the economy is not as strong as the Conservatives would have you believe because with two straight quarters of negative growth, many would define that as being in a recession.
Long says the projected surplus, in any event, was only built upon selling G-M stocks as well as tapping into the E-I and Rainy Day funds, not because of economic growth.
The Bank of Canada has lowered its prediction for economic growth this year from 2 to 1 per cent.
